Archives March 2023

Axis Bank completes acquisition of Citibank India’s consumer businesses in India; strongly positions Axis Bank for accelerated premium market share growth

Axis Bank completes acquisition of Citibank India’s consumer businesses in India

Mumbai, 2 March 2023: Axis Bank, one of India’s largest private sector banks, has completed the acquisition of Citibank’s consumer business in an accelerated time frame of within 7 months post receipt of CCI approval, displaying a strong testament of its execution strength. The deal has been closed with Axis Bank paying a total purchase consideration (after customary & contractual adjustments) of INR 11,603 Cr* to Citibank India.

The transaction comprises the sale of the consumer businesses of Citibank India, which includes loans, credit cards, wealth management and retail banking operations. The deal also includes the sale of the consumer business of Citi’s non-banking financial company, Citicorp Finance (India) Limited, comprising asset-backed financing business, which includes commercial vehicle and construction equipment loans, as well as the personal loans portfolio.

The acquisition is a healthy strategic fit in line with Axis Bank’s GPS (Growth, Profitability & Sustainability) strategy and its focus on premium segment growth. The Bank has gained access to the large, affluent and profitable customer franchise of Citibank, which aligns well with its Premiumization strategy.

With the acquisition, comes a quality credit card franchise with one of the highest wallet shares in premium cards, that is Complementary and consolidates Axis’ position in the cards business, market share improving from 11.4% to 16.2%(1).The acquired portfolio would increase Axis Bank’s credit card customer base by ~19%, with an addition of 1.8 million cards***. With the highest number of transactions per card across the industry and digitally engaged customers, the deal would strengthen Axis Bank’s position in the top 8 metros, while also providing the opportunity to adopt global best practices in client servicing and operations through Citi Phone banking.
Additionally, the acquisition of 2.4 million customers of Citibank India enhances Axis Bank’s presence in the key growth segments, complimenting the existing Axis franchise. The Bank now has aggregate deposits of INR 8,881 Bn of which high proportion of CASA is at 77%, with SA constituting 71%. Access to a premium deposit base with deep corporate salary relationships has improved the combined CASA ratio on proforma basis by ~150 bps to 46%. Affluent and digitally engaged SA customer base with access to ~1600 Suvidha corporate relationships that significantly strengthens Axis Bank’s Salary Business.

Post-acquisition, Axis Bank gains ready access to highly affluent wealth customers resulting in a 33% addition to overall AUM of Burgundy Private Banking portfolio, further strengthening the existing franchise. With an added AUM of INR 947 bn across Citi products in Wealth Management and Private Banking, the current AUM of the Bank’s wealth management portfolio stands at INR 3785 bn, making it the 3rd largest in the industry.

Through the acquisition, Axis Bank welcomes a diverse talent pool of ~3200 employees trained in global best practices, and an experienced leadership with deep domain expertise.

Benefits for Citibank customers

The Citi customers will continue to enjoy same benefits and privileges with no changes in their existing Bank account number, Credit/Debit Card numbers, cheque books, IFSC & MICR code. They will continue to be serviced by same relationship managers and teams. All the 21 in perimeter branches remain fully equipped to serve the incoming customers; we are also equipping 13 additional branches that would be available for incoming customer servicing during the transition period. The necessary IT applications and trained staff have been deployed at acquired branches. All the services to the incoming customers will continue to function as before as the same teams from Citi move to Axis intact.

On the other hand, the erstwhile Citi retail franchise will now have access to massive national scale of (~4900) branches and (~16,000) ATMs and recyclers as well as cutting-edge digital plus data-science assets through the Axis platform.

Further, Citibank’s customers will specifically benefit from Axis Bank’s wider geographical reach and comprehensive service offerings, along with One Axis capabilities that extend across all its subsidiaries ensuring ‘same or better’ offer to all Citi customers.

