Airwallex review

Airwallex was founded in Melbourne in 2015 and now runs dual headquarters in Singapore and San Francisco, employing around 2,000 people across 27 offices. It holds roughly 80 licenses and permits, serves about 200,000 businesses, and processes more than 235 billion dollars in annualized volume. The product is broader than a processor: payment acceptance sits alongside global business accounts in 20+ currencies, free local transfers to 120+ countries, corporate card issuing, expense management and embedded finance APIs.

Pricing and how it works

Plans are tiered, with a free entry tier in the US and fee-waivable tiers elsewhere: the UK Explore plan is 19 pounds a month, waived with 10,000 pounds in monthly deposits or balance. Card acceptance is priced per market: US domestic cards cost 2.80% + 30 cents and international cards 4.30% + 30 cents, while UK domestic cards cost 1.30% + 20p, EEA cards 2.40% + 20p and international cards 3.15% + 20p. The distinguishing features are on the money-movement side: currency conversion at 0.5% above interbank for major currencies and 1% for the rest, like-for-like settlement so a euro sale can stay in euros instead of being force-converted, and free local-rail payouts to 120+ countries with 92% of transfers arriving same day. A billing product for subscriptions costs 0.50% per transaction.

Who it is for

Airwallex fits businesses that sell or spend across borders: exporters, marketplaces sourcing globally, SaaS billing in multiple currencies and companies tired of bank FX margins. For a purely domestic US seller the 2.80% + 30 cents rate is above Stripe-class pricing with little upside. High-risk verticals are not accepted, in-person payments are still rolling out market by market, and balances are safeguarded e-money rather than insured deposits.