Special Group Australia is a leading independent creative agency that builds culturally powerful, commercially effective work that moves people and drives business growth. It partners with ambitious brands across strategy, integrated campaigns, content, PR and experiences – helping them stand out in a crowded marketplace through creativity that matters.
Special Group Australia is an independent creative network delivering campaigns with social and cultural impact for some of the world’s leading brands. True to its name, the agency consistently achieves top results for clients while driving award-winning work.
With offices in the US, Australia, New Zealand and across the APAC region, Special Group has collaborated with iconic clients including Uber Eats, Bonds and Virgin Australia, earning numerous industry accolades along the way.
We spoke with Vishal Parikh, Head of Finance, and Rachel McEwen, Team Lead, about how they’ve transformed financial processes and commercial practices, creating a culture that’s both more creative and better supported, with Airwallex as their partner.
Balancing creative pace with operational efficiency
Finance and creative people are often painted as opposites, but in a fast-moving agency like Special Group, they’re forced to work together. The goal is simple: support great ideas by letting creative teams focus on the work and ensuring the financial side never gets in the way.
As Head of Finance, Vishal’s job is to support that goal and make sure the business runs smoothly behind the scenes. He oversees everything from payments and payroll to budgets, cash flow and margins, keeping finances tight, tools fit for purpose and projects moving without friction.
When creative ideas evolve quickly, there’s not always tolerance for delays, admin hurdles or complex financial processes. For Vishal, this has meant rethinking how finance operates and finding payment and expense management systems that move in sync with the work.
Speed that traditional banking couldn’t match
Vishal explains that traditional banking processes began to feel increasingly out of step with how the team actually operated.
“We work at a fast pace, and some of our tools and processes were outdated, especially when it came to banking products,” Vishal says.
“We do a lot of production, and it doesn’t necessarily happen in Australia. Most of it is last-minute,” he adds. “You might have people travelling suddenly, or a third-party supplier selected at the very last minute who needs to be paid straight away.”
In those moments, traditional onboarding processes simply weren’t practical, particularly for smaller, time-sensitive payments. As Vishal puts it, “Going through a full vendor onboarding process for a minor payment can be really time-consuming.”
From slow finances to real-time control
For Special Group, efficiency was about more than quick payments.
Issuing cards was a particular pain point. In fact, Vishal first came across Airwallex during a last-minute shoot in South Korea, when the team urgently needed a card. “We were pretty desperate,” he says. “We tried going through our bank, but it was a long, drawn-out process.”
After being introduced to Airwallex, Vishal was surprised by how quickly everything came together. “Rather than have to go through lengthy applications, director sign-offs and back-and-forth with bank representatives, we could register an account in seconds and issue a digital card almost immediately,” he explains.
Previously, the lack of speed had also compounded the problem of maintaining transparency.
For the Special Group team, access to physical and digital cards through the Airwallex platform unlocked real-time control and visibility.
“You can see transactions in real time, assign them to a job or project, and track spend by person, across different markets and currencies,” Vishal notes. “That’s what allows finance to move at the same pace as the business.”
“More importantly, the value is locked in on the day the transaction happens, rather than waiting two or three days. That speed is exactly what we need to allocate costs accurately to the budget,” he adds.
Instant access for teams on the move
Rachel notes that positive change was felt immediately by the teams using the cards day-to-day.
“Before, we were dealing with really rigid caps and quite antiquated authorisation processes,” she says. “Text messages were being sent to one person’s phone just to approve things.”
With Airwallex, those safeguards are still in place, but they’re built into the platform in a way that feels seamless rather than cumbersome. “It still has all of that security, but it’s so much more integrated in the app and easier to use.”
While the physical cards arrived within days, Rachel explains that the digital cards were available immediately, making it easy to get moving without delay. “Setting up the Airwallex card in the digital app was a kind of instant magic!”
For teams travelling internationally, having the card readily available in-app made covering both planned and last-minute expenses seamless. “We’re buying things like flights and accommodation, and then spending on the ground as well,” she says. “It covers a whole range of business and travel expenses.”
Just as importantly, Rachel notes that expense admin was fast and frictionless, removing another layer of work from already busy schedules. “Reconciling the expenses is so much easier with our wallets. We can do it in the app on the go, and it’s pretty much instant.”
Enabling better work, not more admin
“With Airwallex, not having to use our time reconciling jobs means we can focus on what we should be doing – strategy, and being in the regions where we’re working – rather than chasing expenses,” Rachel says.
From a finance perspective, Vishal sees the same shift playing out on a company-wide level.
“The biggest impact on my team is that we’re no longer chasing receipts,” he says. “We don’t have month-end races anymore. Receipts and invoices are attached directly to the system. There’s no back-and-forth, which makes reconciliation much easier for everyone.”
“Now our focus is on providing more valuable insights to the business, rather than being bogged down by processes, policies and hurdles. Having Airwallex on our side means we know we can make transactions conveniently and easily. And ultimately make it much easier for the business to operate.”
The combination of speed, flexibility and control ultimately supports what matters most. “Airwallex is a modern platform, built for modern global businesses. It’s flexible, agile, and it helps agencies like Special Group deliver world-class work,” Vishal says.
Disclaimer: The information contained herein is factual information only and is not intended to imply any recommendation or opinion about a financial product.
