The power of proximity

I come from the US, and that’s where I started working for Wise – I was used to banks in the US, with their bureaucratic forms, legal jargon, and generally unpleasant, slow user experiences.  Shortly after joining Wise, I relocated to Budapest, Hungary, where I live today.  At first, I signed up for a bank account in Hungary, but soon after, I realised that given my circumstances (mostly, as an expat) that the convenience of Wise and the comfort it gave me when using it made it a more realistic everyday banking solution for me – (though I’m conscious that may not be the case for everyone!). 

Despite the money and headache my Wise account saves compared to my alternatives, I don’t think these things are necessarily the most valuable part of being an everyday customer.  If you’re an engineer, you probably like to know how things fit together – for me, that’s the fun part of using the Wise Account.  As time passes, you begin to form a mental model of how all the different teams and the services they own fit together. When I spot something I think could be improved, or notice a new feature that I want to learn more about, I just do a little digging – there’s a Confluence page or a Slack channel for everything, where questions and feedback are well received. 

Being a customer makes me well positioned to give feedback on the Wise product, and thanks to the open door policy and flat hierarchy at Wise, it’s relatively easy to find the right team to give that feedback to.  Being an engineer means that even before I speak to anyone, I already have an idea of the possible teams and services that might be involved. Not to mention, to all of my friends and family that use Wise, I’m their subject matter expert, which means I can guide them in using the Wise Account and funnel their feedback back to the respective teams across the company. 

But, engaging with the product you’re building doesn’t just benefit the team around you, or even the organisation as a whole – it benefits you, just as much.  Being a user of the product means that I can satiate my own curiosity about when specific features will become available to me – which drives me to learn more about how Wise’s architecture fits together – which in turn boosts my knowledge on various domains – and finally, enriches the conversations I’m able to have with my team and drives the things that I build to be more holistic and comprehensive.  This cyclical process drives my own growth, as I become more competent and aware of how I can impact the business.

And finally, using Wise as my everyday banking partner – even getting my salary deposited there – means I’ve got skin in the game.  I wouldn’t be keen to work on a product that I wouldn’t use myself.  I’ve been at Wise for this long because I believe in the mission and align with the values – and I’m excited to be working on something that brings clarity and accountability to the world of finance. By using the product, I’m personally invested in the company’s success, and showing my support for this mission – this helps to reinforce my own motivation and sense of purpose, and that’s pretty darn cool. 

In short, building this personal relationship with Wise as a customer has loads of benefits, but put simply; it just makes sense.  It benefits everyone involved, most of all, you as the employee – through generating a deeper understanding of how Wise works, you can use this to maximise your impact and achieve career growth.  Right on.