{"id":743,"date":"2025-09-05T11:00:30","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T11:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acadex.biz\/?p=743"},"modified":"2026-05-26T14:17:57","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T08:47:57","slug":"the-astonishing-growth-of-wise-a-case-study-in-innovation-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acadex.biz\/acadex-knowledge-hub\/the-astonishing-growth-of-wise-a-case-study-in-innovation-management\/","title":{"rendered":"The Astonishing Growth Of Wise A Case Study In Innovation Management"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n\r\n
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Wise\u2019s Astonishing Growth: Innovation, Disruption, and Global Success in Fintech<\/h4>\n<\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n

A Lesson in Innovation and Business Disruption<\/h2>\n

This report aims to examine and assess the extraordinary growth and success achieved by\u00a0Wise, the UK headquartered fintech Services Company, especially from the perspective of\u00a0enterprise management and the driving of business growth.<\/p>\n

Enterprise management is a wide and complex activity that incorporates the development and\u00a0implementation of strategies for growth, operations, human resource management,\u00a0financial management and the achievement of competitive advantage, amongst others.<\/p>\n

Whilst Wise has grown swiftly in its chosen area of business and has disrupted\u00a0the area of international money transfer, it has not been accorded the amount of respect\u00a0and recognition that has been given, for example, to other disruptors like Apple or Google\u00a0or Tesla; amongst others.<\/p>\n

This report examines the use of extraordinary business ideas\u00a0and strategies used by the firm, the sharp growth achieved by it over the last decade, and the considerable difference it has made\u00a0to individuals and organisations in this dynamic and difficult era of globalisation.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n

WISE: Organisational Overview<\/h2>\n

WISE was established in 2011 in London, United Kingdom, by two young men who came to the UK from Estonia to build their careers. Taavet Hinrikus and Kristo K\u00e4\u00e4rmann needed to regularly send money out of the country and found the process inefficient,\u00a0tedious and expensive. Putting their heads together they created a simple and beautiful\u00a0process to speed up their international money transfers and drastically reduce their costs (Wise, 2025).<\/p>\n

The company created by them with the mission to make international money transfers, fast, easy and cheap has over the last decade disrupted the activity of international money transfers; which was dominated\u00a0till then by large banks with international operations. Their services enabled people and\u00a0businesses to move their money swiftly and with much lesser costs. The company progressively increased its services to include debit cards for shopping and spending, whilst abroad,\u00a0and hold balances in multiple currencies.<\/p>\n

Wise has partnered with organizations like Monzo\u00a0and Bolt to provide better international banking than their existing service providers. Visionaries\u00a0like Richard Branson and Max Levchin, the co-founder of PayPal have recognized\u00a0the potential of their services and invested in the company (Marketa, 2024).<\/p>\n

The company has grown sharply over the last 12 years in both revenues and profits. It earned total revenues of 1052 million GBP and profit before tax of 481.4 million GBP in 2024. Its profits practically tripled from 146.5 million GBP to 481.4 million GBP during the same period. Earnings per share grew by 197% in 2024 compared to 2023 (Wise, 2025).<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n

Innovate, Disrupt and Grow<\/h2>\n

There is wide agreement amongst policy makers, business leaders, academics and organisational\u00a0managers on the importance of business growth. McKinsey and Company stated that the achievement\u00a0of business growth is the most important requirement for a business entity (Cezim, 2025). The absence of growth\u00a0leads to stagnation, a moribund organisation and inevitably business closure (Kotter, 1996).<\/p>\n

The achievement\u00a0of growth results in a number of consequences including enhancement of revenues, growth in\u00a0profits, increase in financial power; and the various benefits that such power can bring to an organisation (The Business Proessor, 2025). These include the capability to purchase current\u00a0and capital assets, increase advertising, develop markets, drive innovation and provide new products\u00a0to customers. Growth in business revenues and profits helps in enhancement of national GDP\u00a0and government taxes (Brower, 2022). It helps the organisation to provide new products to customers,\u00a0improve their quality of life, earn customer loyalty and improve organisational\u00a0reputation.<\/p>\n

