Choose a point of view your brand can support with evidence

Wise argues that people should always know what a transaction costs, and runs its pricing to match. Five tests for a position you can defend when someone asks for proof.

A point of view is a clear position your company takes on how something in your market should work. Good ones attract attention. Weak ones collapse the first time someone asks for proof.

Wise, the London-founded money transfer company, offers a useful model. Its position is simple, measurable and backed by its own pricing.

Wise’s position: hidden fees are wrong

In its annual report for the year to 31 March 2026, filed with the SEC, Wise sets out its mission as “money without borders”. It says people and businesses should always know what each transaction actually costs.

That is a point of view, not a product claim. It criticises a common practice in banking: adding a markup to the exchange rate without telling the customer clearly.

What makes it credible is that Wise organises its business around the claim. The annual report says its average cross-border take rate fell from 0.58% to 0.52% during the year, and presents passing savings back to customers as a core part of its model.

Evidence in three layers

Wise supports its position with three kinds of evidence. Each is useful to study, and each has limits.

Its own numbers. The annual report says Wise moved $243.5 billion across borders for 18.9 million people and businesses during the year. It estimates that it saved customers about $3.3 billion, based on its own comparison with other banks’ published rates and fees.

That savings figure is Wise’s estimate, not an independent audit. A careful reader treats it as a claim with a stated method.

Its own research. On a campaign page about EU payment rules, Wise says it checked banks’ money transfer journeys across European countries. It reports that 92% of the banks it looked at were not fully transparent.

The page explains its method: screenshots collected between August 2022 and May 2023, described as a one-off snapshot. Wise is a competitor of the banks it studied, so this is interested research, and the date range matters.

The law. Wise links its position to the EU’s Cross-Border Payments Regulation, Regulation 2019/518. Among other things, the regulation requires providers to tell customers the estimated currency conversion charges before a credit transfer is made.

Pointing to a rule written by legislators moves the argument from “we think” to “the law expects”. That is strong evidence for a point of view.

How to choose your own point of view

Most companies have opinions. Few have positions they can defend under pressure. Use five tests before you commit.

1. Is it about the customer’s problem?

Wise’s position is about what customers lose to hidden fees. It is not about Wise’s technology. Start from a cost, risk or frustration your buyers already feel.

2. Does your business model support it?

A point of view that your own pricing or service contradicts will backfire. Wise publishes its fees, so it can criticise hidden ones. Check your own contracts, terms and practices before you criticise anyone else’s.

3. Can you show evidence a sceptic would accept?

List the evidence you have today. Rank it: independent data and regulation first, customer data second, your own research third, opinion last.

If the only evidence is opinion, you have a hypothesis, not a point of view. Run research before you go public.

4. Can you state it in one sentence?

“People should always know what a transaction costs” is easy to repeat. If your position needs a paragraph, sales teams and journalists will simplify it for you, often badly.

5. Will you still hold it in five years?

A good position outlasts a campaign. Wise’s mission statement says it set this goal fifteen years ago.

A worked example

Hypothetical: a Finnish industrial maintenance firm believes many factories replace parts on fixed schedules, even when sensor data shows the parts are healthy. Its proposed point of view: “Maintain on condition, not on the calendar.”

Applying the tests, the problem is real for customers. The firm’s own contracts, however, still charge clients for scheduled visits. It must change its pricing first, or the position will look hollow.

Its evidence is two client case studies and the team’s experience. Before going public, it commissions an anonymised analysis of maintenance records across 40 clients, with a clear method statement.

The details of this example are illustrative. The sequence is the point: fix the business, gather the evidence, then speak.

How to present the evidence

When you publish, show your working. Wise’s campaign page states when its screenshots were collected and what the research covered. That openness lets readers judge the claim.

Label each number as independent, customer-derived or your own estimate. Give dates. Say what the research did not cover.

Where the point of view should show up

A position that lives only in a campaign is easy to forget. Plan where it will appear before you launch.

Pricing and terms. This is where buyers test whether you mean it. Wise’s position is visible in how it shows fees.

Sales conversations. Give sales teams the one-sentence version, the strongest evidence and an honest answer to the most likely objection.

Expert commentary. Brief your spokespeople so they can explain the evidence and its limits when journalists ask. A clear method makes them easier to quote accurately.

This also makes your point of view easier for journalists and analysts to cite. A position with a clear method is safer for a third party to repeat than one built on adjectives.

Risks to manage

Competitors will push back. A point of view that criticises an industry practice invites scrutiny. Expect rivals to check your own record.

Data ages. Research from 2023 may not describe 2026. Set a date to refresh any study you rely on.

Consistency is hard. Every price change, product launch and customer message has to fit the position. Marketing cannot hold a point of view alone; leadership has to own it.