Speaking on the occasion, Amitabh Chaudhry, MD&CEO, Axis Bank said, “We welcome over 2.4 million customers and ~3200 employees to our Axis family ‘Dil Se’, as we successfully conclude the first leg of integration. This is a significant milestone in Axis’ journey of growth and leadership in the Banking industry and is set to bring great value for all stakeholders involved. We have a strong balance sheet, comfortable capital levels, and the right team and customer segments to further realize our ambitions.”

He added, “Citibank has a culture that is much like ours, with a commitment to best-in-class customer service, people focus and community engagement. Axis Bank already has a rich network of Citi alumni across the hierarchy, which reflects of the cultural alignment between the two organizations. Given the expertise that the new employees will bring to the table, we view them as a significant force to help drive our GPS objectives. The premium portfolio and business synergies through this deal will help accelerate and add further momentum to our already robust plans across priority segments.”

Subrat Mohanty, Group Executive & Head – Banking Operations and Transformation, Axis Bank said, “We are delighted with the addition of Citi’s premium consumer business and a high quality team of colleagues to Axis Bank. We expect our customers to experience the value of this integration with newer, innovative products and world class customer practices. Axis Bank is positioned strongly to power India’s growth story.”

Arjun Chowdhry, Group Executive & Head – Cards, Payments & Wealth, Axis Bank said, “Axis Bank is committed to building a strong consumer banking business in India, and already has deep market presence, across all segments and geographies. All ~3200 Citi colleagues, who carry a strong and diversified skill set, are extremely excited to join the Axis family and further build on its growth ambitions. We look forward to collaborating with Axis’ experienced senior leadership team and diverse talent pool, as we join the 88,000+ strong, dedicated workforce and live up to the brand’s credo ‘Dil Se Open’.”

Videocites Partners with NBA to Provide Greater Insights into League’s Social Media Exposure

Videocites Partners with NBA to Provide Greater Insights into League’s Social Media Exposure With Initial Closing of Series-B Funding led by Velocity Capital Management

Videocites team

NBA Equity invests in Videocites to understand the exposure and impact of fan behavior and user-generated content on social media.

Tel Aviv, Israel, New York, NY, March 1, 2023 – Videocites, the creator of the next-generation analytics solution that reveals the true social footprint created by fans and partners on social media, announced the initial closing of a Series B round led by Velocity Capital Management (“Velocity”) with additional investments by Series A investor Infront Sports & Media AG, and NBA Equity. With offices around the globe, including one newly opened in New York, Videocites is providing the NBA with greater insights into its global reach and brand exposure across social media content published by fans and media partners.

While user-generated content (UGC) has a significant influence on a brand’s perception and popularity across social media, it’s challenging to identify and categorize at scale. Nevertheless, as it continues to grow exponentially, it’s crucial to measure fan content. Videocites has perfected its AI-generated identification capabilities and video-fingerprinting technology to recognize and analyze UGC and trademarked assets related to the brand. Its award-winning technology reveals fans’ engagement through video identifiers and contextual search.

“We’re excited to collaborate with Videocites to better understand how user-generated content resonates with our fans,” said David Lee, Head of NBA Equity. “This partnership and our investment in Videocites reflect our commitment to continue to grow and embrace our fans across the ever-evolving global social media landscape.”

Eyal Arad, Videocites’ Co-Founder, and CEO

Eyal Arad, Videocites’ Co-Founder, and CEO

“Aggregating and analyzing real-time UGC and brand video data in one dashboard allows our clients to keep their finger on the pulse of their fanbase and partners,” said Eyal Arad, Videocites’ Co-Founder, and CEO. “It’s no secret that today’s user habits across social media have a significant impact on shaping public perception of any organization. We are turning that ‘perception’ into quantifiable data.”

Velocity is a sports, media, and entertainment domain-focused private equity firm founded in 2021 by David Abrams and Arne Rees. “We believe that Videocites can become the industry standard for tracking and measuring intellectual property across social media. Videocites’ technology greatly enhances monetization opportunities for rightsholders and creates a platform for streamlined direct-to-consumer engagement,” said Velocity Managing Partner David Abrams.

Videocites will use the funding to grow its global presence and recruit leading sales and business development professionals to expand its unique offerings to brands and content owners in the United States and Europe.