The founders of Wise, notwithstanding their youth, had a strong\u00a0understanding of the need for growth and the best possible ways of achieving it. They made\u00a0use of three strategic models for this purpose, namely the Blue Ocean Strategy, Porter\u2019s Generic\u00a0Theory on Strategies and the Ansoff Matrix. They used these models to decide the\u00a0product and the market for their organisation, the overarching corporate strategy for achievement\u00a0of growth and the procedure in which this growth could be realised in a structured, progressive\u00a0and sustainable manner (Wise, 2025). These three strategies and their application by Wise have been taken up\u00a0for detailed discussion and analysis in the following three sections.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n

Apply the Blue Ocean Strategy<\/h3>\n

Wise is an excellent example of the development and implementation\u00a0of a blue ocean strategy in the fintech sector.\u00a0The founders of the firm created an absolutely new market space by providing considerably\u00a0easier, cheaper and more transparent services for international fund transfers (Kim & Maubourgne, 2004) .\u00a0The offering of their services disrupted the conventional and frequently high cost existing banking\u00a0model for international transactions. Their strategy made competition practically irrelevant and provided considerable benefits\u00a0to millions of users across the world.<\/p>\n

The creation of this blue ocean model is the fundamental cornerstone of the company's\u00a0strategy.\u00a0Wise fitted the blue ocean model perfectly because it targeted an uncontested market space, differentiated\u00a0its product, provided it at low cost and drove the business through sophisticated technology,\u00a0customer satisfaction and market expansion.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n

Compete with Porter\u2019s Generic Strategy<\/h3>\n

WISE made use of the Blue Ocean strategy to develop a product for a new market. It thereafter developed a competitive strategy to achieve market growth and competitive advantage; a strategy that was differentiated\u00a0from others and cost effective.<\/p>\n

Michael Porter in his theory\u00a0of generic strategies advanced two main strategies for business penetration and growth, namely\u00a0cost leadership and differentiation (Porter, 1985).<\/p>\n

Cost leadership focused on developing and selling\u00a0products that were considerably cheaper than competing ones. The offer of cost effective\u00a0products would attract consumers and help the organisation to develop strong competitive\u00a0advantage and achieve high sales volumes. Porter stated that whilst most business\u00a0people wished to sell products at economic prices, there was a lower threshold that could not be\u00a0breached without incurring losses. True cost leadership entailed the combination of scale\u00a0economies, capital investment, efficient buying, good supply chain management and a tight cost\u00a0control structure. It required considerable investment, effort and organisational control.<\/p>\n

Differentiation on the other hand entailed the development of products that were superior to\u00a0others with respect to design, appearance, quality, features and longevity, amongst others.\u00a0These differentiating features enabled the organisation to generate considerable competitive\u00a0advantage; by increasing prices, attracting customers and earning profits.\u00a0Michael Porter further declared that business organisations, to be successful, must adopt either of\u00a0these two strategies to avoid confusion and incompatible business priorities.<\/p>\n

Porter's theories of cost leadership and differentiation have been\u00a0recognised, appreciated and implemented by business leaderships with good results (Porter, 1985).\u00a0Notwithstanding their popularity and their widespread use, present day business leaders,\u00a0entrepreneurs and academics have altered their perceptions on using these strategies The Business Professor, (2025). Unlike Porter's deep-rooted conviction about the exclusivity of these\u00a0strategies in the setting of business\/ market strategy for a given\u00a0firm, present day business experts feel that they can be married\u00a0and used in tandem to achieve good results. This is based on the assumption\u00a0that it is but natural for a consumer to like good quality and attractive features\u00a0 along with an economic and an affordable price in a product.<\/p>\n

Many corporations\u00a0like, for instance, Toyota and Samsung are providing attractive products with several\u00a0features at attractive prices. Toyota's lead has been followed by Korean automobile makers\u00a0like Hyundai and Kia, both of which have been successful in increasing their sales and profits.\u00a0Even Tesla, which has always been known for its expensive automobiles,\u00a0has lowered its prices without reducing its features to bring it within the reach\u00a0of the common man.<\/p>\n

