Revolut vs Airwallex: Guide for Aussie businesses

If you’re an Australian business operating internationally and looking to complete regular overseas payments, two big players in this space are Revolut Business and Airwallex. Both offer multi-currency accounts with fast global transfers and corporate cards, along with a few other tools for managing finances at scale.

In this guide, we’ll compare Revolut vs Airwallex directly, with a head-to-head on features and pricing, and look at how both platforms fare against a third global cross-border payments provider: Wise Business.

What is Revolut?

Revolut made its name as a consumer-focused, low-cost provider of international spending and FX. It has since expanded into business banking services with an “all-in-one” Business account, which bundles multi-currency accounts, corporate cards, expense management, and payment tools into a single mobile app¹. It also has tools for taking online payments — checkout integrations, payment links, etc.

What is Airwallex?

Airwallex is a global payments and financial platform for businesses operating internationally². Founded in Melbourne in 2015, its core service is Global Accounts for holding and moving money overseas³. The platform also includes features such as corporate cards, expense management, checkout, billing, and APIs for embedded finance solutions and payment acceptance².

Feature comparison: Revolut vs Airwallex vs Wise Business

When comparing Revolut Business vs Airwallex, both offer a similar set of core tools for businesses that operate internationally.

Here’s an overview of the key features of the respective multi-currency accounts for the two providers, plus Wise Business, to give you a better idea of how they compare for this core service.

Multi-currency account

All three platforms allow businesses to hold, send, and convert funds in multiple currencies from a single account. The overall functionality is very similar, but the number of supported currencies and how conversions are handled vary slightly.

• Revolut offers 25+ currencies for holding, sending, and converting funds⁴.
• Airwallex supports 20+ currencies through its Global Accounts⁵.
• Wise Business ups that to 40+ currencies, with conversions at the real mid-market exchange rate plus a transparent fee.

Local account details

It’s a similar picture for local account details, which makes it easier for international clients and customers to pay your business using domestic bank transfers, rather than defaulting to costly international wires every time.

• Revolut provides local account details for major currencies like GBP, EUR, USD, and CHF⁴.
• Airwallex offers 20+ countries, including NZD, USD, and GBP⁵, but there’s a limit of 10 Global Accounts per account⁶.
• Wise Business offers account details in 23+ currencies, including AUD, NZD, GBP, SGD, and more.

International transfers

Sending payments overseas is a key function of a multi-currency account. All three platforms support global transfers, but the exact number of countries is where things diverge.

• Revolut offers transfers to 150+ countries in 30+ currencies⁷.
• Airwallex supports local transfers to 120+ countries and SWIFT to 200+ countries in 60+ currencies⁸, with around 93% settling the same day³.
• Wise Business sends to 160+ countries, with 70% of transfers arriving in 20 seconds — speed and global reach are the standout features here, thanks to the network of local payment routes.

Corporate cards

Each provider also offers business cards linked directly to the multi-currency account, to make it easier for you and your team to manage spending across countries and currencies.

• Revolut issues physical and virtual cards with granular spend controls and team access, which helps manage employee expenses⁹.
• Airwallex provides multi-currency company and employee Visa cards that can be created “instantly,” ideal for teams travelling or buying from overseas suppliers¹⁰.
• Wise Business has physical and virtual multi-currency debit cards for global teams that let you spend at the real exchange rate in any currency you’re holding.

Integrations

Integrating your multi-currency account with accounting software or business tools connects it to the “bigger picture” in terms of finances, so you can quickly sort tasks like bookkeeping and reconciliation.

• Revolut syncs with apps across five categories: Accounting, Expenses, HR & People, Productivity, and Payments, with support for Xero¹¹.
• Airwallex connects to apps across four categories, which include Xero and QuickBooks for accounting¹². NetSuite and APIs are available in its higher tiers, which are better suited to high transfer volume operations⁶.
• Wise Business connects with major accounting platforms (Xero, QuickBooks) and has an API to automate payments and transfers, and generally make reconciliation easier across multiple currencies.

Batch payments

Instead of sending individual payments manually, all three platforms let you pay multiple suppliers, freelancers, employees, and other recipients in one go. The main difference here is tier-based feature locking.

• Revolut has bulk transfers for up to 1,000 recipients, though this feature is not available on the Basic plan¹³.
• Airwallex has ABA batch transfers across all three of its plans, allowing users to pay up to 1,000 recipients⁶.
• Wise Business offers a very similar batch payments service, allowing users to sign off on payments to 1,000 recipients at once with a single CSV or .XLSX file.

