Wise: International Transfers Security & Privacy Scorecard

Wise: International Transfers

What This Means for You

Transfer history, device activity, and in-app behavior are shared with Mixpanel, Braze, Facebook, and Singular for analytics and marketing. Financial usage patterns help build an advertising profile tied to the user's account. Several serious data protection concerns were identified across the app.

Recommendation: Use With Caution

Best For: Frequent travelers comfortable with analytics
Avoid If: You avoid sharing financial habits with ad networks

Key Findings

Data Security - 7 findings (4 critical, 2 high, 1 medium)

Network Security - 2 findings (1 critical, 1 medium)

Code Safety - 0 findings

Privacy - 8 findings (2 critical, 3 high, 3 medium)

Privacy Concerns

What Data is Collected

This app collects device identifiers, behavioral data, financial transaction patterns, and location information. Data collection covers user activity within the app, how transfer features are used, and details about the device and its configuration.

Third-Party Data Sharing

User data is shared with the following third-party services:

• Mixpanel - behavioral analytics and event tracking
• Braze - marketing automation and push notification targeting
• Facebook SDK - advertising and audience profiling
• Singular - mobile attribution and marketing analytics
• Firebase - app performance monitoring and crash reporting

Additional integrated services include FaceTec (identity verification), Sardine (fraud detection), Twilio (communications), Google Maps, and Google Wallet.

Understanding the Scores

Positive Security Features

• Fraud detection services (Sardine) are integrated to help protect user accounts from unauthorized activity.
• Identity verification through FaceTec adds a layer of protection to high-risk account actions.

Areas for Improvement

• Financial usage patterns and in-app behavior are shared with advertising and marketing networks; reducing the scope of that sharing would better protect user privacy.
• Data protection practices for information stored on the device need strengthening to meet the standard expected of a financial application handling international transfers.
• The number of third-party services with access to account activity should be reduced and disclosed more clearly before sign-up.

About This Analysis

App Details