Atlantic Money is taking its dispute with British fintech Wise to the European Commission after Wise delisted the payments firm from its price comparison tool.
It is an escalation of the clash between the two fintech companies after Atlantic Money wrote to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) regarding the issue in January.
Neeraj Baid, co-founder, Atlantic Money, said: “Wise’s conduct is clearly not in the interests of consumers who ultimately will suffer in the form of paying significantly higher fees.
“Wise is exploiting its previously established, and now false, image as a consumer advocate to drive profit for its shareholders by unfairly promoting its own products.”
According to the payment transfer service, it has also been blocked from price comparison sites owned by Wise including Currencylive.com, Exiap.com and Geldtransfer.org.
A Wise spokesperson told UKTN that the company is “not afraid to list cheaper competitors” and it has removed Atlantic Money “for a number of operational reasons, including queries received from customers about their business”.
UKTN asked Wise for clarification on the operational reasons and customer queries, but the fintech declined to comment further.
Atlantic Money said it has asked Wise for these details following its letter to the CMA but this information “has failed to materialise”.
Writing to the European Commission, Atlantic Money is claiming that Wise is not complying with Article 102 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the EU, which promotes competition and innovation.
Baid added: “We think this is unacceptable and look forward to working with the European Commission and all other necessary regulatory stakeholders.”
Atlantic Money said its letter to the CMA is still under review and “likely to be a while” before they hear of “anything of note” back.
London-based Atlantic Money emerged from stealth last March and launched in July with a £2.5m raise. Its service lets users send up to £1m internationally, with no FX charge for a flat cost of £3.