PartnerStack revolutionises B2B relationships with Airwallex

PartnerStack, a trailblazer in ecosystem management software, has transformed how B2B organisations collaborate. With a staggering 117% Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) growth year-over-year, they’ve single-handedly facilitated US$1 billion in GMV – and more than US$500 million in 2023 alone – across their vast network.

We spoke with Neil Chudleigh, Co-founder, and Ajay Bala, Senior Product Manager, to find out how PartnerStack has harnessed Airwallex’s multi-currency payment solutions to expand on a global scale.

B2B partnership pioneers

PartnerStack’s success is driven by its vision to rethink B2B partnerships – along with the entire landscape of affiliate marketing.

The company was born from its founders’ previous business venture. Facing difficulties selling to nonprofits, they pivoted toward working with commission-based sales partners. They quickly realised this approach was ideal for B2B SaaS companies.

With a network of over 80,000 partners, PartnerStack has become the world’s largest B2B network, with a powerful platform helping businesses manage and optimise their partner and affiliate programs.

In the past year, PartnerStack’s GMV surpassed the $1 billion mark. Each dollar represents the value exchanged between a SaaS company and a partner, underscoring PartnerStack’s belief that strong partnerships power revenue in the B2B world.

Neil Chudleigh

Co-Founder

"We have a massive partner and customer base at PartnerStack, making it easier for B2B SaaS companies to scale and grow their channels."

A need for integrated payment solutions

As part of their partner relationship management (PRM) solution, PartnerStack helps SaaS platforms track and pay partners fees for successful channel sales. As PartnerStack continued to grow, they found that around 15-20% of their SaaS customers were located in one country, with the partner located in another. Motivated to solve the challenges related to the deliverability and speed of these cross-border payments, PartnerStack began evaluating new payment platforms in 2021.

“Other payment providers had a lot of restrictions on how you can move cash,” Chudleigh shared. “They tend to be expensive in pretty surprising ways for moving money to certain locations.”

In addition to reducing foreign exchange (FX) costs for partners, PartnerStack sought a solution that seamlessly integrated with their platform and provided a native experience to “make it easy for partners to use.”

Chudleigh explained, “We wanted something that wasn’t going to limit us. Something built to be integrated into a product and to feel native to the PartnerStack platform.”

Airwallex emerged as the ideal choice due to our deep integration capabilities, transparent documentation, local payout rails in 120+ countries, and low FX fees. Airwallex supports PartnerStack by facilitating fast, efficient, and secure payouts to partners, enhancing their operational efficiency and partner satisfaction.

The impact of local payout and multi-currency capabilities

Over the course of just a few months, PartnerStack has processed millions of dollars in transactions to over 6,000 partners in more than 20 countries via Airwallex.

Streamlining their payment operations through Airwallex’s global payout capabilities has significantly improved PartnerStack’s efficiency and partner satisfaction, with PartnerStack estimating partner savings of over 3% in FX fees.

Ajay Bala emphasised the significance of Airwallex’s support for local payouts in multiple currencies and geographical regions.

Ajay Bala

Senior Product Manager

“The value for building our top-of-the-funnel is our payments functionality. Airwallex’s multi-currency capabilities have made a huge difference.”

Expanding support to match Airwallex's reach

Airwallex provides a scalable solution to support PartnerStack’s global mindset. “We want to use Airwallex to collect multi-currency payments in all of the countries that Airwallex supports,” said Bala.

PartnerStack’s goal is to create a more expansive and seamless experience for the SaaS companies they serve. They plan to leverage Airwallex’s Global Accounts and card acquiring capabilities to collect international payments from their customers and expand their multi-currency support, making operations more accessible and efficient for SaaS platforms worldwide.

Chudleigh highlighted the significance of the service extension. “Being able to support multiple currencies is a big deal and can be the reason we win against competitors. It’s an advantage for users – ease of use, holistic end-to-end, multi-currency flow, not being scolded for living in a country other than the United States by getting a higher payment processing fee.”

Bala agreed. “We want to give them a good fee no matter where they are, and I think Airwallex is going to make things much easier.”

Airwallex is a gamechanger for businesses like PartnerStack to stay competitive, agile, and future-focused.

Ajay Bala

Senior Product Manager

“We want to give them a good fee no matter where they are, and I think Airwallex is going to make things much easier.”