My 2024 reflections: What we’ve built and where we’re going

As we gear up for our 10th anniversary later this year, I’m immensely proud of what we’ve accomplished together in 2024 and I’m thrilled about the journey ahead.

Driving value for 150,000 businesses worldwide

Airwallex now proudly serves over 150,000 businesses globally, up 50 percent from last year. We continue to build the global financial services platform of the future, and we’re continually developing our infrastructure, expanding our reach, and launching new and exciting products to help our customers accelerate their growth. 

Over the past year, we've made big strides in adding more capabilities to our product suite to deliver the world’s leading end-to-end global financial solutions. We launched Airwallex Yield to help our customers earn competitive returns on their multi-currency balances, Global Entity Management to offer integrated management across all their entities, and a new Credit Card product. We're delighted to partner with marquee companies like Brex, Deel, Shopify, WooCommerce, Xero, and more to aid them in their own growth journeys. 

Our impact is clear: our customers trust and love what we’re building.

Unprecedented growth 

Since my last update, I’ve been on the road quite a bit, meeting customers, partners, and investors in places like New York City, San Francisco, and London. I also travelled to a number of countries in Asia and the Middle East to understand the needs and expectations of our customers, regulators, and investors. Those conversations left me more confident than ever in our business model and the direction we’re headed.

Our numbers speak for themselves. In August, we crossed US$100 billion in annualised transaction volume, up 73 percent YoY. Around the same time, we surpassed $500 million in annual run rate (ARR) revenue, and then just three months later, hit $600 million in ARR and $130 billion in annualised transaction volume. These are big milestones, and we’re just getting started.

Since 24Q1, our quarterly YoY gross profit growth rate has accelerated from 40 to 78 percent. Our Corporate Cards and Payments products now drive more than 50 percent of our commercial gross profit, proving massive potential for this part of our business. This growth is a testament to the trust our customers place in us and the relentless innovation, dedication, and collaboration from our team.

Building the financial infrastructure and operating system of the future

A key differentiator for Airwallex is the breadth and speed of our financial infrastructure. Today, we have one of the most extensive licensing portfolios for a fintech company globally. We’ve already secured licences in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, United Kingdom, European single market, US, Canada, mainland China, Malaysia, Mexico, and Brazil. 

We also laid the groundwork to launch services in Latin America’s two largest economies — Mexico and Brazil, and just last month, announced the receipt of a payment institution license in Brazil and the approval to close our acquisition of MexPago, a Mexico-based payment service provider.

Brazil is at the forefront of payment digitisation. PIX, Brazil’s instant payment network, will account for an estimated 40 percent of the country’s online payments by 2026. However, B2B payments in Brazil have lagged behind in digitisation, particularly for cross-border transactions. We look forward to launching our PIX integration in the coming weeks and offering services to Brazilian businesses, including local accounts, card issuing, and payment acquiring to name a few.

We also expanded our arsenal of financial products. After a successful launch in Australia, we’re gearing up to launch Airwallex Yield in Hong Kong, with plans to launch in other markets later this year.

At the same time, we're actively working to improve product market fit for Spend and Billing, two of our most recent product additions. I’m incredibly optimistic about how these new products complement our suite of financial services, and how they’ll deliver even more value to our customers.

A leap forward for our brand

Last year, we announced our multi-year partnership with the McLaren Formula 1 Team. This partnership highlights our shared values in technological innovation, resilience, and pursuit of success. We’ve seen a positive impact to our brand awareness globally and launched our Shifted Perspectives campaign to show how changing viewpoints can turn obstacles into opportunities.

When operating at the pinnacle of global motorsport, every second and penny counts. Our end-to-end platform has enabled the McLaren F1 Team to shave half a day per month in processing time for their international payments. This time saved is really meaningful for a business where the slimmest of margins matter, both off-track and on-track.

It’s been great cheering on the team as they won their ninth Constructors’ Championship, and first in 26 years. I had the privilege of attending the F1 Las Vegas race to celebrate our partnership and look forward to cheering on Team Papaya in Melbourne this March. Team Airwallex is proud to be able to contribute to their journey and we’re all looking forward to an eventful 2025.

The road ahead: 2025 and beyond

At Airwallex, we're building the future of global banking. Fintech is entering a transformative era as geopolitical shifts and innovation drive commerce toward Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Our expansion efforts across these diverse and strategic markets are setting us up to seize opportunities where digital transformation is driving growth. 

We’re also seeing incredible results in our growth markets. In 2025, the America's business is set to scale by more than double. Similar to the Americas, in 2025, we expect our EMEA business to continue on its growth trajectory, doubling commercial scale.

On the technology front, AI is transforming how we operate as a company. Using the latest advancements in AI, we’re maintaining a best-in-class product experience, while offering a greater breadth of finance capabilities and global coverage. We’ll continue to deploy AI to deliver the most integrated and advanced global financial capability in the world.

2025 will be a monumental year for Airwallex. With our combined efforts across market expansion, new product releases, and technological innovation, we're well on our way to building an enduring company that stands the test of time. 

Creating the best workplace for our people

Airwallex’s growth is fuelled by the incredible people behind our mission. In 2024, we continued to increase our talent density, growing our headcount to over 1,700 talented individuals across 37 locations. As we scale, our operating principles continue to guide us and ensure everyone works in collaboration towards our goals.

We recently introduced Airwallex Impact, our new social impact program, underpinned by our Pledge 1% commitment of company Equity, Time, Product, and Profit to support innovators, entrepreneurs, and economic development worldwide. I’m thrilled to join the likes of Atlassian, Canva, Airbnb, Salesforce, and many other global tech leaders committed to corporate philanthropy.

As part of our commitment, we expanded our employee volunteer program to give each employee three days per year to give back to the communities we serve.

This year we’ll be entering into our 10th year as a business, and we’ve set ambitious goals to make it our most successful and impactful year yet. Enhancing our workplace experience is a top priority, ensuring our teams can thrive and reach their full potential. Our biggest asset is our people, and we remain laser-focused on recruiting, developing, and retaining exceptional talent — people who aren't only experts in their fields, but also share our passion for driving innovation and pushing boundaries.

As we celebrate a decade of innovation and growth, our vision remains clear: to be the global economic infrastructure to empower businesses of all sizes to grow beyond borders. As we rewrite the future of global banking, the next decade will be about growing in new markets and deepening our impact.

Even with all of this success, our journey at Airwallex is just beginning. Thank you to our customers, partners, and team for making 2024 such a remarkable year. Here’s to an even brighter 2025!