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Itaú Unibanco has partnered with Wise Platform to enable customers to send and make digital payments in foreign currency instantly and directly through the Itaú app. The goal is to deliver an even more complete solution for its customers, who already have currency reserves through the app and an international account.

Itaú expanding reach in Brazil

Itaú is strengthening its presence in the Brazilian foreign exchange market, where it achieved leadership in the primary ranking published by the Central Bank of Brazil. In partnership with Wise Platform, the solution it is launching will transform the experience of individual customers with international foreign exchange needs. Offering immediate digital payments and remittances, with tracking of transactions.

The new solution will allow customers to make international digital payments or send money in the same way and with the same simplicity as Pix. This can be done at any time of the day, every day of the week, overcoming business hours restrictions. In addition, the entire process can be monitored in real time, with transparency and visibility over each stage of the transaction.

“Over the past few years, we have evolved our foreign exchange solutions for tourists, offering currency exchange reservations directly through the app and withdrawal at our branches or 24-hour ATMs. We launched the international account and expanded the benefits of points on our credit cards, and now we have evolved in international remittances. People need to send money abroad, whether to make a payment or to send money to a child who is on an exchange program, for example. To meet this need, we believe that sending money abroad should be as easy and fluid as Pix and directly in the Itaú app.”

Gabriel Rombenso, Superintendent of Products and Corporate Sales at Itaú Unibanco

Instant Digital Payments with Wise Platform

Initially, it will be possible to send and pay instantly in Euros and Pound Sterling for transactions under the same holder. The aim is to offer 12 additional currencies for digital payments, including US dollars, Canadian dollars, Australian dollars, Japanese yen, and New Zealand dollars, by the end of 2025.

“The partnership with Itaú, is a true testament to how banks can deliver better cross-border payments experiences to their customers at scale by leveraging the capabilities of Wise Platform. Itaú shares our strong vision of improving cross-border money movement. We are excited to work with them to make cross-border payments – fast, transparent, affordable and convenient – a core element of their service.”

Steve Naudé, Global Managing Director of Wise Platform

With this initiative, Itaú Unibanco advances its innovation strategy and reaffirms its commitment to placing the customer at the centre of the journey, It is offering solutions that combine cutting-edge technology with the solidity and trust of a leading institution in the Brazilian financial market.

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Digital Payments

At Money20/20 Europe in Amsterdam, Till Wirth, EVP of Product at Wise Platform, took part in an impactful session titled “From Personal Payments to Enterprise: The Changing World of Cross-Border.” Wirth’s panel talk focused on the transformative trends in cross-border payments and their implications for both personal and enterprise financial transactions.

“Wise is a global technology company building the best way to move money around the world. Wise Platform is Wise – but for banks, large businesses and other major enterprises.

We allow our partners to embed the best way to send, receive and manage money internationally into their existing infrastructure, creating value for their business and customers.

Over the past decade, Wise (formerly known as Transferwise) has built a global payments infrastructure that has revolutionised how money moves around the world. Now, thanks to Wise Platform, other companies can gain access to our industry-leading, reliable service seamlessly.

We save partners time and money by allowing them to deploy new products and services to customers seamlessly, helping them to speed up innovation and serve, retain, and grow their customer base.”

FinTech Strategy spoke with Wirth to learn more…

Tell us about the genesis of Wise… Why is this an exciting time for the company?

“For us at Wise, it’s all about continuing towards our mission of making international payments fast, low-cost, convenient and transparent for our customers and partners.

It’s an exciting time for us as we’ve moved over £118bn on behalf of our 12.8 million active customers in the last financial year and helped them save more £1.8bn in fees. Over 62% of Wise’s transfers are completed instantly (in 20 seconds or less). Wise Platform, our global payments infrastructure for banks and enterprises is growing quickly, too, which allows us to bring the benefits of Wise to more people around the world.”

Tell us about your role…

“I lead the Wise Platform Product team building the global payments infrastructure for banks, financial institutions and enterprises around the world. For example, my team built the product behind the collaboration we announced with Swift last year.”

What are some of the key challenges financial institutions are facing that you can help them with? What problems are they asking you to solve?

“Consumers now expect their cross-border payments to be instant, convenient and transparent. And they are moving to providers they can trust to provide these services. As a result, we’re seeing banks focusing on retaining and winning back their customers through improving their cross-border payments experience. This is exactly what Wise Platform is helping them to do.

We work with more than 85 partners globally, including Bank Mandiri, Indonesia’s largest bank by assets, Shinhan Bank, one of South Korea’s oldest and largest national banks, and GMO in Japan to provide them with the capabilities, technology and network to enable fast, secure and cost-effective international payments for their customers. Quickly, directly from their own apps, without any major technical overhaul.”

Tell us about a recent success story…

“In June this year, Wise Platform hit a major milestone when our integration with Nubank, the world’s largest digital banking platform with over 100 million customers, went live.

Thanks to our partnership, Nubank’s premium Ultraviolet customers can now access multi-currency accounts and debit cards powered by Wise directly from their Nubank app. Customers benefit from a convenient user experience that we’ve tested and iterated over the years for our own customers to seamlessly manage their finances internationally.”

Why do you think the evolution of collaboration between banks and fintechs is set to continue?

“One of the reasons is that while banks have scale, they can gain agility in non core focus areas by working with fintechs and deliver significant customer benefits quickly.

Most banks have been built to focus on domestic banking, meaning their global cross-border payments are often not a priority. However, fintechs are better able to specialise and focus on one specific customer pain point. This means they can innovate much more quickly.”

Why Money20/20? What is it about this particular event that makes it the perfect place to showcase what you do? What’s the response been like for Wise?

“It’s a great event that brings the industry together and enables us to discuss the progress we’re collectively making. This year in particular, it was great to be on a panel to discuss how the cross-border payments landscape is evolving and the latest trends we’re seeing. We look forward to the upcoming event in the US later this year.”