If you sell to customers in other countries, your bank is quietly taking a cut of every transaction: FX markups, wire fees, week-long settlement times. Airwallex fixes the money layer of an online business — here's when you actually need it and how to set it up.
Do you need this? (checklist)
- You invoice international clients in their currency
- Your e-commerce store sells across borders
- You pay overseas suppliers (sourcing from sites like Made-in-China)
- You run ads in multiple markets and want clean spend tracking
- You're losing more than 1% of revenue to conversion and wire fees
If you checked any box, a global account pays for itself immediately.
The setup (one afternoon)
- Open the account — KYC for your business entity, usually approved within days
- Get local account numbers in USD, EUR, GBP, and more — clients pay you like a local, no correspondent-bank fees
- Connect your store and payment processor so settlement lands in the right currency without forced conversion
- Add supplier payees — pay overseas suppliers in their currency, directly, with a real exchange rate
- Issue cards with spending limits for tools and ads — cleaner books at tax time
The difference it makes
Typical savings for a $10K/month cross-border business: 1.5–3% on conversions plus $15–50 per wire. That's $2,000–$5,000+ per year back in the business — before counting faster settlement improving cash flow.
How to make money with it
- Make money online: selling globally becomes economical — border fees stop eating your margin
- Help your existing business: clean multi-currency books, faster settlement, and real exchange rates
- Offer it as a service: "cross-border ops setup" for e-commerce starters — pair it with sourcing (Made-in-China) and shipping (Shippo) for a full launch package