Wise is a money transfer platform built for international money transfer. Wise values transparency and simplicity- ensuring customers know exactly what to expect upfront every time.The experience is designed to feel approachable and trustworthy in a space that has historically felt opaque and frustrating.
The engagement
I was brought on to the Wise team to help out on a mid-flight project around improving the process of how customers resolve sanctions flags within the app.
What is a sanction?
Measures imposed by governments or international organizations against individuals, entities, or entire countries to prevent them from engaging in illicit financial activities.
To comply with sanctions, financial institutions and businesses perform sanctions screening by checking individuals, entities, or transactions against official lists published by governments and international bodies, such as the OFAC list and the UN Security Council Consolidated List
A hit happens when a customer sets up a transfer to a recipient with a location keyword in either the recipient’s name or address.
Current process for recipient hits
Sender sets up new recipient for money transfer
Sender starts transfer. Transfer is flagged
Transfer shows its in progress but not clearly stated whats going on.
Customer is notified via email and requested for more info.
Sanctions rules are complex.The customer experience shouldn’t be.
Problem: There are 40k cases of manual casework per month
Agents tend to cancel & refund rather than ask more questions
Cases are slow to get resolved.
Static catch-all questionnaires result in low quality answers
Agents tend to cancel & refund rather than ask more questions.
Solution
Add a new self-service flow
Improve questionnaire
Problem: Lack of visibility of sanctions in the app
Many sanctions hit notifications only show up in email which customers can miss
In a worst case scenario, customer wont see email and their account will get deactivated from not responding
Solution
Add entry points in-app to self-service flows.
Update transfer status in real-time to set expectations.
A new self-service flow
Improved visibility throughout the app
Learnings + Outcomes
Increased adoption of the sanctions self-serve flow to 65%
Reduced manual caseload for agents by 30% and cut related support inquiries by 18%
Reduced ambiguity for users while helping compliance teams resolve cases with less manual intervention
Reinforced that trust and operational efficiency are closely linked in high-stakes financial experiences