Telangana Agriculture minister Singireddy Niranjan Reddy to inaugurate India’s biggest Agri show KISAN at Hyderabad

biggest Agri show KISAN at Hyderabad

Hyderabad, March 1st, 2023: Hyderabad is getting ready to witness KISAN Agri Show, one of the largest agriculture exhibition in India will start on 3rd March and will continue till 5th March at Hitex. KISAN Agri Show 2023, is going to be the 32nd Agri exhibition in the series. The exhibition entry will be open from morning 10 AM to evening 5 PM. The show will be inaugurated by the Honorable Agriculture Minister of Telangana Shri. Singireddy Niranjan Reddy.

The past series of exhibitions received tremendous response and were very beneficial and useful for investors as well as farmers across the country. This year’s KISAN Agri show will have more than 150 exhibitors and is expected to have more than 30,000 visitors from all across Telangana and neighboring states.

The exhibition is spread over 10,000 sq.m of area and will connect 160+ companies in three days. The latest products and innovative concepts in agriculture will be displayed here. KISAN has been receiving support and participation from leading agricultural institutions.

SPARK, a special arena for Agri Startups is planned to present Advance technologies and innovative ideas. The penetration of mobile phones and Digital India Initiatives are empowering farmers. SPARK Pavilion of Agri Startups will be a major attraction at KISAN FAIR. Over 20 Agri Startups will present their new technologies and concepts here.

Gnana Kendram is a cluster of stands from Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Agriculture University and ICAR institutions. Here farmers will get information and knowledge about new technologies and innovations appropriate for Telangana Farmers.

KISAN exhibition will focus on Agri Input, Water Management, Tools & Implements, seeds & planting material to help farmers locate things of their interest. Open Arena will display large farm machinery & implements. Farmers will see many innovative farm technologies especially evolved for Indian agro-climatic conditions.

Gothic to Poppy colours – Here’s to the freshest trends for 2023 in home décor

Ekant Singh
By Mr. Ekant Singh, Founder & CEO – Page 2813

One of the greatest outcomes of the pandemic is that people are investing in doing up the décor of their homes much more than previously. With work from home becoming the new normal and people spending a lot of time at their homes, home décor today commands great attention. Let’s look at the trends that will be in vogue in 2023.

Gothic designs: Perceived to be related with a dark décor, gothic designs are sought after owing to their mystic, classic and intricate designs. Originating in the medieval period, one can see a lot of cathedrals and castle kinds of influence in these designs. The use of dark hues like charcoal grey, maroon, purple, matt blackish silver for the walls and contrast matching colours for curtains will give a grand gothic look. Opt for sweeping velvet curtains that look royal and match the theme. You can further accentuate the space with heavy intricately carved dark chocolate wooden furniture with rich velvet upholstery. Go for dark shades of rich colours like vintage purple or maroon to get that gothic look that will be ruling 2023.

The use of statement chandelier pieces, carved photo frames and wrought iron candle stands will add to the look. Use dim lighting that will add to the setting. Note that while the gothic look when put together is classy, the use of dark colours may make the area look smaller. So, for smaller configuration apartments, go minimal while opting for the gothic look else one will end up with crowded interiors instead. Also, as mentioned previously gothic designs are royal in nature and any clutter in the room dismisses the effect completely.

Poppy colours: The opposite to the gothic designs, as the name suggests poppy colours pop with energy, are subtle, give a very light calming effect. These include use of earthly colours like peach red, teal, olive green, mustard yellow, dusty lavender etc. You can do a two-colour combination of poppy colours and white to make your room look big and spacious. Sheer curtains will add that spunk to the entire look while getting in enough light and brightness in the room. While going for a décor with earthly colours, you can stay close to nature by carefully accessorising the room. For starters, a comfortable L-shaped sofa will pale floral upholstery will spring in a new vibe in the room.

