For our customers sending money with Wise or holding money in the Wise account in the US, in keeping with US state obligations, we protect our customers’ funds in a mix of cash in leading commercial banks and investments in secure liquid assets, primarily government bonds. We also keep your money separate from the money we use to run our business.
Here’s an overview of where we predominantly hold customer money in the US:
| Type | Institution |
|---|---|
| Cash Deposit | GOLDMAN SACHS BANK USA |
| Cash Deposit | JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A. |
| Cash Deposit | WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A.E |
| Secure Liquid Assets | US Government Bonds |
We hold funds in cash with the banks and in assets that are deemed low risk and highly liquid in order to diversify risk and maximise liquidity. We take this approach to make sure your money is highly liquid and therefore always available to you.
We limit the term-to-maturity of any US Government Bonds we buy to 2 years or less and the average duration of funds held as US Government bonds is less than 6 months.
We are not a bank, which means we do not lend out our customers’ money to people or businesses. It also means our money transfer service and Wise account balances where you haven't opted into interest are not subject to FDIC insurance.
If you’ve opted-in to earn interest on your Wise account, you're able to take advantage of FDIC passthrough insurance on your USD balance up to 250,000 USD.
Learn more about earning interest on your USD balance
Who regulates Wise?
In the US, Wise US Inc is licensed as a money transmitter in the states listed here, and supervised by regulatory authorities in each of those states.
Wise US Inc. is registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and renews its registration annually.
In other US states and/or territories, money transmission services are offered by our partner financial institution Community Federal Savings Bank, which is supervised by the Office of the Comptroller of Currency.
We follow a strict set of rules set by our regulators in each country in which we operate, such as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) in Europe and 48 state regulators in the USA. These regulators protect the market in which we operate.
Learn more about how and where we are regulated