Wise has from the beginning adopted a dual\/ hybrid\u00a0strategy of cost leadership and differentiation. The firm differentiated\u00a0its products by bringing in complete clarity in the international money transfer procedure\u00a0and making the process easy and satisfying to customers; the company's leadership\u00a0furthermore priced its money transfer services extremely economically. This double engine strategy powered its growth to extremely high levels,\u00a0practically disrupting the existing international money transfer business.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n

Use the Ansoff Matrix for Strategy<\/h3>\n

The Ansoff matrix developed by Igor Ansoff in 1957 continues to be a powerful and widely used tool\u00a0for development of business strategy and achievement of growth. As stated earlier,\u00a0all organisations must continuously strive to achieve growth. Such a task\u00a0is however not easy and many attempts to achieve growth end in confusion, failure and\u00a0business losses (Ansoff, 1957).<\/p>\n

The Ansoff matrix helps businesses to examine their products and their\u00a0markets and to subsequently develop a structured strategy for systematic and sustainable growth.<\/p>\n

\"Ansoff<\/p>\n

The matrix, which is illustrated above, has four\u00a0quadrants, which stand for market penetration, development of new products, market development\/ expansion\u00a0and diversification. Market penetration, which is the first quadrant\u00a0of the matrix calls upon business firms to work on enhancing sales of existing products\u00a0in existing markets. This is a conservative strategy that aims to steady the business\u00a0in its initial stages; when it needs to take baby steps and establish itself. The firm\u00a0focuses on product quality, pricing strategies and market share. The second stage, namely, market development, encourages organisational\u00a0managements to take their existing products, with which they have acquired considerable familiarity,\u00a0to new areas and new geographies. Market development helps in growing existing markets\u00a0with familiar products and building financial strength and organisational resilience.<\/p>\n

The third step, known as product development, calls upon business leaderships to develop\u00a0new products and use them to sell them in both existing and new markets. The last step,\u00a0namely diversification is associated with the establishment of new businesses\u00a0in new territories.
Wise operates at present in the first three quadrants of the Ansoff matrix. It started with the development of its first product, i.e., International\u00a0money transfer services with high degrees of transparency at very economic\u00a0costs. It started offering these services in the UK in its earlier years. It thereafter\u00a0moved into the second quadrant of the matrix and spread its business footprint\u00a0in specific geographies, namely North America and Asia where it created attractive markets\u00a0and gained customer trust and acceptance.<\/p>\n

It finally moved into the third matrix\u00a0namely product development by introducing multiple currency compatibility, debit cards that could be used in other geographies and business accounts (Wise, 2025).\u00a0The adoption of the tenets of the Ansoff matrix helped the firm to progressively\u00a0increase its sales, grow its geographic footprint and provide a range of useful products\u00a0to its customers; all of which contributed to enhancement in revenues\u00a0and growth in profits and organisational wealth.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n

Kill with Technological Innovation<\/h3>\n

The founders of Wise, when they launched the company in 2011, adopted the mission\u00a0of making international money transfers simple, clear and cheap. The organisation developed\u00a0a service that helped individuals and small and medium businesses to move\u00a0money across national borders for facilitation of payments, purchases and other reasons.\u00a0The firm offered considerably swifter and cheaper international transfers,\u00a0compared to traditional banking routes with the help of a brilliantly conceived\u00a0and innovative closed loop system (Wise, 2025).<\/p>\n

It tackled the issue of cheap and\u00a0instant international money transfer with a digital product that was driven by\u00a0the technology that was then used within the bank system.\u00a0The firm established its own bank facilities in the various countries, they decided to support and service. It received money into its\u00a0local bank account from the sending customer and thereafter transferred a similar amount to the receiving person from its bank account in the destination country.\u00a0Wise provided details about the origination of the money and the completion\u00a0of the money transfer, but in reality the money was paid out to the recipient\u00a0from a local bank account.<\/p>\n

This method of fund movement was much faster than the\u00a0Swift based banking transfer system. The firm spent considerable time and money to ensure that it worked within local regulations\u00a0and that it did not break any laws, rules and regulations. Wise used the technology available for KYC, (know your customer), to eliminate intermediaries, reduce fees, eliminate fraud\u00a0and generate transparency by providing live foreign exchange rates. The company was able complete transfers swiftly; most transfers happening within a couple of hours.<\/p>\n

