Global technology company Wise announced on Tuesday that it has expanded its holding and spending limits on the Wise account in Singapore.
This comes as Wise celebrates a 30 percent year-on-year increase in its local customer base, driven by increased demand for faster, cheaper and more transparent international payments, Wise said in a statement.
According to the statement, retail customers can now hold up to S$20,000 ($15,112) in their Wise account until the end of the day, quadrupling the previous limit of S$5,000 ($3,778).
In addition, customers can send or spend up to S$100,000 ($75,563) annually from their Wise account (instead of S$30,000 ($22,669).
There are no changes for Wise business customers – they can continue to hold unlimited balances and make transactions.
It is noted that Wise reported robust growth in Singapore in fiscal 2024, with the number of consumer and business customers there increasing by 30 percent year-on-year, representing steady growth since its launch in the country seven years ago.
This growth was driven by more customers than ever using a wider range of Wise account features to spend, receive, store and manage money in multiple currencies.
With the use of the Wise card, the number of cards issued to private and business customers in Singapore increased by 31 percent.
For Wise accounts, over £340 million (US$435 million) is held in personal and business Wise accounts in Singapore.
The increased limits will allow Wise to better meet the needs of its customers and save more, the statement said. Customers will no longer have to frustrate themselves by switching providers, which can result in high fees and hidden exchange rate surcharges once they reach the previous limit.
“With the higher limits, more people in Singapore can benefit from Wise’s low-cost, convenient and transparent experience, and save more on unnecessary transaction fees and inflated exchange rates.
“The previous limits were a problem for many customers who rely on Wise to send and receive living expenses from abroad and make large purchases,” said Shrawan (SK) Saraogi, Head of Expansion for Asia Pacific (APAC):
“When customers reach these limits, they are often forced to switch to other providers for the remainder of their transactions, which can be more expensive and less transparent.
“By expanding the limits, we can offer consumers more choice and thus promote a more competitive and innovative payments landscape,” he added.
In line with Wise’s commitment to ensuring the safety of its customers and their money, Wise is also introducing new security controls.
This includes additional authentication when customers perform high-risk activities.
This includes a 12-hour cooling-off period when customers log in to a new device, during which they cannot perform high-risk activities, such as increasing their transaction limit.
Additionally, it offers a one-click logout setting that allows customers to instantly log out of their Wise account from any device, lock their account and cards, and cancel any pending transactions.
In addition, the standard daily limit of S$1,000 (US$756) for card spending and ATM withdrawals has been reduced, and customers can adjust the limit according to their preferences.
To protect against phishing, Wise emails display the entire URL in plain text that cannot be clicked, so customers can verify that the URL leads to a legitimate Wise website before visiting.
These updates complement Wise’s existing robust security measures and alert mechanisms, such as two-factor authentication, real-time notifications of card transactions, and instant card freezing and blocking, the statement said.
Wise was founded in 2011 by Kristo Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus and was originally called TransferWise. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
In fiscal 2024, Wise served around 12.8 million people and businesses, processed approximately £118.5 billion ($152 billion) in cross-border transactions and saved customers over £1.8 billion ($2.3 billion).
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