Airwallex is a global payments platform founded in Melbourne. It lets Australian businesses hold, convert, send and receive money in multiple currencies, issue company cards and sync transactions to Xero. A business that pays overseas suppliers or sells into foreign markets may pay noticeably less for FX than it would through a traditional bank. The trade-off is reconciliation. Multi-currency wallets, cards and payment collection add accounting work unless Xero is set up properly from the start.
Published: October 2026
Fees current as at: 11 October 2026 (Airwallex AU fee schedule last updated 18 September 2026)
Airwallex can change its fees on notice, so check its current AU fee schedule before you sign up.
Scale Suite has no commercial relationship with Airwallex. This review is based on Airwallex's published Australian plans and fee schedule and on the reconciliation work we do for clients who use it.
Airwallex was founded in Melbourne in 2015 and now has dual headquarters in Singapore and San Francisco. In Australia it operates through Airwallex Pty Ltd. For Australian businesses, its core offering is a business account with:
All prices are AUD per month and include GST.
Source: Airwallex Australia Fee Schedule (last updated 18 September 2026) and Airwallex AU pricing page.
The per-entity charge matters for groups. Three entities on Grow means three subscriptions. On top of the subscription, Airwallex charges per-transaction fees for FX, transfers and payment processing, plus $15 a month for each additional employee card or active spend user beyond the two included on each plan.
FX margins are the same on every plan:
New customers converting more than A$250,000 are asked to contact sales, so larger converters may be offered different pricing.
Source: Airwallex Australia Fee Schedule.
If you lock a quoted rate for a period before converting, Airwallex adds a quote margin on top of the FX margin above. The longer the lock, the higher the margin. This feature is only available to customers on API version 2024-06-30 or later.
Hypothetical example: converting A$100,000 into USD with a 24-hour quote lock costs 0.50% + 0.30% = 0.80%, or $800, compared with $500 at the standard 0.50% margin.
Creating Global Accounts is free, and receiving funds is free for most currencies. Airwallex charges a 0.60% receiving fee on collections in KRW, VND, BRL and MYR.
Automatic conversion is an optional feature. If a card payment is in one of 10 major currencies and you don't hold enough of that currency, Airwallex can take the amount from your home-currency balance instead. It charges the prevailing rate plus a 1.00% automatic conversion fee.
Source: Airwallex Australia Fee Schedule.
Source: Airwallex Australia Fee Schedule and pricing page. Some B2B merchant categories pay an extra 1.25% on domestic American Express transactions. The gateway fee applies to attempted transactions as well as successful ones, so a high decline rate adds cost.
Hypothetical example: on a $200 sale, a domestic card costs $200 × 1.65% + $0.30 = $3.60 (1.8%). An international card costs $200 × 3.45% + $0.30 = $7.20 (3.6%). If you later refund that sale, the refund fee adds $0.30.
Surcharging has ended. From 1 October 2026, RBA reforms removed surcharging on Visa, Mastercard and eftpos cards, and American Express and UnionPay have said they will follow. Airwallex switched surcharging off on 28 September 2026. Card acceptance fees are now a cost to your business, so compare them carefully.
Assumptions: an importer pays $1.2 million a year to overseas suppliers in USD. Its bank's effective FX margin is 3% (a hypothetical figure; measure your own from real transactions). Airwallex's published major-currency margin is 0.5%.
Your own figure depends on your bank's actual margin and on whether Airwallex offers custom pricing above the A$250,000 threshold. For quick conversions, use our AUD to USD currency calculator.
On every plan, bank feeds for each currency wallet sync to Xero. On Grow and above, card expenses and bills also sync to Xero and QuickBooks, which reduces manual entry.
These are the problems we see most often in reconciliation work:
Our multi-currency and gateway reconciliation service covers this setup.
Many businesses use both: a bank for everyday AUD and lending, and a platform like Airwallex for FX. See compare business bank accounts in Australia.
Pros
Cons
For a business with meaningful foreign currency flows, Airwallex can save more in FX than it costs in subscriptions and setup. That saving only holds if the Xero side is built properly: one account per currency, transfer rules for conversions, clearing accounts for collections and month-end FX revaluation. Without that, the saving can be eaten by bookkeeping time.
For the wider tech stack, see the Xero tech stack guide for Australian finance teams.
Is Airwallex regulated in Australia?
Yes. Airwallex Pty Ltd holds Australian Financial Services Licence 487221, regulated by ASIC, and is registered with AUSTRAC. Airwallex is not a bank. Its help centre says wallet balances are protected by bank guarantees from APRA-regulated banks that cover the full wallet balance, and an independent trustee (GLAS) holds the benefit of those guarantees for customers.
Does Airwallex integrate with Xero?
Yes. Wallet bank feeds sync to Xero on all plans. Expense and bill sync is available on Grow and above.
How much does Airwallex cost in Australia?
Explore costs $29 a month, or $0 if you deposit at least $5,000 that month through bank deposits, direct debits or payment acceptance volume, or hold at least $10,000 across your combined wallet and Yield balances at month end, Grow $99 and Accelerate from $999 (all incl. GST). FX, transfer and payment fees are charged on top.
What FX margin does Airwallex charge?
0.5% above interbank for 11 major currencies including AUD and USD, and 1% for others, on every plan.
Can Airwallex replace my business bank account?
For some businesses it can handle most payments. Businesses that need lending, overdrafts or guarantees usually keep a bank account as well.
How do I reconcile Airwallex in Xero?
Set up one Xero bank account per currency wallet, reconcile conversions as transfers, use clearing accounts for payment collections and revalue foreign currency balances at month end.
Scale Suite provides outsourced finance teams and fractional CFO services for Australian SMEs, with CA oversight, as registered BAS Agents and Xero Certified Advisors. Packages start from $1,500 per month with no lock-in.
Visit Scale Suite | Finance services | Pricing
This guide was current when written (October 2026) and is reviewed periodically. Scale Suite is a registered BAS Agent. We are not a licensed tax adviser or financial adviser. This content is general information only. It is not professional tax, financial or legal advice, and it is not a recommendation about any financial product.
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