10 Wise Software Engineer (New Grad, London) Interview Questions (2026)
Wise's new-grad SWE loop in London in 2026 is a recruiter screen, a take-home coding task, a technical phone interview, and a three to four round virtual onsite. Wise (formerly TransferWise) emphasizes mission alignment (transparent cross-border money), strong written communication, and async work patterns. Rounds skew toward practical problem-solving over leetcode tricks.
By Alex Chen, Founder, InterviewChamp.AI · Last verified
Loop overview
London new-grad timelines run 5-8 weeks in 2026. Flow: recruiter screen → take-home (typically 4-6 hour project) → 45-min technical phone screen → three to four virtual onsite rounds. Onsite includes a take-home extension/discussion, one coding round, one design conversation, and one behavioral. Wise values written explanations of your design choices.
Behavioral (3)
Tell me about Wise's mission. Why does this matter to you?
Frequently askedOutline
Wise's mission is 'money without borders' — transparent, fast, cheap cross-border transfers. Tie it to a personal story (family abroad, study abroad, freelance for international clients). Show you understand the problem space, not just the company. Generic answers underperform.
Tell me about a time you had to write a clear explanation of a complex technical decision.
Frequently askedOutline
Wise's engineering culture is heavily written and async. Pick an RFC, design doc, or PR description you wrote. Walk through: what you were proposing, how you structured the doc, what feedback you got. Show that you write for readers, not for yourself.
Tell me about a project you owned from idea to ship.
Frequently askedOutline
Wise values end-to-end ownership. Show: how you identified the problem, designed a solution, made tradeoffs, shipped, measured. Quantify impact. Show what you would do differently in retrospect. Generic 'we built X' answers underperform.
Coding (LeetCode patterns) (3)
Implement a function that returns the longest palindromic substring of a string.
Frequently askedOutline
Expand around center: for each index, expand outward checking even and odd palindromes. O(n^2) time, O(1) space. Or DP for O(n^2) time and space. Mention Manacher's for O(n) as a follow-up but do not write it unless asked.
Given a string of digits, return all valid IP address representations.
Occasionally askedOutline
Backtracking: try splits of length 1, 2, 3 for each of the 4 segments. Validate each segment (0-255, no leading zeros except '0' itself). Time O(1) practically (bounded by IP format). Walk through a small example.
Implement a function that returns true if two strings are one edit (insert, delete, replace) away from each other.
Occasionally askedOutline
Compare lengths first — if differ by more than 1, return false. Two pointers walking both strings; allow one mismatch (skip one character on the longer string). O(n) time, O(1) space. Walk through three cases: equal length (one replace), one shorter (one insert/delete).
Technical (3)
Implement a function that calculates the total fee for a cross-border transfer given a tiered fee schedule (percent + fixed component).
Frequently askedOutline
Walk through: identify the tier from the amount, compute fee = percent * amount + fixed. Discuss rounding (always favor the customer by rounding fee down to cent), currency precision (use integer minor units, never floats). Show tests for tier boundaries.
Given a list of FX quotes from multiple liquidity providers, find the best price to fill a $1M USD-to-EUR order.
Frequently askedOutline
Quotes are typically tiered (rate depends on size). Sort by effective rate, fill greedily from the best down. Track cumulative fill until $1M is met. Discuss partial fills if size exceeds top-of-book. Time O(n log n) for sort.
How would you debug a transfer that is stuck in 'pending' state for hours?
Occasionally askedOutline
Pull the transfer's state-machine log. Check the last transition: which downstream service was being awaited? Check that service's logs. Look for retries that failed silently. Verify the funds movement on the rails (SWIFT, SEPA, etc.). End with how you communicate with the customer. Wise is customer-facing; comms quality counts.
System / object-oriented design (1)
Design a system that lets users hold balances in 50+ currencies and instantly convert between them.
Frequently askedOutline
Discuss: per-currency ledger per user, FX-rate service with cache, atomic transfer between two ledgers (debit source, credit target, single transaction or two-phase commit), audit trail. Walk through one conversion path. Mention regulatory considerations (anti-money-laundering checks) at a high level.
Wise interview tips
- Wise's mission ('money without borders') is central to behavioral rounds. Bring a personal story tied to it.
- Written communication matters. Practice writing clear design rationales — RFCs are part of daily work.
- Java and Kotlin dominate backend, with some Go and Python. The interview accepts any language.
- London office is hybrid. Visa sponsorship for non-UK candidates is supported.
- Take-home tasks are reviewed live in the onsite. Be ready to defend every design choice in detail.
Frequently asked questions
How long is Wise's SWE new-grad interview process in London in 2026?
Most reports show 5-8 weeks from take-home to offer. The take-home itself adds 1-2 weeks depending on candidate availability.
Does Wise London sponsor work visas?
Yes, including the UK Skilled Worker visa. Confirm specifics with your recruiter.
Does Wise ask system design for new-grad SWE?
Yes, one round is a system design discussion. New-grads show structured thinking and tradeoff awareness; senior-level depth is not expected.
What languages does Wise use?
Java and Kotlin dominate. Some Go and Python in newer services. TypeScript for web. The interview accepts any language.
Is Wise London remote-friendly?
Hybrid is the norm — 2-3 days in-office for most teams. Some fully-remote roles within the UK and select EU countries. Confirm with your recruiter.
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