Tencent-backed fintech start-up Airwallex’s first-quarter revenue gets a boost from revival in travel
- Border reopening has allowed Hong Kong-based SMEs to expand their international operations, Airwallex general manager Arnold Chan says
- Airwallex’s platform covers over 150 nations and handles US$50 billion worth of transactions a year
Airwallex, the fintech unicorn backed by Tencent Holdings and tycoon Li Ka-shing’s Horizons Ventures, reported a strong growth in cross-border payments in the first quarter as the reopening of the border revived travel.
The payments company posted a 167 per cent year-on-year increase in transaction volumes in Hong Kong in the first three months of the year, according to Arnold Chan, the general manager for Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Revenue grew 207 per cent on the back of a 142 per cent increase in new customers.
Chan said the data showed business activity in Hong Kong has bounced back from three years of pandemic-related restrictions that had brought cross-border travel to a standstill.
“The reopening of the border earlier this year has allowed many executives to travel again,” Chan said at a media briefing on Wednesday. This in turn has led many small and medium-sized enterprises from Hong Kong to expand their businesses internationally, thus fuelling the surge in payment volumes, he added.
To help these SMEs expand their international businesses further, Airwallex on Wednesday introduced a new loyalty programme called “Go Global”, offering cash rebates for clients who use its virtual card to pay for their overseas business travel, Chan said.
Customers can also book hotels, buy travel insurance and other services at discounted prices from a number of partner firms, including online travel booking platforms Agoda and Klook and insurer Generali.
Airwallex secures China online payments licence via acquisition
Chan said the Covid-19 pandemic also provided an impetus to global payments as it drove more people to shop online and make payments via digital channels.
“The rapid development of e-commerce has enabled many Hong Kong-based SMEs to sell their products to Southeast Asian and other overseas customers via online platforms,” he said.
As global retail e-commerce volumes continue to rise, the fees of payment-processing companies will increase to US$138 billion in 2024 from US$82 billion in 2018, according to Insider Intelligence, which provides insights related to digital marketing and e-commerce.
Airwallex, founded in Melbourne in 2015, offers a range of products that allow businesses to accept online payments, conduct foreign exchange transactions, manage cashflows, make domestic and international fund transfers and issue virtual payment cards to staff and suppliers.
Airwallex’s financial platform covers over 150 nations, handling some US$50 billion of transactions annually, co-founder Jack Zhang said in October.
The company in March obtained a payments business licence in China through its acquisition of online payments and information services firm Guangzhou Shang Wu Tong Network Technology. The deal turned Airwallex into a third-party online payments provider in China.
Airwallex said the latest approval in China adds to its existing licences across major markets including Australia, the European Union, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, the United Kingdom and United States.