Opt for lightweight and coloured furniture like oakwood instead of the heavy-duty teak. Also, instead of bulky all over the room pieces, opt for compact furniture that will be both efficient and clutter-free. Paintings, handicraft statement pieces and photo frames with family pictures will add to the room’s simple yet classy look. The advantage of these colours in your home is that even while being subtle and at the background, they become the heros the home décor. With the colours being bright in their own grounds, lighting in the room should be anything but dim. Finally, this kind of look is a breath of fresh air for smaller configuration units.

So, while these are two contrasting looks that will trend in 2023, each has its own beauty which when imbibed nicely will make your home, a dream home.

On purchase of every Side by Side Refrigerator, LG customers will get free Times Prime membership with benefits worth over Rs. 60,000

On purchase of every Side by Side Refrigerator, LG customers will get free Times Prime membership with benefits worth over Rs. 60,000

New Delhi, March 1, 2023: Two giant consumer brands, LG and Times Prime today announce their coming together for a strategic partnership for their “Assured Benefits Carnival,” where the electronic giant will gift Times Prime Annual Membership to its customers on purchase of any “Side by Side Refrigerator”.

Upon product purchase, customers will receive a voucher code for the Times Prime annual membership with access to a wide range of benefits from premium & popular brands such as Disney+ Hotstar, SonyLIV, Cricbuzz Plus, Gaana Plus, EazyDiner, ET Prime, TOI+,and many more. This one-stop shop also provides exclusive offers and discounts over Rs.60,000 on your favorite brands such as Myntra, Uber, Chaayos, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, etc.

Speaking on the latest collaboration of the brand, Harshita Singh, Business Head of Times Prime said, “The aim of this strategic partnership is to enrich the offering bouquet of an appliance leader like LG with Times Prime’s holistic ecosystem of all lifestyle brands under one app. This wholesome nature of our app integrated with an umbrella of offerings by LG is bound to benefit both brands for sales and engagement.”.”

As one of the most preferred lifestyle super-apps, Times Prime offers an extensive range of benefits on a single platform, from shopping to entertainment and lifestyle brands like Starbucks, Myntra, Uber, Disney+ Hotstar, SonyLIV, Google One, and many more. Times Prime positions itself as a unique Super App that curates subscriptions and benefits besides elevating lifestyle with superior & exclusive access to global brands and experiences. The campaign is designed to create a sense of urgency and dramatize the importance of availing the benefits of Times Prime subscription.

To know more about the LG InstaView Side by Side refrigerator, visit

LG Electronics: Buy TVs, Home Entertainment & Appliances | LG India

DNA Women Achievers Awards 2023 to celebrate the achievements of Women champions of India

DNA Women Achievers Awards 2023 to celebrate the achievements of Women champions of India

India, 1st March 2023: The inaugural DNA Women Achievers Awards 2023 is all set to celebrate and recognize the achievements of women game changers who have been successful in creating a better future through their intelligence, diligence, path-breaking performance, and grit. The upcoming on-ground event will also include panel discussions of women stalwarts across different industries on ‘The role of Indian successful women in boosting Indian economy and elevating the society’ and ‘Is Homemaking the first step towards Entrepreneurship for women?’ and will be held on 3rd March 2023 in Le Meridian, New Delhi.

The Women Achievers Awards 2023 event will be graced by Chief Guest- Darshana Jardosh, Minister of State for Railways and Keynote speaker – BK Shivani. Industry stalwarts like Supriya Paul (Josh Talks), Kanta Singh (Deputy Director-UN Women), Dr Ranjana Kumari(Director, Centre for Social), Maya Vishwakarma(Padwoman) etc will be a part of the panel discussion series at the event.

With the rollout of DNA Women Achievers Awards 2023, the Zee News-DNA team looks forward to rewarding deserving women leaders who have very meticulously turned every challenge into a meaningful opportunity and succeeded in various fields. Women leaders will be recognized under a huge umbrella of prestigious award categories in sectors like Auto, FMCG, Retail, Health, E-commerce, Start-ups, Jewellery etc.

