How Saturday Club sells globally from Singapore with Airwallex

From the onset, Saturday Club’s vision was clear - to establish a global brand. The company is the brainchild of local fashion designer Justin Ying and his brother, Tze Her, who grew the brand from a single Singaporean outfit to a thriving enterprise operating in seven markets around the world.

Ying Tze Her

Chief Operating Officer

"We knew that the Singapore market alone was too small for us to survive and thrive. Today, we sell in 7 markets across the world and Airwallex is critical to our day to day global operations."

Saturday Club realised that it could not survive on the small domestic Singapore market and that exporting globally was necessary for the business to remain competitive, survive, and thrive. 

As a startup/SME operating with limited resources, rising cost is a constant pain point. This meant that a reliable, flexible and low-cost B2B global payment platform was critical towards achieving economies of scale and operational efficiency. 

Saturday Club found Airwallex to be an ideal partner. Airwallex supports the day-to-day operations of Saturday Club across its seven key markets, helping the company solve critical business issues.  

How does Saturday Club use Airwallex?

1. With traditional banks, paying foreign suppliers and receiving payments from overseas incurred high TT and currency conversion (FX) fees. After switching to Airwallex, Saturday Club saw up to 99% savings on transaction fees. 

2. Using traditional bank transfers meant having to deal with cross-border transfers that were opaque and slow, affecting cash flow. Airwallex’s powerful dashboard and dedicated customer service enabled efficient, streamlined payments to overseas suppliers.

Challenge 1: Lengthy paperwork and time-consuming bank visits required to set up foreign currency bank accounts

Without Airwallex, Saturday Club would have had to set up local bank accounts in each of the seven markets to receive payments from overseas customers and pay unnecessary bank fees. This is a problematic endeavour involving lengthy application process and tedious paperwork – on top of the need to make an overseas trip to make an in-person visit at the bank. Without local business bank accounts in the countries that they’re operating in, they had to do international bank transfers and incur high telegraphic transfer (TT) fees. 

Solution:

With Airwallex’s Global Accounts – which can be set up virtually and in minutes for the country you need to bank in – Saturday Club now seamlessly receives payments from customers around the world in their local currencies. This means that you can receive payments from your customer really quickly, with no cost incurred. In addition, Saturday Club can also receive access to local bank details in each country that they operate. These details can be used to invoice customers in their preferred currency, support daily business operations and build credibility for their presence in the local market.

Ying Tze Her

Chief Operating Officer

“With Airwallex, we can now collect customer payments from countries such as China, Hong Kong, Australia, US and Japan in their local currencies and remit our profits back to Singapore at very competitive conversion rates."

Challenge 2: Paying overseas suppliers was expensive and tedious

High telegraphic transfer (TT) fees were driving up Saturday Club’s business costs, with unclear cross-border bank charges further muddying the waters. Due to hidden bank fees, Saturday Club was often unaware of exactly how much money banks would charge them for their transfers, resulting in inexact payments to their suppliers. The lack of visibility in the status of each transaction, created uncertainty to when money would be received by their suppliers. 

Solution:

Airwallex empowers Saturday Club to pay like a local in all markets they serve and bypass SWIFT* – while saving up to 99% on foreign transaction fees as they do so. In addition, the dashboard also offers full visibility of live FX conversion rates, helping Saturday Club gain clarity over the actual FX costs involved in making supplier payments. 

Airwallex allows transfers to be accurately made with just a few clicks, with most transactions completed within the same day. This improved cash flow for Saturday Club, as payments only needed to be made when they became due, and suppliers would receive them in a timely manner. The flexibility, speed and full visibility of transaction history empowers Saturday Club to scale up operations at the nimble pace demanded by the global market.

Ying Tze Her

Chief Operating Officer

"Before Airwallex, we had no idea when our payments were going to reach our suppliers. Using Airwallex instead of traditional banks has increased the speed of our overseas transfers and optimised our cashflow significantly. We've also saved up to 99% of our TT and FX fees."

Challenge 3: Lack of dedicated customer support 

In the past, cross-border transactions could be quite stressful for Saturday Club, especially when payments were held up at intermediary banks. With other B2C cross-border payment solutions, there were also transaction limits set for every transfer. The company sought a B2B cross-border payment solution that would provide dedicated customer support, support larger transaction amounts, as well as the transaction visibility they required. 

Solution:

With Airwallex, Saturday Club has full visibility over their cross-border payments and transaction history 24/7. Furthermore, Saturday Club also has a dedicated account manager locally that is always on hand to provide clarification and support whenever required. 

Ying Tze Her

Chief Operating Officer

"Previously, we had no visibility in the whole transfer process. Cross-border payments can be quite stressful and it was frustrating to have no one to turn to when payments got stuck. Airwallex has been a game-changer for us because they've given us complete control over our cross-border payments. They also really understand the unique challenges we face in global operations, on a business level."

What's next

Powered by efficient, transparent and fast cross-border payments via Airwallex, Saturday Club has streamlined their operations, facilitating the next stage in their global ambitions. The company is gearing up to expand into two more key markets – the U.K. and South Korea – by the end of 2023. 

Airwallex helps globally-minded companies grow their business on an international scale. If your business is looking to optimise and save on global payment transfers, open a free Airwallex account today.