HONG KONG, Dec. 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Airwallex, a global fintech leader with the vision to build financial infrastructure to scale the digital economy, has been granted an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license from the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The company was recently named by KPMG as one of the top 50 Global Fintech Companies of 2018[1], and the EMI license will further boost its growth by allowing operations throughout the EU by passporting through the region. Airwallex can then onboard clients across European countries, integrate with local banks to provide better financial infrastructure, and provide payment services. This is an important milestone in building out the company's global footprint and capabilities.
Airwallex has also applied for the new virtual bank license in Hong Kong under a joint venture with the Bank of East Asia and Sequoia Capital, which would allow it to build one of the first challenger banks in Asia and beyond. Asia is becoming one of the hottest markets for payments and Fintech, and Airwallex sees an unprecedented opportunity to build a new digital bank to service SMEs in the Hong Kong and the Greater Bay area.
Airwallex strives to offer transparent, competitive wholesale rates to businesses by utilizing its proprietary FX engine and global banking network, and currently supports cross-border payments to over 130 countries and 50 currencies. The size of the global ecommerce market, one of the key verticals for Airwallex, is forecasted to reach US$2.8tr this year and US$4.8tr by 2021. Serving these e-commerce platforms with cross-border payment needs is a growing opportunity that Airwallex is looking to capitalize on, given the lack of efficient international payment solutions being offered.
Airwallex was co-founded in late 2015 by CEO Jack Zhang and four friends. "We ordered lots of materials from overseas for the coffee shop we were running," he says. "One transaction was US$15,000 (13000 euros) and we had to pay US$600 (500 euros) in foreign exchange fees. "We said, this doesn't make sense. We can make payments and foreign exchange much easier by innovating upon the underlying financial infrastructure."
About Airwallex:
Airwallex is a financial technology company redefining payments globally. In the span of 3 years, Airwallex has secured over $102M USD in external funding, supported by top-tier investors including tech giant Tencent, Sequoia Capital China and MasterCard. The company uses advanced technology to enable low-cost, high-speed and transparent international payments encompassing the entire cross-border payment value chain, from global collection to foreign exchange and international payments. Led by a highly capable, experienced, and driven executive team, we have established international offices across Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing, Singapore, London and San Francisco.
Airwallex HK
Suites 08-10, 63/F, One Island East,
18 Westlands Road,
Quarry Bay, Hong Kong
marketing@airwallex.com
