Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) has fined Wise Europe €16,000 over failures related to account reporting and fee information.
First reported by FNG, BaFin said Wise failed to report its German account model to the regulator’s account comparison service for a prolonged period, despite payment providers being required to submit this information.
The regulator also identified problems with the firm’s internal processes for publishing information. These resulted in inaccurate or incomplete details about fees appearing on its website, as well as issues with the glossary used to explain payment account services.
The size of the fine is unlikely to trouble Wise, but it adds another regulatory issue for the payments company during a year in which its compliance has faced scrutiny in several markets.
In comments to Payment Expert, a Wise spokesperson said: “As part of our recent engagement with Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority ‘BaFin’, they highlighted some improvements we could make to how we present certain fee information to customers and how we share information on BaFin’s local comparison website in Germany.
“We welcome the feedback from BaFin and have quickly implemented these improvements. As Wise continues to grow and operate at scale, we’re committed to ensuring we meet the local regulatory expectations in each of the jurisdictions we operate in.”
What is BaFin’s account comparison service?
BaFin’s account comparison service aims to help consumers compare current and basic bank accounts available in Germany. It includes around 6,600 account tariffs from roughly 1,100 payment providers, covering details such as monthly fees and overdraft interest rates.
Under Germany’s Payment Accounts Act, providers must give BaFin the information needed to keep the service up to date. New account models, or changes to existing ones, must be reported within three business days through the watchdog’s online reporting system.
Providers must also keep fee information current on their websites and publish a glossary explaining the services linked to each account, hoping to make account fees clearer and easier to compare across different providers.
The UK has similar requirements around account-fee transparency and government-backed MoneyHelper operates a tool allowing consumers to compare current accounts and fees.
Wise faces wider regulatory scrutiny
The German fine, albeit quite small, comes during a year in which Wise has faced regulatory challenges in several markets.
In July, the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) rejected the firm’s application for a national trust bank charter due to what it described as “significant supervisory and compliance concerns”.
The charter would’ve allowed Wise to operate under a federal regulator and settle US dollar payments without relying on its existing network of state money-transmitter licences.
The OCC raised concerns around anti-money laundering (AML) controls at Wise’s US business and referenced a 2025 multi-state enforcement action in which Wise US agreed to pay $4.2m over Bank Secrecy Act and AML compliance failures.
Wise said its compliance programme had developed significantly since the original charter application was prepared and confirmed plans to submit a new application.
Elsewhere, Belgian prosecutors are investigating Wise Europe in relation to suspected money laundering involving more than €500m of transactions. Wise disclosed the investigation in June and said at the time that no findings had been shared with the company.
