- Wise has acquired expat resource Expatica, gaining access to a website that attracted more than 7 million visits in 2025 from people researching and navigating life abroad.
- The deal gives Wise an earlier touchpoint with prospective customers, allowing it to build brand awareness and trust before consumers choose a bank, payments provider, or money transfer service.
- Wise plans to expand Expatica’s content and geographic reach, strengthening its position among the growing global population of expats and internationally mobile consumers.
Cross-border payments fintech Wise announced this week that it has acquired Expatica, an online resource for people living and working abroad. The move places Wise front and center among one of its most important customer groups, expats.
Expatica was founded in 2000 to provide local guidance for people living internationally. The company’s website serves as a directory that covers topics such as relocation, housing, finance, lifestyle, healthcare, and immigration. The website reached more than 7 million visits in 2025, with its largest audiences coming from France, Germany, Portugal, and Spain.
According to the UN, 304 million people (3.7% of the world’s population) were international migrants in 2024. With Expatica serving as a long-standing expert in the field, the acquisition will help Wise reach prospective expats earlier in their relocation journey, increasing the company’s visibility among a broader international audience.
By acquiring Expatica, Wise gains access to consumers when they are researching a move abroad—often before they have selected a bank, payments provider, or money transfer service. That early engagement could help Wise build brand awareness and trust long before a customer needs to move money internationally.
“Expatica has spent years helping people make sense of life abroad with practical, locally relevant guidance. That makes it a strong fit for Wise, because we already support millions of people whose lives span borders,” said Wise Head of Owned Sites Danny Butler. “When people are planning, moving and settling into life abroad, money is a big part of that experience—from getting paid to sending, spending and managing money across borders. Wise is built for those moments.”
Wise plans to maintain and augment Expatica’s website, with investments planned to expand the company’s content, local coverage, markets, and languages over time. As Expatica’s users leverage its resources to navigate life in a new country, Wise wants to become a familiar and relevant choice for expats who need to manage money across borders.
Wise was founded in 2011 under the name TransferWise to facilitate cross-border payments while bringing transparency to the fees involved. The company serves 19 million active customers worldwide, processing over $240 billion in cross-border transactions.
Photo by Gustavo Fring
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