Yield

There’s also the option to earn returns on funds that would otherwise be sitting in your account, which can add up over time.

• Revolut doesn’t offer features that allow users to earn a return.
• Airwallex offers Yield with returns of 3.72% on AUD funds and 3.26% on USD funds across all three plans⁶.
• Wise Business offers Wise Interest, where you can earn a variable return on AUD and USD**

Cost comparison: Airwallex vs Revolut vs Wise Business

Now, let’s look at how the three platforms compare in terms of cost. Airwallex and Revolut both use a subscription-based model with tiered plans, while Wise Business eschews monthly fees in favour of low, transparent pricing per transaction.

Monthly account fee

Both Revolut and Airwallex charge customers a monthly fee to even access basic account services.

• Revolut - Pricing ranges from $10 to $79 per month, with custom Enterprise plans¹³.
• Airwallex - Pricing ranges from $29 per month to $999 per month. The Explore plan is free if you deposit $5,000 per month and keep a $10,000 minimum balance⁶.
• Wise Business - no account maintenance fees. Instead, there’s a one-time 65 AUD fee to get local account details. After that, you only pay for the transactions you use.

International transfers

Transfer costs vary depending on the account type (i.e local account details) and pricing structure.

• Revolut - set number of “no-fee” international transfers included per month: 0 for Basic, 5 for Grow, 25 for Scale. Transfers outside these allowances will incur a $10 fee, plus SWIFT fees¹³.
• Airwallex - free local transfers to 120+ countries. SWIFT transfers usually cost $10-$30, depending on the currency and route⁶.
• Wise Business - a small percentage fee from 0.63% (varies by currency). The fee is always shown upfront before you send the transfer.

Receiving payments

Receiving international payments can involve different costs depending on the payment route.

• Revolut - local transfers are free within plan limits; SWIFT and certain currencies may incur fees¹³.
• Airwallex: domestic transfers are usually free; SWIFT transfers typically cost $10— $30 per payment⁶.
• Wise Business - free for domestic payments with local account details. Small fee for SWIFT transfers: $6.11 for USD, £2.16 for GBP, etc.

Corporate card fees

You get cards with all three providers, but there are limits on how many you can issue and what you’ll pay.

• Revolut Business - cards included with all plans. Higher tiers may include additional or complementary cards¹³.
• Airwallex - up to 10 company cards with Explore. Higher limits available on Grow and Accelerate⁶. Fees for ‘active users’ and additional cards may apply.
• Wise Business - first card is free, then 6 AUD for each extra card.

Exchange rate

Exchange rate margins can make a big difference when moving money internationally.

• Revolut - offers interbank exchange rates within a monthly allowance that varies by plan¹³, then +0.6% margin outside allowance.
• Airwallex - adds an FX margin to exchange rates: +0.5% for 11 major currencies, and +1% for everything else⁶.
• Wise Business - uses the real, mid-market rate with no markups or hidden costs, instead charging a single, transparent conversion fee shown upfront.

Wise Business: Alternative solution for global payments

A Wise Business account allows users to can send, receive, and hold in multiple currencies. Experience hassle-free global transactions by transacting like a local business. A Wise Business account allows users to can send, receive, and hold in multiple currencies. Experience hassle-free global transactions by transacting like a local business. Here's what you get with a Wise Business account:

• Free to register — Hold and convert between 40+ currencies. Send to 140+ countries
• Debit cards for you and your team, which you can use in 150+ countries
• Multi-user access for team members, with ways to control and manage permissions
• Pay up to 1,000 recipients at once with the Wise batch payments feature
• Integrate with your favourite cloud accounting solutions like Xero, QuickBooks, and more
• Get account details to receive in 8+ currencies for a one-time fee of 65 AUD
• Earn potential returns** on your everyday money through Wise Interest

Sign up for the Wise Business account! 🚀

This general advice does not take into account your objectives, financial circumstances or needs and you should consider if it is appropriate for you.
**Capital at risk, growth not guaranteed. Interest is the name of a custody and nominee service provided by Wise Australia Investments Pty Ltd in partnership with Franklin Templeton.

Sources:

1. Revolut - Business
2. Airwallex - Home page
3. Airwallex - Who we are
4. Revolut - Multi-currency accounts What is a multi-currency business account?
5. Airwallex - Business Global Accounts
6. Airwallex - Pricing
7. Revolut - Money transfers
8. Airwallex - Transfers
9. Revolut - Business cards
10. Airwallex - Corporate cards
11. Revolut - Business integrations
12. Airwallex - Integrations
13. Revolut - Business account plans