Airwallex Review: Manage Your Business At Your Fingertips
Airwallex Review: Manage Your Business At Your Fingertips
ValueChampion Rating 
Pros
- S$0 monthly fee and setup fee
- 0% international transaction fee
- Secured funds with PCI level 1 compliance
Cons
- Only virtual card available in Singapore
Airwallex business account is a one-stop solution for businesses that needs to make multiple overseas transactions to a number of overseas location. With their hassle-free set-up procedure, businesses will be able to set up their account within 10 minutes online. As compared to other business accounts, Airwallex has a well-rounded service which helps businesses simplify their process.
Summary
| Make payments in 26 different currencies |
|---|
| Integrated into online platforms like Amazon, eBay, Shopify and PayPal. |
| FX fees of 0% for Airwallex Cards |
| Batch payment |
| Payment to over 130 countries and regions |
| Advance user access |
What Makes Airwallex Stand Out
Airwallex prides itself in its pricing transparency. When you sign up for their business account, there are no hidden fees and all that is payable is stated upfront. There are no monthly charges, deposits required or local transfer fees.
As Airwallex is targeted at businesses that need to make multiple overseas transactions, their business account have several noteworthy features that businesses may find useful.
Added Security For Your Money
One of the biggest concerns with business is the need for security. With Airwallex, your money is put in a secured ring-fenced account. The funds are accessible and not used for investing or lending. Their security system and procedures are based on the highest international standards including PCI Level 1 compliance.
A Dedicated Card For Each SaaS
With businesses in mind, Airwallex allows them to have a dedicated card for each SaaS or marketing spend with a flexible card limit. For example, if your business sells on Shopify and Facebook Marketplace, you can have separate cards for each platform to send or receive money.
However, you can only have a virtual card in Singapore as the physical card is not supported here in Singapore. For card fees, you will be looking at a S$5 monthly fee for each cardholder if expense is enabled. No card fee will be incurred if expense is not enabled. Since the physical card option is not available in Singapore, this card fee will not be incurred.
Sync Expense Into Xero
Xero is an accounting software that Airwallex is linked to. With Xero, you can track your Airwallex card expenditure in real-time, including who made the transactions. This is a useful tool for businesses as they are able to keep track of expenses and aid in accounting needs.
Payment Link For Easy Payments
Airwallex has a function where you can send a payment link to your customer and they can pay you via the link. This is very useful for one-time customers to make a single payment without setting up a payment gateway.
Comparison of FX Fee
| Airwallex Card | YouBiz Corporate Card | Aspire Corporate Card | DBS Platinum Business Card | Maybank Business Platinum MasterCard | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FX Fees | 0% | 0% | 0.7% ~ 1.5% | Up to 3.25% | Up to 3.25% |
Airwallex is more suited to SMEs instead of large companies. For example, they have a USD$100,000 transaction limit and to transact beyond that will require approvals. If you need to make more than 500 payouts per month or more than 200 international payouts per month, Airwallex will recommend you to get a custom plan. It is possible to scale up with Airwallex, however, you will need to talk to the account team for a custom plan.
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How Does Airwallex Compare To Other SME Credit Card?
Airwallex v. Youbiz Corporate Card
| Airwallex v. Youbiz Corporate Card | |
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Youbiz is a corporate card of Youtrip powered by Mastercard for businesses to make fx transactions. Similar to Airwallex, Youbiz has an unlimited cashback at 1%, and has a 0% fx fee on all spending. This makes Youbiz on par with Airwallex for small businesses that make a large number of fx transactions. YouBiz launched partnerships with Google to provide businesses with direct support for digital marketing services. It also partnered with established travel partners like Booking.com and Qatar Airways on additional savings for travel expenditure as business travel resumes. However, it loses out to Airwallex in terms of currencies as it is only about to transact in 9 currencies whereas Airwallex can do 26 currencies | |
| Airwallex v. Aspire Corporate Debit Card | |
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Aspire Corporate Debit Card is an excellent debit option for today's tech-forward start-ups with large marketing budgets. Account-holders earn 1% cashback for their online advertising and software subscription spend. This rate is provided only for expenditures with a limited list of merchants but the qualifying list of vendors is quite comprehensive. However, unlike Airwallex, Aspire Corporate Debit Card isn't a great match for all SMEs. Spend outside of online marketing and SaaS isn't eligible for cashback rewards. Companies with broader and more diverse budgets might prefer a corporate card with a higher base rate. In fact, there are several options that offer anywhere from 0.30% to 1.5%+ on general spending. In addition, employers currently cannot issue cards to their employees. Overall Airwallex is the option for startups and SMEs who want to have a full-on system that can handle all the day-to-day transactions and finances. | |
| Airwallex v. Aspire Corporate Debit Card |
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Youbiz is a corporate card of Youtrip powered by Mastercard for businesses to make fx transactions. Similar to Airwallex, Youbiz has an unlimited cashback at 1%, but critically it has a 0% fx fee on all spending. This makes Youbiz a suitable option for small businesses that make a large number of fx transactions. YouBiz launched partnerships with Google to provide businesses with direct support for digital marketing services. It also partnered with established travel partners like Booking.com and Qatar Airways on additional savings for travel expenditure as business travel resumes. However, it loses out to Airwallex in terms of currencies as it is only about to transact in 9 currencies whereas Airwallex can do 26 currencies |
| Airwallex v. Aspire Corporate Debit Card |
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Aspire Corporate Debit Card is an excellent debit option for today's tech-forward start-ups with large marketing budgets. Account-holders earn 1% cashback for their online advertising and software subscription spend. This rate is provided only for expenditures with a limited list of merchants but the qualifying list of vendors is quite comprehensive. However, unlike Airwallex, Aspire Corporate Debit Card isn't a great match for all SMEs. Spend outside of online marketing and SaaS isn't eligible for cashback rewards. Companies with broader and more diverse budgets might prefer a corporate card with a higher base rate. In fact, there are several options that offer anywhere from 0.30% to 1.5%+ on general spending. In addition, employers currently cannot issue cards to their employees. Overall Airwallex is the option for startups and SMEs who want to have a full-on system that can handle all the day-to-day transactions and finances. |
Who Can Apply: Eligibility Criteria
Only registered businesses can apply for Airwallex business accounts and cards. Airwallex does have some criteria for applicants to meet. For example, businesses in gambling, cryptocurrencies and adult entertainment are not applicable Airwallex will not extend their services to these companies. For more information, refer to their terms and policies here.
- For a Singapore company account, the steps to create an account is:
- Fill in your first name, last name, business e-mail and password.
- Provide the name of your business, location of the business and contact number
- Provide the required documents
- Certificate of incorporation
- ACRA company profile document
- Supporting documents(company memorandum and/or partnership agreement)
- IDs of the authorised person
- IDs of all shareholders controlling more than 25% of shares
- Select the industry that your company is in
- Describe the products or services you sell
- Provide a website or online store
- Select where you do business
- Select your monthly revenue and turnover
- Attach the required documents as mentioned above
- Review your application
- Hit confirm and submit
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Boon Hun spent over five years in the content marketing space as the managing editor of Goody Feed creating interesting and relevant content for the social media generation. In 2022, he moved to the FinTech space while remaining true to his roots, intending to bring financial literacy to more people in Singapore. When not doing his work, he can be found watching people build homes on YouTube.