Emphasizing on the key objective of Women Achievers Awards 2023, Mr. Sushant Mohan, CEO, DMCL, highlighted, “Women-led businesses provide a great impetus to the economy. We, at IDPL, look forward to appreciate the efforts and accomplishments of women leaders and entrepreneurs, who have been game changers their respective sectors and hope to inspire many more women to join the league.”

Mr. Shridhar Mishra, CRO, IndiaDotCom Private Digital Limited, further added, “We, at IDPL, look forward identifying the key areas where the women achievers have shone in the dark and overcome the most challenging phases of their career. These awards are not just the recognition for the hard work put in by these women, but a motivation for the larger society to follow the suit.”

The work of the nominees will rigorously be reviewed by an esteemed team of Jury members based on various judging parameters such as Leadership, Accomplishments, and Future Potential etc.

This event will be broadcasted LIVE on the Facebook platforms of Zee News and DNA.

Zivame is back with the 8th edition of India’s biggest intimate wear sale “The Grand Lingerie Festival” starting March 1st, 2023.

The biggest Intimate wear sal

Mumbai, March 1st, 2023: The final countdown begins and it’s time for you to start building your cart! Zivame, India’s No 1 D2C intimate wear brand announced the arrival of “The Grand Lingerie Festival” (GLF)- India’s biggest intimate wear sale. The sale is scheduled to start from Wednesday, March 1st, 8PM. Endorsed by the cheerful Kriti Sanon, this edition of The Grand Lingerie Festival offers consumer’s 50000+ styles across 100+ brands!

One of India’s most popular shopping events, Zivame’s Grand Lingerie Festival offers intimate wear for women for all her different occasions, moods and outfits. Along with Kriti Sanon, the event is being endorsed by popular TV faces across geographies from Krsyal D’Souza, Shanvi Srivastava, Malvika Menon, Aanchal Mujhal among others.

The brand has also roped in top influencers to create buzz around the event and encourage consumers to refresh their wardrobe for the upcoming ssummer season. The event will be promoted across multiple channels, including a large scale TV campaign, radio campaign, magazine ads across top metros and investments across digital channels.

Speaking about GLF, Khatija Lokhandwala, Head- Marketing, Zivame, said, “The Grand Lingerie Festival is a magnificent affair that celebrates intimate wear and gives consumers an opportunity to indulge in all that their hearts desire. Our campaign for the event aims to showcase the anticipation and excitement of shopping at the biggest intimate wear sale of the year and we hope that consumers will enjoy shopping their hearts out on account of the huge range of styles, attractive discounts, and fun games and contests”

Make UPI payments of up to Rs 200 without pin — Paytm makes single click payments possible with UPI LITE

Paytm UPI LITE enables users with quick and seamless transactions at a lightning fast speed on Paytm Super App. Users can carry out multiple transactions of smaller values of up to Rs 200 at one point. It allows users to add a maximum of Rs 2,000 twice a day, resulting in a total daily usage of up to Rs 4,000, at a single tap.

Paytm UPI LITE offers faster real-time transactions as no 4-6 digit PIN is required to make any payment. Owing to the ease, convenience, superior user experience, security and interoperability, Paytm UPI is the most preferred choice of users. Paytm UPI LITE is an ‘on-device wallet’ which enables real-time small value payments which reduces the load on the core banking system.

Currently, customers of UPI can only set up UPI LITE accounts. Also, users need to ensure that their bank supports UPI LITE features. Users can transfer UPI balance back to the same bank account anytime, without incurring any charges. It also declutters bank statements, with only one entry for all UPI LITE payments.

Paytm UPI LITE aims to make smaller value transactions hassle-free, quick and seamless. It also improves the success rate for UPI transactions while reducing the infrastructure load on the remitter bank’s systems. The process is so simple that users will be able to make smaller value transactions while paying for the groceries or topping up the phone balance with one-click single-factor authentication.

Making the entire experience quick and seamless, the company enables the users to conduct multiple transactions in a day up to Rs 4,000 in a single click without worrying about cap on the number of bank transactions. Paytm is the fastest in the industry with one of the lowest transaction failure rates in carrying out UPI transactions.

