Revolut vs Airwallex: Which is better for Australian businesses?

Key takeaways

• Airwallex is built for all businesses, from startup to enterprise, that operate across borders. You get a unified platform for global accounts, international payments, spend management, and online payment acceptance. Revolut offers tiered plans that can work for smaller businesses and sole traders with lower-volume cross-border needs.

• Airwallex gives you broader global reach (payouts to 200+ countries), local account details in more currencies, integrated online payment acceptance, and the ability to earn a return on idle funds with Yield. Revolut also lets you accept customer payments, but is limited with its local account details and does not have an account to let you earn returns.

• Airwallex has transparent FX rates close to the interbank rate. Revolut uses a tiered subscription model with monthly allowances. Once you hit those limits, you'll pay higher fees.

If you run a growing business, you’ll need a payment platform where you can open local accounts in several currencies, accept payments from international customers, and send money across borders without excessive fees.

Both Revolut and Airwallex offer these services, but which solution is right for your business? Read on to find out how Airwallex compares against Revolut on price, features, and benefits.

Compare Revolut with Airwallex

What is Revolut?

Revolut launched in 2015 as a fintech company providing digital financial services to consumers, and then expanded to businesses.

Revolut's pricing plans can work for freelancers, gig workers, and micro businesses handling domestic payments and simple foreign exchange needs. But, for high-growth companies with sophisticated cross-border financial needs, Revolut isn't as comprehensive.

What is Airwallex?

Founded in 2015, Airwallex is an all-in-one financial platform that simplifies global business management and makes international expansion easier.

Here's what you get with Airwallex:

• Multi-currency accounts: Collect, hold, and transact balances in 70+ major currencies and open local foreign currency accounts in 21 currencies.

• Fast cross-border payments: Send money internationally at competitive FX rates without long delays. Over 93% of our transactions arrive on the same day.

• Virtual and physical cards. Issue multi-currency cards to your team globally for simplified company spending.

• Expense management: Control and track company spending with end-to-end tools for billing, invoices, subscription management and more.

• Business integrations: Connect with platforms you already use like Xero, QuickBooks, and Shopify

• Yield: Earn returns on idle funds with a high-rate business saver

Fee comparison: Revolut vs Airwallex

When you're choosing a financial platform, you need to know what you'll actually pay. Let's break down three key cost areas: FX rates, transfer fees, and monthly account fees.

Foreign exchange (FX) rates

You'll get better rates than traditional banks with both platforms, but their models work differently. With Airwallex, you'll pay a transparent margin of 0.5%–1.0% above the interbank rate, regardless of which plan you're on. Revolut gives you a monthly allowance for free FX conversions within its paid plans, but charges a 0.6% fee plus mark-ups outside of market hours once the allowance is used.

Transfer fees

With Airwallex, you can send money to over 110 countries through our local payment network with zero international transfer fees. If you send payments via the SWIFT network, you'll pay fees. Revolut gives you a set number of free local and international transfers depending on your subscription tier. Once you exceed your allowance, you'll pay fees on each transfer after that.

Monthly account fees

Revolut uses a subscription model with monthly fees for its 'Grow', 'Scale', and 'Enterprise' plans. Airwallex has a tiered subscription model, including a plan with no monthly fees if you meet minimum requirements, so whether you're just starting out or scaling fast, you can use it.

Global Accounts and local details

With Airwallex, you can open Global Accounts with local bank details in over 20 currencies, including GBP, EUR, USD, and AUD. This means your customers in the UK, Europe, or the US can pay you using local bank transfers without high fees or delays.

Revolut also has multi-currency accounts, but with a more limited set of local details, often routing payments through a single IBAN that's less efficient for global collections.

International transfers

With Airwallex, you can make payouts to over 200 countries, and over 90% of your transfers will arrive the same day through our local payment network. Revolut's payout network reaches over 160 countries.

Payment acceptance: which is better for online businesses?

There's a difference between receiving a bank transfer and accepting an online payment from a customer at checkout. If you run an eCommerce or SaaS business, being able to accept online payments from the same financial platform as your business account can streamline your operations.

Here is how Revolut and Airwallex compare for payment acceptance:

• Currencies and coverage: You can accept payments from customers in over 180 countries and 130+ currencies with Airwallex. Revolut lets you receive and settle in 30+ currencies.

