LONDON—International payments fintech Wise has debuted on the London Stock Exchange at a valuation of £8.75 billion, the largest listing in history for a U.K. tech company.
Wise selected London for a direct listing, the first of its kind for a technology firm on the LSE, Fintech Futures stated.
Founded in 2011 as TransferWise, the firm originally focused on removing fees charged by banks and foreign exchange firms for cross-border payments.
Since then, it has dropped the first half of its name and pivoted towards a platform strategy, offering its payments systems to institutions. Earlier this year it signed U.K. challenger bank Monzo, Fintech Futures explained.
On the retail side, the firm claims to have more than 10 million customers and has also seen its profits double to £30.9 million in its 2021 fiscal year. The firm processes £5 billion in cross-border transactions per month, Fintech Futures said.