Indian CTOs push towards ‘New IT’in Lenovo CTOs study

Bangalore, 1st March 2023: – Lenovo, the global technology leader, undertook a global research study wherein 500 chief technology officers (CTOs) from various industries and countries shared their opinions on the future of technology, with 59 CTOs adding their perspectives from India.

The study uncovers interesting findings about CTOs’ viewpoints on how traditional IT will continue to evolve into a “New IT” architecture, where client devices, edge computing, cloud computing, network and artificial intelligence will all work together to address CTOs’ commons pain points and provide them with solutions as they drive further digitalization across all industries.

Ajay Sehgal, Executive Director for Commercial Business, Lenovo India, “The fact that CTOs from across the world are thrilled about the New IT architecture approach gives us hope and a perspective into the future of technology. These findings are extremely useful as the ICT sector develops new technological skills and innovation in the present for years to come. We will apply what we’ve learned from this study to help our clients better use data and produce insights that will change their businesses. This research has provided us with valuable insights into the goals and expectations of CTOs in the India market as well as globally.”

The top findings from Lenovo’s survey of more than 500 CTOs including the 59 Indian CTO’s Viewpoints are:

The shift to hybrid work environment is elevating the importance of elements of IT architecture:

● The majority of Indian CTOs had a favorable opinion of the technology architecture within their firm, with 57% describing it as “could be better,” 30% stating that it is “simple to use,” and only 13% categorizing it as “lacking.”
● Smart Devices, Smart IoT, and Scenario-Based Solutions, among other factors, are gaining relevance.
● Looking ahead, CTOs noted the importance of the cloud, software and computing as key components for the future of a hybrid work environment, with 90% optimistic about the future of the hybrid cloud.

Major challenges exist for CTOs relating to cybersecurity and accessibility in emerging tech:

● Respondents from India 90% all cited cybersecurity as a top challenge they need to address within their organizations.
● Compatibility issues in enterprise infrastructure and user experience are primary pain points when CTOs make purchasing, upgrading, migrating, and retiring decisions of IT infrastructure for their organizations.
● Specific challenges mentioned by the Indian CTOs are migration, skilling, and security.
○ The biggest issue is managing legacy systems as they get older and become obsolete, which adds to the pressure of having to find answers to significant problems quickly.
○ Increasing complexity in enterprise technology environments. The shortage of IT specialists caused by the exponential growth in demand is another issue.
○ Increasing cybersecurity and data privacy concerns with remote work.

CTOs say there is potential to utilize technology even more extensively at work:

● Other topics mentioned by CTOs as being crucial to the future of technology architecture include “R&D / Innovation” (9%), “Data Management” (7%) and security (6%) in addition to these five “New IT” components (Client, Edge, Cloud, Network, Intelligence).
● According to Indian CTOs, the New IT concept is the future of ICT (Information Communications Technology) architecture:
● New IT will help us in aspects of modern society. It is an innovative concept that helps companies adapt faster to changes. It ensures smarter and faster delivery of services
● The new architecture is definable, adaptable, and fluctuates with demand
● Indian CTOs also feel that there are other significant components that are important to shape the future of ICT (apart from the components of New IT). These components include Data Security, Upskilling of employees, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Customer satisfaction, AR, VR, and Metaverse.
● To ensure that the proper talent is applied to the right task, Indian CTOs also feel the need to upskill their workforce

Lenovo’s concept of “New IT” resonates among CTOs across the globe as and encompassing:

