Travello embarks on a growth journey with Airwallex's financial solutions

Travello focuses on growth by partnering with Airwallex

With the post-COVID travel boom continuing, Travello has been making big moves in servicing travel lovers across the globe from Australia, New Zealand and beyond. 

Originally born from co-founder Mark Cantoni’s passion for the travel experiences he had in his 20s, Travello started out as a social network mobile app for travellers, connecting young people with other like-minded travellers while overseas. As their online community grew, so did the company’s offerings. 

After acquiring the ‘Backpacker Deals’ company in 2018, Travello now offers tours, experiences, activities and attractions in tens of countries all over the world, specifically focusing on the Australian and New Zealand market. 

For a company so set on making the world simpler and more pleasurable to experience, it’s easy to understand why Travello chose Airwallex as their global financial partner. With Airwallex on their side, Travello is now saving around 25,000 AUD per annum in financial costs. Let’s jump in to see how. 

The Challenges

Classified as an ‘Online Travel Agent’, Travello is constantly making and receiving international payments. Their business model involves them marketing and selling the experiences they have on offer, collecting the funds from wherever their customers are in the world, and then paying their ‘provider operators’ the net amount once the experience has been used. 

“We’re always accepting money from customers in different currencies, and then paying our operators in another currency again,” says Mark. “Before Airwallex, we were constantly being subjected to high foreign exchange costs that were ultimately bringing down our bottom line.”

The Solution

No foreign exchange fees on software subscriptions

Co-founder Mark says that one of the main reasons Travello chose to use Airwallex was to bring down their costs when it came to the many different software platforms they use as an early-stage business. 

“We were continually being hit with high FX rates that made it such a pain to pay for the often US-based software platforms we needed.”

Now, Travello can use their Airwallex Global Account in the corresponding currency to pay their software subscriptions, skipping the costly conversion and transaction fees. Jackpot.

Airwallex digital cards make travelling overseas a cinch

The Travello team use Airwallex’s Borderless Cards to make seamless business purchases when travelling internationally. They can make purchases from multiple currencies held in Travello’s Airwallex Global Accounts, and can use them anywhere Visa is accepted - both in-store and online. 

Mark Cantoni

Travello Co-founder

“I added the Airwallex Borderless Card on my Apple wallet when travelling for a conference recently,” says Mark. “It’s so handy knowing I can pay for things overseas with it while keeping any foreign exchange fees way lower than if I was using a traditional bank card.”

Airwallex’s multicurrency Borderless Cards are free to create and can be used almost immediately online. Travello never have to deal with surprise foreign transaction fees or other hidden charges again, with 0% foreign card transaction fees with Airwallex Borderless Cards. Every dollar they save can get put back into growing and developing their business. 

The Results

Mark says that since integrating Airwallex into their business, Travello’s entire payment process has become much more seamless and pain-free, while also reducing their fees. It’s allowed them to pay their operators more quickly, meaning they can, in turn, provide a better experience for their customers.  

“There’s always a bit of hesitancy to add a new platform, as it can sometimes feel like you’re just adding software for the sake of it, especially as an early-stage company,” says Mark. 

“But Airwallex has been a fantastic integration and addition to our company. Debbie, our Account Manager, has helped us enormously through any pain points we’ve had. However, we actually have really limited contact with Airwallex - and for me, I see that as a very good thing, because it means everything is running smoothly.”

“When you’ve got a lot going on, you need to have reliable platforms that don’t go wrong, and that’s the case with Airwallex - it just works.”