The Wise logo is displayed on the smartphone screen.
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Wise was accused by a rival fintech company of undermining competition in the money transfer market.
Atlantic Money, a smaller foreign exchange service, made the claim in a letter to Britain’s competition authority, the Competition and Markets Authority.
Shares in Wise, which will debut on the London Stock Exchange in 2021, were trading at £5.14 a piece at 10:30am London time, down 2% from Thursday’s market close.
Wise has a market capitalization of 5.3 billion pounds ($6.6 billion).
In a letter Atlantic Money shared with CNBC, the company says Wise unfairly removed it from the price comparison section of its website and refused to include it on Exiap, a foreign exchange fee comparison site also owned by Wise.
Wise owns two other currency transfer comparison sites, Geldtransfer and Currencyshop.
The letter to Atlantic Money said it was originally listed as Wise on its website on October 14, 2022. It was later delisted on January 20, 2023, when Wise allegedly told Atlantic Money it was “no longer considered a legitimate competitor “. “
In a letter, Atlantic Money said it believed Wise’s conduct was “harmful to UK and EU competition and, we argue, ultimately leads to higher fees for end consumers”.
Atlantic Money offers a flat fee of £3 on all currency conversions up to £1 million. Its commission is lower than Wise for transfers of £1,000 or more.
Formerly known as TransferWise, Wise has long touted itself as a consumer advocate, pushing for transparency in fees charged by banks for moving money across borders.
“We have decided to remove Atlantic Money at this time for a number of operational reasons, including inquiries from customers about their business. We take any complaints very seriously,” a spokesperson for Wise told CNBC via email in response to a request for comment. on the Atlantic Money letter.
“We’re very proud to have a comparison tool as part of our website and we’re not afraid to list cheaper competitors. We’ve done it for years and still do.”
The letter could be a precursor to an investigation into whether Wise’s conduct is in breach of competition law.
A CMA spokesman said the regulator could not comment on specific cases outside of a formal investigation.