● Significant numbers of CTOs believe there is potential for their firms to make even greater use of IT infrastructure components including 5G MEC, the public edge cloud, IoT Edge, and private edge cloud across each of the five parts (Client – Edge – Cloud – Network – Intelligence).
● Most Global CTOs (87%) feel that third-party providers are crucial for assisting in resolving issues with technological architecture when trying to tackle technical issues.
● Indian CTOs believe that edge computing, cloud computing, network and AI/ Big Data will bring in intelligent transformation in the coming years.
○ Edge computing helps to protect sensitive company data and is safe to store on many cloud platforms. In the future, Indian CTOs would like to see edge computing provide cost optimization and efficiency, improved data security, and high accuracy for data entry and calculations.
○ They feel that cloud/ cloud computing can enable a faster integration to old IT technologies, eliminate security and privacy concerns and operate on larger data easily. Till now, cloud computing is being used to conduct special academic learnings.
○ Future networks, according to them, must be fast, secure, and provide a large amount of capacity. They also believe that a powerful 5G network for nationwide communication will give better and faster services. CTOs in India would also like to see the network reduce software and hardware costs, drastically improve system power transmission, and minimize network latency.
○ They feel that AI and big data may be used to study client behavior and deliver meaningful insights. Improvements to these could lessen the presence of incorrect information. They foresee significant improvements because of AI/Big Data, such as secure future technologies, focused and targeted promotions, and risk identification.

Wise unveils new look as it reaches 16 million customers served worldwide and continues global expansion

India, March 1, 2023: Wise, the global technology company building the best way to move and manage money is today rolling out a new look and feel. This comes as the company announced that it has reached 16 million customers served worldwide, and revealed plans for further global expansion.

The complete visual makeover features a fresh green palette and a bold new font, and draws from global currencies, languages, alphabets and places around the world.

Designed to make the Wise customer experience consistent regardless of the place or language they sign up in, the look also underscores Wise’s mission to build money without borders and its ambition to create a fast, convenient, cost-effective and transparent global alternative to the traditional correspondent system.

With around 6 million active customers moving over £25 billion each quarter, the company welcomes around 100,000 new customers every week.

Wise continues to take on the world

First launched in 2011, Wise continues to invest in expanding its unique international account offer and underlying infrastructure:

  • Wise Account: The world’s first international account for people, the account enables customers to send, spend, receive and hold money in 50+ currencies. Wise most recently introduced “Interest” in Assets in the UK, and “Balance Cashback” in Europe to the account 一 features to allow customers to earn a return on the money they hold in Wise, without compromising on their ability to instantly access their money when they need. Today, Wise also announced the launch of Assets in Singapore, and the feature will become available to customers in Europe next.
  • In India and Israel, Wise has secured licences to launch more services including the multi-currency account and card soon.
  • In addition, Wise is enabling customers to send funds to 11 more mobile wallets in Asia, including Touch n Go in Malaysia, GrabPay in the Philippines and ShopeePay in Indonesia.
  • Wise Business: The one account for international businesses, Wise Business offers everything the personal account has along with business specific tools like multi-user access, approval workflows, integrations into accounting software like Xero and expense cards for employees. Wise Business is used by over 300,000 businesses each quarter. In the US, Wise has begun rolling out cards to LLCs and sole proprietors.
  • Wise Platform: More than 60 banks and large businesses including GooglePay, Deel and Monzo offer their own customers faster, cheaper and more efficient international payments, powered by Wise, through Wise Platform partnerships. Wise Platform today also went live with Bank Mandiri, Indonesia’s largest bank by assets and global employment platform multiplier. Wise Platform also grew existing partnerships by building a new withdrawal service for Tiger Brokers’ investors to withdraw from their trading account quickly at the mid-market exchange rate.

Kristo Käärmann, co-founder and CEO of Wise commented:

“Our new look is inspired by the millions of people and businesses worldwide that use Wise today. It draws from where they come from, but also represents the excitement of the world open for them to conquer.

“Over the past year we’ve introduced new features to make Wise more useful to our customers, and made payments faster. We now deliver over half our payments to their recipient in less than 20 seconds. We also helped our customers save on fees 一 £1.5 billion compared to banks in 2022 alone.

“But there’s a long way to go. People and businesses are still being duped by hidden fees, and losing over £180 billion each year to their banks. This is money they could have otherwise used to pay bills, expand their businesses or even save for a rainy day. We don’t accept it and we’re committed to solving this for everyone, everywhere.”

The new look is rolling out across Wise’s website and mobile apps, and across the company’s digital channels such as social media over the day from 7am GMT/123 pm IST.