Airwallex: Shaping the Future of Global Finance

In the ever-evolving world of fintech, Airwallex stands out not just for its scale, but for its mastery of adaptability and collaboration. These two pillars have propelled it from a solving for payment issues at a humble Melbourne coffee shop to what is now a global company processing over $235 billion in transactions, with annualized revenue exceeding $1 billion as of October 2025. Founded in 2015 by CEO Jack Zhang and co-founders, the company was born from hands-on frustration: volatile exchange rates and clunky cross-border payments while sourcing coffee beans from other markets. This real-world pivot from brewing coffee to building infrastructure highlights Airwallex's core strength: swift adaptability to unmet needs while forging collaborative networks to make global business seamless.

Airwallex's mission is centered on empowering businesses with a unified platform for payments, treasury, and embedded finance. As Jeanette Chan, Chief Legal, Compliance and Risk Officer at Airwallex notes, "the financial system and the financial infrastructure has been in place for many years, and we haven't seen a lot of innovation in that." Legacy systems lock companies into local silos, but Airwallex adapts by constructing flexible infrastructure from the ground up, always in partnership with customers, regulators, and global teams. "When businesses start, most start-ups would look at: 'How do I go global?'" Chan observes. "The local market is too small." From day one, Airwallex equips users to transcend borders, providing a network that scales with ambition.

The platform exemplifies adaptive efficiency, with over 90% of transfers settling same day, and 50% processed instantly. Virtual accounts in 70+ countries enable local collections, while payouts reach over 200 destinations without correspondent banking delays. Users top up in their local currency, receive instant FX quotes at highly competitive rates, and execute transactions via a network of pre-positioned global funds. Making use of a unified API platform to automate workflows and AI to optimize routing, Airwallex eliminates traditional, fragmented infrastructure, acting as a virtual CFO to streamline collections, payouts, and spend management—all the while continuing to evolve and adapt through ongoing customer feedback loops.

This adaptability shines in Airwallex's exponential growth. From a few billions of transaction volume in 2018 to 200+ billions today, the company operates from 26 offices across the globe, backed by $1.4 billion in funding and a $8 billion valuation. These expansions mark collaborative milestones: in 2021, Airwallex partnered with Evolve Bank & Trust to support its expansion into the United States. Meanwhile, expansion into Europe, along with securing a Dutch MiFID license, stems from ongoing joint regulatory dialogues. The platform's growth in the UAE and Saudi actively involve local stakeholders in the Middle East, while Asia's Japan and Vietnam licenses strengthen the presence in this region. Canada saw 390% revenue growth amid product expansions, while further expansion in Latin America is anticipated for 2026, fuelled by 90% year-over-year global revenue surge and a 127% transaction increase to $235+ billion annualized. Through shared insights, Airwallex turns potential hurdles into joint opportunities.

Collaboration is the heartbeat of Airwallex's success, where adaptability meets resilience. 80 licenses, each forged through years of vetting, create a fortress of trust. The 2022 Chinese payments license, only the second granted to a foreign firm, was a masterclass in both. "It is even difficult for Chinese companies to get a financial license," Chan acknowledges. Airwallex applied independently, without joint ventures, collaborating through months of audits to demonstrate how its secure, innovative tech accelerates the reach of local firms. Regulators are not seen as adversaries, but as collaborators, working to evolve policies together. "We see them as partners," Chan affirms.

This spirit extends to customers, where the same sense of adaptability fosters deep collaboration. Robust onboarding and consistent promise delivery build trust, but it's co-creation that seals loyalty. Airwallex treats its clients as partners in problem-solving, relying on word-of-mouth to build and maintain its reputability. In Hong Kong, five years of local adaptation involved collaborative market research, hires, and relentless questioning. Curiosity drives this process. "Your problem is our problem, and we work it out together...it's collaboration, and it's partnership," underscores its model.

Internally, Airwallex's 2,000-strong team thrives on adaptive collaboration across time zones. Core operating principles are the glue that holds the team together across diverse cultures. " We remind each other of why we're here, what we want to achieve; we all work together... we built excitement around our successes," it declares, resolving to solve challenges as one collective. "Because we all focus on the same operating principles, it doesn't matter whether you're based in Australia, or in the US, or in China, or in Lithuania…we all work together with the same principles."

High-profile partnerships, chosen for aligned values and mutual credibility, amplify this sense of collaboration. "It's a two-way street," Chan emphasizes. "We have to pick the right companies which actually represent us, and they also have to believe in us." The McLaren Racing sponsorship, Airwallex's first major, mirrors adaptive speed and teamwork: streamlining F1's global operations, from supplier pays to settlements. The Arsenal FC partnership evokes synergy: "All of the pieces have to work together," Chan reflects, a principle that's reflected within the company. "We work together with our financial partners, with our customers, with our regulators, and we work as one team."

Challenges like "edge-case" licenses, cultural tailoring, and responsible AI persist, but Airwallex adapts collaboratively by viewing these hurdles as catalysts for evolution. "We don't shy away from challenges," Chan affirms. "We're going to conquer it." In regulated markets like Hong Kong, it champions the future of global finance. From a Melbourne coffee shop to billion-dollar ARR, the lesson is clear: adaptability without collaboration is fleeting, and together, they forge enduring infrastructure. "We want to be able to provide this network where, from day one, you can go global," Chan envisions.

Looking forward, Airwallex sees a borderless ecosystem where one onboarding unlocks global banking, accelerated by new market expansions across APAC, Americas and EMEA. "The world is getting smaller, and we are helping it get even smaller and closer," she concludes, empowering businesses to adapt and collaborate across limits.