Wise delists Atlantic Money – breach of its commitment to transparency
On Friday, Wise delisted its cheaper competitor (FCA regulated fixed-fee transfer provider Atlantic Money) from its price comparison tool.
With its flat fee transfers for £/€ 3, Atlantic Money was often shown as the cheapest option available in a number of G10 currencies.
Delisting Atlantic Money represents a move by Wise towards less transparency. Visitors to their well-ranked sites will no longer see a significantly cheaper alternative for transfers than Wise, despite its promise to do so in its Mission and Philosophy Statement.
Wise has also declined to list Atlantic Money on the numerous external price comparison sites that they own, like Exiap, creating a network of websites that feign neutrality.
Atlantic Money launched its own price comparison to ensure consumers can compare against Wise.
For over a decade Wise has been fighting for fairer conditions within the money transfer market and has become a role model for a value driven and consumer rights-focused business. Under the promise of ‘We charge as little as possible’, they won the hearts and minds of millions of customers, accelerated by the promise of even directing consumers to competitors’ websites if Wise ‘won’t be your cheapest option’. At least this is what they told us.
On Friday, against a backdrop of price rises and a languishing share price, Wise took the step to delist its cheaper competitor from its well-known price comparison tool, declaring the company as not being legitimate enough. Yet Atlantic Money is authorised and regulated by the same authority as Wise (the FCA), and is even backed by the same top-tier venture capital firm (Index Ventures). This move by Wise represents a significant contradiction to its Mission and Philosophy Statement and means, despite their promise, users will not be able to see whether they are getting the best deal on their transfer.
Further, Wise also recently rejected Atlantic Money for similar reasons from being listed on other external comparison sites they control, like Exiap.com and Geldtransfer. Yet Exiap states ‘We do not investigate the solvency of companies we mention’ in their T&Cs. At Geldtransfer, they go further and claim ‘If another company is cheaper than us, we will always say so’. This is not the case.
Wise’s strategy appears simple: First, they champion transparency to earn trust. Then, once transparency no longer serves the business interest, they quietly abandon it. We’re seeing this play out here, with price transparency. Transparency was great for Wise when they were mainly on top. Now that they’re not, transparency disappears in favour of burying information and competitors – harming the consumer interest they promised to protect.
It’s particularly notable that established, independent comparison sites that are not owned by Wise, like Monito and Moneytransfers, work with Atlantic Money. Martin Lewis’ famous financial guide, Money Saving Expert, also lists Atlantic Money as a valid option for money transfers that compared to Wise ‘can work out cheaper’.
Neeraj Baid, co-founder of fixed-fee money transfer provider Atlantic Money notes:
“Wise’s foundation is built on the promise of trust, transparency and doing the best for the people. It’s disappointing to see now that they become what they have always fought against. We are even more convinced now that we are on the right track. People deserve to have a fixed price on their international transfers instead of paying more the more they send.”
Atlantic Money has formally raised its concerns in a letter to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
In a representative UK survey conducted earlier this month, Atlantic Money found that users of established fintechs like Wise and Revolut are concerned that these companies are creating monopolies, which may lead to higher prices.
To ensure that people can still compare Atlantic Money with Wise, the firm has published its own price comparison table: https://atlantic.money/gb/en/wise.