• Payment methods: Airwallex lets you accept more than 160 local payment methods, including cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. Revolut is more limited, letting you accept major debit and credit cards, digital wallets, Revolut Pay, and direct transfers.

• eCommerce plugins: With Airwallex, you can integrate directly with platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento. Similarly, Revolut lets you integrate with Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce.

• Complete checkout solutions: Airwallex gives you the choice of fully customisable checkout solutions for your website to payment plugins and payment links. A physical POS is coming soon. With Revolut, you have access to payment links or a physical POS to accept payments.

Compare additional features between Revolut and Airwallex

Expense management

Both platforms let you issue cards and track team spending. Revolut has limited custom accounting system integration, configurable spend policy creation, and flexible real-time analytics. Airwallex automates expense management so you don't have to handle it manually.

High-rate saver

All Airwallex users in Australia get access to Yield, a high-rate saver where you can earn returns on idle AUD and USD funds. Yield has no lock-in periods and competitive rates. Revolut Business Savings is currently not available in Australia.

Customer support

All Airwallex customers get support, and if you're eligible, we can assign you a hands-on account manager for personalised assistance. Revolut has 24/7 online support and business account managers for their highest account tier.

Global expansion features

Revolut has basic multi-currency transactions and a limited set of financial services for global markets. Airwallex has specialised solutions for revenue stream management, optimised global fund flows, multi-entity account grouping, and centralised reporting.

Why Australian businesses choose Airwallex over Revolut

If you're scaling your company and targeting worldwide customers or clients, Airwallex has a clear edge over Revolut when it comes to sophisticated international capabilities.

Revolut can work for starter sole proprietorships, but if you're growing globally, or need configurable, and flexible financial systems, you'll run into limitations.

We built Airwallex specifically to solve complex multi-currency transaction challenges for innovative businesses worldwide. Whether you need to hold balances globally or move money instantly with real-time oversight, Airwallex's financial infrastructure can handle it.

Ready to see how Airwallex can support your international growth? Take a look at our platform to see which features fit your business needs.

Frequently asked questions about Revolut vs Airwallex

Is Airwallex or Revolut the better platform for high-volume international transfers?

Airwallex works well for high-volume international transfers. Its proprietary payment network and access to interbank FX rates mean you'll save significantly at scale, without the monthly allowances or limits in Revolut's tiered plans.

Does Airwallex or Revolut give you wider global reach?

With Airwallex, you can open Global Accounts with local bank details in 20+ currencies and accept payments from 70+ currencies. Revolut lets you collect and hold 30+ currencies, but only gives you local banking details for limited currencies.

Does Airwallex or Revolut have better FX rates?

Airwallex has consistently competitive FX rates with a small, transparent margin above the interbank rate for all customers. Revolut's rates are competitive within your monthly plan allowances, but you'll pay higher fees once you exceed those limits, especially for conversions outside of market hours.

Sources

1. https://www.revolut.com/business/

2. https://www.revolut.com/en-AU/business/multi-currency-accounts/

3. https://www.revolut.com/en-AU/business/business-account-plans/

4. https://help.revolut.com/business/help/receiving-payments/transfers-info/international-iban

5. https://www.revolut.com/en-AU/business/cards/

6. https://www.revolut.com/en-AU/business/partner-apps/

Disclaimer: The information in this article is based on our own online research. Airwallex was not able to manually test each tool or provider. The information is provided for educational purposes only and a reader should consider the specific requirements of their business when evaluating providers. This research is reviewed annually. If you would like to request an update, feel free to contact us at [[email protected]]. This information doesn’t take into account your objectives, financial situation, or needs. If you are a customer of Airwallex Pty Ltd (AFSL No. 487221) it is important for you to read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for the Direct Services, which is available here.

The Airwallex Yield Liquidity Fund (Yield) is issued by K2 Asset Management Limited (K2) (ABN 95 085 445 094, AFSL No 244393), a wholly owned subsidiary of K2 Asset Management Holdings Limited. This information doesn’t take into account your objectives, financial situation, or needs. Read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and Financial Services Guide (FSG) for Yield, available at www.airwallex.com.au/terms from Airwallex Capital Pty Ltd (ABN 37 609 653 312, AFSL No. 549026). All investments carry risk. *Target returns are net of fees as at 1 January 2024 (AEDT) and indicate past 1-day annualised returns of the relevant underlying JPMorgan Liquidity Funds.