Aussie platform Airwallex was founded in 2015 and has now expanded across 20 international offices in 11 different territories (and has raised over $900 million). The company allows businesses to open multi-currency accounts with monthly fees that can be waived so that they can trade globally.
Airwallex lets you open accounts in different currencies, without going anywhere near a bank (let alone a bank in another country). This allows you to receive, hold and spend money in a different currency, without having to convert the money to pounds. In turn, that means avoiding unnecessary currency conversion fees where banks traditionally love to nibble at your profit margin.
Lets say you’re a UK-based business, but you sell a lot of goods/services to customers in Italy, and you also have to pay a few overheads there too.
Without Airwallex, £2,000 of sales in euros might incur a 3% forex fee and land in your sterling UK bank account as £1,940. Let’s say you then have to send the equivalent of £500 in euros to contractors or service providers in Italy. Because of that 3% forex fee, this actually ends up costing you just over £515.
So whatever profit you would have made, it’s now £75 lighter.
With Airwallex, the £2,000 of sales in euros go straight to your Airwallex euro account. You then pay your Italian contractors or service providers in euros from this account. Let’s say you then decide to convert the remaining £1,500 worth of euros, moving it across to your sterling Airwallex account at Airwallex’s favourable exchange rates. This costs you around £7.50.
So by using Airwallex, your currency conversion has cost you £7.50 rather than £75. Not too shabby!
Airwallex allows businesses to open accounts with local banks details in over 23 currencies, including those below:
It also allows businesses to collect payments in over 180 currencies. Plus, it enables payouts to over 150 countries with over 110 leverage local rails.
For each currency account you’ll get standard local account numbers/codes provided by Airwallex – all you need to send and receive funds in that currency.
Payments can also be collected into what’s known as a Global Account, from platforms like PayPal and Amazon, as well as from merchants and clients. Collected funds are transferred into your relevant currency Airwallex account.
Please note: You should always refer to quotes you receive from transfer services themselves directly for exact amounts as they may vary from our estimates.
Most Airwallex transfers arrice within a few hours or on the same day. Around 50% of transactions are instant.
Airwallex customers can also benefit from the following account features:
 | |
| Product Name | Airwallex Multi-Currency Business Account |
| Account fee | £19 £0/month if you deposit at least £10k per month or hold a minimum balance of £10k. |
| Bank transfers | Free |
| Overseas card transaction fees | £0 FX conversion fee between 0.5% - 1% above interbank |
| FSCS protected | |
| Accounting integrations | Xero |
| Requires credit check | |
| Overdraft | |
| Freeze card from app or online banking | |
| Instant notifications | |
| Interest (AER) | 0% AER |
One of the big benefits of Airwallex is that account set-up and management fees can be waived if you deposit at least £10,000 a month or hold a minimum balance above £10,000. UK domestic transfers are also fee-free, providing they are carried out via Airwallex’s payment network. Any payments that are made via the SWIFT network will incur a fee of £10–£20.
When exchanging currencies, Airwallex charges a 0.5% to 1% fee above the interbank foreign exchange rate. For card transactions, customers will pay the interbank rate, plus a small margin for the following currencies:
To apply, simply click the “Get Started” button at the top of the Airwallex website. You will need to be a private limited company, limited partnership, general partnership or sole trader. Investment firms, arms dealers, gambling companies, pharmaceutical companies and charities will not be accepted.
Airwallex is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and holds an Electronic Money Institution licence. This means customer funds must be held in a ring-fenced account. Should Airwallex cease trading, funds held in the account will be protected from other creditors making a claim against the company.
No. And because Airwallex isn’t a bank, funds are not protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which covers deposits of up to £85,000.
If your business regularly trades internationally, Airwallex is an option well worth exploring. With competitive foreign exchange rates, multi-currency cards that can be used by your employees, and no monthly account fees, Airwallex has a lot of plus points. However, always do your research, and compare fees and currencies against other accounts to ensure that it’s the right choice for you and your business.
If you want to sign up for an Airwallex account, you can get started by visiting its website. If you have read this review and decided that Airwallex’s account is not for you, you can also compare other business accounts on the market.
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