OakNorth, the UK digital bank for entrepreneurs, has selected Wise Platform — Wise’s global payments infrastructure for banks and enterprises — to handle international payments for its UK business banking customers. Announced October 7, the integration lets OakNorth’s business clients, companies with annual turnover between £1 million and £100 million, send payments in more than 20 currencies, including euros, US dollars, British pounds, Indian rupees, Hong Kong dollars and Chinese yuan, at the mid-market exchange rate. Wise says 77% of these transfers settle in under 20 seconds.
The change is aimed at businesses that regularly pay suppliers, partners or service providers overseas and have had to absorb unpredictable costs and delays through traditional international transfers — it does not extend to OakNorth’s retail or personal accounts.
Research commissioned by Wise and conducted independently by Edgar, Dunn & Company found UK SMEs are projected to send more than £615.5 billion overseas in 2027, with overseas payment volumes forecast to grow 22% between 2026 and 2029, while hidden fees on traditional cross-border payments are estimated to cost UK SMEs £7.5 billion that same year.
Manuel Sandhofer, EMEA General Manager at Wise Platform, said the aim is to make cross-border payments “fast, transparent and low-cost” so that businesses are not losing money to hidden fees. Peter King, Director of Business Banking at OakNorth, said integrating Wise Platform gives customers more certainty over payment costs and delivery times, helping them “spend less time managing cross-border payments and more time focused on growing their businesses.” OakNorth joins banks including Monzo, UniCredit, N26, Morgan Stanley and Standard Chartered already using Wise Platform.
References
Wise Newsroom – OakNorth Selects Wise Platform to Power International Payments for UK Businesses / IBS Intelligence – OakNorth Partners Wise Platform for Cross-Border Payments
