Airwallex Repositions as Embedded Finance Platform
Airwallex
This shift turns Airwallex from a direct seller of cross border banking tools into infrastructure that other fintechs and software platforms can plug into, which is a much faster way to reach SMBs at scale. Instead of winning each business one by one, Airwallex can power a marketplace, SaaS vendor, or neobank that onboards many businesses at once, while pulling more payment volume into its own network and raising the share of revenue from software like connected accounts, payouts, FX, and card issuing.
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The product motion looks much closer to Stripe Connect than to a standalone business account. Airwallex lets a platform create connected accounts, run KYC, accept payments, split funds, collect platform fees, and pay sellers out globally, including in setups where Airwallex is not the primary acquirer.
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This matters because the Western SMB banking market is crowded, but platform distribution is still open. By 2024, about 60% of Airwallex revenue came from APIs and platform products, and by March 2025 white label cards and payments made up 50% of gross profit, showing the center of gravity moving from low margin transfers to embedded infrastructure.
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Airwallex also has a concrete bundling advantage over specialists like Marqeta or Wise. A platform can use one provider for local collection accounts, FX conversion, global payouts, and multi currency cards, which is especially useful for companies like Deel and Brex that need to move money across many countries and user types.
The next phase is deeper vertical penetration through platforms that already own the customer relationship. As Airwallex expands connected accounts, issuing, and payout orchestration across more geographies, more of its growth should come from being the financial layer inside other software products, which strengthens network liquidity and pushes it further upmarket into larger global businesses.