Airwallex illuminates BlockBlueLight’s financial operations with Global Accounts and competitive FX

Born out of the CEO’s personal struggle with chronic insomnia and migraines, BlockBlueLight has been helping thousands across the globe improve their health and protect their eyes with blue light eyewear, warming lighting and red light therapy. 

As the business expanded from Aotearoa New Zealand to Australia, the UK and the US, CEO, Daniel Ebbett, sought to slash international fees and move money globally with ease. Enter Airwallex. 

Ditching traditional banking solutions

When BlockBlueLight first started, they were using traditional bank accounts to manage their finances and collect payments from customers. However, as the business grew to have multiple websites and global customers, they also incurred additional costs with international transaction fees. Daniel “wanted to be able to put USD into a USD bank account without it converting at a poor exchange rate”. 

Daniel Ebbett

CEO of BlockBlueLight

“With Shopify charging their conversion rate on top of transaction fees, you almost lose about 5% of the money that comes back into your bank account.”

BlockBlueLight switched to Wise which offered virtual international accounts, but then soon ran into new challenges.

Roadblocked by Wise limits

Whilst Wise had helped with reducing international fees and currency conversions, BlockBlueLight soon encountered difficulties with transactions. 

Daniel Ebbett

CEO of BlockBlueLight

“We were transacting large volumes and holding lots in the account. Wise sent an email to us saying they would shut our account down in two days if we don't provide details on this transaction. This was alarming to us.”

After multiple repeated scares like this, Daniel decided to take a more serious approach to transacting money. With large volumes, “it was too risky” to keep it with Wise which offered no local support.

BlockBlueLight additionally experienced card limits of $50,000 per month with Wise accounts, as they maxed out their Facebook ad spend and resorted to transferring to PayPal to make payments. “It was really annoying," Daniel recalls. 

These roadblocks sparked the switch to Airwallex which provided BlockBlueLight local Australian support with a dedicated account manager to make direct calls and emails to.

Daniel Abbett

CEO of BlockBlueLight

“It just gives you a bit more assurance that there's like local support and someone that actually knows who you are and you're not just like another number.”

Streamlined but sophisticated global money movement

Airwallex features are built on our advanced international payment rails, which make global operations easy and cost effective. In moments, our customers can open up a Global Account with local bank details and start accepting and making payments – helping them bypass currency conversion fees altogether. 

This feature has worked wonders for Daniel and his team. “You’re getting the benefit to receive it [money] in a native currency very quickly and easily without going through a complicated process of trying to get a foreign currency account set up with a traditional bank”. 

Daniel Abbett

CEO of BlockBlueLight

“You're actually getting significantly better FX rates than any bank's ever going to give you. So I can't see any reason why you'd really want to go with a traditional bank.”

Airwallex virtual accounts have helped BlockBlueLight stop paying for currency conversions on their eCommerce sites in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and the US, boosting their bottom line. 

An in-sync financial system

Like many of our users, Daniel’s team also uses our Xero integration to save administration time, streamlining data handling and reducing human error. 

“The other big positive thing is the integration into Xero,” says Daniel. “We now manage all our bills through Airwallex.”

This new process allowed Daniel’s team to ditch other third party apps, as Airwallex had the same functionality of scanning invoices and applying automatic coding. “My finance manager is very happy with that.”

As well as simplifying admin for his team, Daniel also enjoys a simplified view of activity, while still being able to easily view and make approvals.

“So we'll upload the bill into Airwallex,” says Daniel. “It will automatically work out where it's going to code into Xero. [My finance manager] will create a transfer off that which goes to approval for me… then I can actually quickly look at the bill as well.”

Daniel Abbett

CEO of BlockBlueLight

“I can see the transfer, I can see the bill and I can see where it's going to be coded to in Xero all in one place.”

Are you ready to see your finances in a new light?

We’re in the business of bringing big Kiwi ideas to the world! If Daniel’s story has resonated with you, discover if Airwallex is the right fit for your financial needs. 

Our platform champions the user, and is designed to make getting started easy. Daniel agrees that the intuitive layout made implementation a breeze.

“It was pretty seamless to be honest,” he recalls. “With the actual implementation, I just followed my own way around and got it. It wasn’t hard to set up a virtual account and get that moving quickly.”

Ready to explore your global potential with Airwallex? Sign up now. 

Disclaimer: The information contained herein is factual information only and is not intended to imply any recommendation or opinion about a financial product.