Airwallex

Based in Australia, Airwallex is a FinTech payment platform that enables enterprises to build cross-border payment and fund transfer systems, using application programming interfaces (APIs). Through the platform, enterprises can embed a range of services, including online payments, treasury, foreign currency transactions, managing foreign currency risks, and card issuing and management. 

Airwallex enables enterprises to transfer funds internationally in over 30 currencies (as of June 2022), and open and manage global accounts in more than 11 currencies. As of May 2021, the company had electronic money institution (EMI) licenses in its core markets, including the UK, the US , Australia, the European single market, and Hong Kong. 

The company also secured a money services business (MSB) license from Bank Negara Malaysia in September 2021 , which it believes will complement its team in Singapore to expand Airwallex’s operations in Southeast Asia. Its Asia Pacific expansion was further bolstered by expanding into New Zealand in June 2022. The company subsequently obtained a payment business license in China in March 2023, through the acquisition of Guangzhou Shang Wu Tong Network Technology Co Ltd. 

In May 2023, the company launched operations in Israel , with the intention of further expanding its presence across the EMEA in 2023. 

As of May 2023, the company had a workforce of over 1,300 employees based in over 20 locations across the globe.

Key customers and partnerships

Airwallex reportedly had “tens of thousands” of customers as of October 2022, including Papaya Global, HubSpot, Plum, and GOAT, among others. 

In February 2024, Airwallex entered into a multi-year partnership with McLaren Formula 1 team, to offer multi-currency payment options to meet its supply chain payments for all Grands Prix.

Over the last few years, the company has been adding a range of products to its platform, with some notable additions in 2020 such as multi-currency debit cards with Visa, a bank feed integration, and a small and medium businesses (SMB) rewards program. In May 2021, it expanded its online card payment acceptance solutions to Hong Kong, allowing domestic merchants to accept Visa and Mastercard online card payments, from users across the globe. It subsequently partnered with Amex in January 2023, to enable customers to accept payments through Amex cards. Airwallex noted that it offered over 60 payment methods for its customers, upon the inclusion of Amex cards.

In May 2022, it joined software developer HubSpot’s App Accelerator program to provide HubSpot users with access to Airwallex’s global financial infrastructure. Airwallex subsequently partnered with Atome in November 2022, to enable Airwallex merchants to offer payment by installments to their customers (buy-now-pay-later [BNPL]). 

Airwallex partnered with open banking platform TrueLayer in May 2023, to mutually improve cross-border, multi-currency open banking payments, by leveraging TrueLayer’s real-time, account-to-account (A2A) payments infrastructure.

Funding and financials

In May 2023, the company noted that its revenue had doubled YoY, and that it processed over USD 50 billion in annualized transactions. 

Airwallex raised a USD 100 million extension to its Series E funding round - at a USD 5.5 billion valuation - in October 2022, following USD 200 million and USD 100 million raises, in September and November 2021, respectively. The newly raised funds were earmarked for investment in product developments (including credit and expense management), geographic expansion, and potential M&As (including fraud prevention solutions).