Wise ordered to pay $2.5 million for misleading fees and disclosure violations

The international remittance company Wise has been ordered to pay nearly $2.5 million by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for a series of illegal actions, including misleading customers about fees and failing to properly disclose exchange rates and other costs.

The CFPB found that Wise misled customers in the United States about ATM fees and failed to disclose other charges accurately, according to a statement released on Thursday. Additionally, when customers sent money that did not arrive on time, Wise failed to refund the remittance fees within the legally required timeframe.

The CFPB is ordering Wise to pay approximately $450,000 in redress to harmed consumers and to pay a $2.025 million civil money penalty. “Overall, the company’s actions led to hundreds of thousands of dollars in harm to consumers,” the statement said.

Wise sent multiple emails and blog posts to its customers worldwide, promoting lower ATM fees, free withdrawals, and other perks. However, the CFPB found that these promotions misled U.S. customers into believing they applied to them when they did not.

The company also committed several disclosure violations, including failing to provide accurate fee information to consumers who funded prepaid accounts using a credit card through Apple Pay or Google Pay. Additionally, Wise failed to properly disclose exchange rates, did not refund fees when funds were unavailable to recipients by the promised date, and failed to meet other required disclosure obligations.

Wise PLC is a publicly traded global electronic money services provider headquartered in the United Kingdom. It operates in the United States through Wise US, a wholly owned subsidiary that offers international money transfer services—also known as remittance transfers—through a mobile app.

“By deceiving customers, Wise gave itself an unfair advantage over other competitors in the remittances market,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. “New technology can help make money transfers cheaper and more convenient, but companies must be truthful and live up to longstanding law.”