Academics and business\u00a0leaders agree that Wise is a strong example of disruptive innovation, because of its\u00a0clear mission, (namely money without borders), along with instant payments and high levels of transparency. It competes with\u00a0traditional banks, remitters like PayPal, credit card companies like MasterCard and Visa,\u00a0international networks like Western Union and e-commerce entrants. As of now, Wise is cheaper\u00a0than all its competitors but things could change with growth in real-time rails\u00a0across the world (Yazuci and Ruzgar, 2019).<\/p>\n

The organisation subsequently developed other innovative financial products like\u00a0multi-currency accounts, international debit cards and business accounts to provide customers with more value.<\/p>\n

The company provides a brilliant example of how to create a large,\u00a0fast-growing, ethical, sustainable and useful business primarily with ingenuity and good\u00a0implementation.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n

Astonishing Growth<\/h3>\n

This penultimate section of the report provides some important information on WISE's growth\u00a0from its year of inception, i.e. 2011 till today (Wise, 2025).<\/p>\n

The organisation has achieved remarkable growth\u00a0year on year during this period. The firm recorded revenues of 1052 million GBP in the financial year\u00a02020-4 compared to 846.1 million GBP in 2020-3. This considerable increase of 31%\u00a0YOY shows its increasing customer base and its large global reach.<\/p>\n

Total active customers in 2024 were 12.8 million compared to 5.4 million the year before. Gross profit grew by 71% every year and increased from 38.2 million GBP in 2023 to an unprecedented figure of 1092.4 million GBP in 2024. Earnings per share increased by 197% and amounted to 34.2 P in FY2024 compared to 11.07 P a year earlier.<\/p>\n

Wise now has three major products namely\u00a0WISE Account for personal users, WISE Platform for banks and WISE Business for SMEs.\u00a0The organization is launching new services in China, Australia and Brazil.<\/p>\n

About 51% of its employees are women; half of WISE's global teams have\u00a0more than 50% women leaders in the senior ranks. Women hold 45% of managerial positions\u00a0and 32% of senior leader positions. This indicates that whilst the organisation\u00a0has an inclusive workforce at the general level, it needs to do more to achieve\u00a0gender diversity in the roles of higher leadership.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

The detailed study carried out for the preparation of this\u00a0report indicates that Wise, a company\u00a0established in 2011 in the UK has achieved remarkable growth and success in the course of\u00a0the last 14 years. The firm was established by two young men who came from Estonia to build their lives and\u00a0careers in the UK. They showed remarkable understanding of their\u00a0business environment and excelled at choosing opportunities that had escaped numerous experts before them (The Strategy Institute, 2024).<\/p>\n

Their grasping of an opportunity in international transfer of funds resulted in the adoption of a blue ocean strategy in business and the development of a unique service product, namely a process for the swift transfer of funds from one country to another with transparency and at economic costs. The senior management, faced with the task of formulating a marketing and business strategy, made use of Michael Porter's long established and widely accepted theory of genetic strategies and tweaked it to develop a hybrid offering that combined differentiation with cost leadership and swiftly became very attractive to customers; after penetrating the market the firm made use of the Ansoff matrix to follow up market penetration with market expansion and finally product development. The organisation continued to develop innovative products like international debit cards, multiple currencies and business accounts stock.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s operational and revenue figures detailed in the earlier section reveal that\u00a0the organisation has truly achieved remarkable results in the last 14 years. There is little doubt that the firm operates in a very competitive space\u00a0and its competitors including banks, money remitters and other fintech companies\u00a0will strive to cut into its customer base. The leadership has however\u00a0shown enormous business acumen and an understanding of priorities by making use\u00a0of the right strategies, constantly working on innovation, operating effectively\u00a0within the regulatory frameworks of different countries, generating new products, and\u00a0entering new geographies. The management has overcome numerous challenges\u00a0and exploited hardly visible opportunities to arrive at where it is today.<\/p>\n

It would not be\u00a0out of place to expect the business to continue to do well in future, despite an extremely\u00a0competitive and difficult global business environment.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n

References and Bibliography<\/h2>\n