Thiel-Backed TransferWise Joins Banks in U.K. Payments System

TransferWise Ltd., one of Europe’s largest financial technology startups, took a big step into the mainstream as the Bank of England gave it the same rights as retail banks to process payments.

For TransferWise, whose backers include Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures and asset-management company Old Mutual Global Investors, gaining access to the U.K.’s Faster Payments system is “game-changing,” Chief Executive Officer Kristo Kaarmann said in a statement April 18.

BOE Governor Mark Carney said that plugging the first non-bank into the U.K.’s interbank payment systems is part of a plan to stimulate competition and innovation that will “reinforce financial stability ...