RYSE optimizes its cross-border finances and saves big with Airwallex

Trung Pham

Founder and CEO, RYSE

“I recommend that every Canadian business open an Airwallex account,” says Pham, Founder and CEO. “I’m very direct about this — I’ve worked with all the fintechs and traditional banks in Canada, and Airwallex is the best.”

From smart homes to smart finances: The RYSE story

Canadian-born RYSE, founded in 2015, is redefining the future of smart homes with their next-generation smart window coverings devices. These energy-efficient retrofit devices motorize window blinds, shades, and curtains, offering an affordable alternative to costly replacements. RYSE combines innovation with practicality to create solutions for the tech-focused homes of tomorrow.

Operating with a borderless vision, RYSE is focused on delivering innovative solutions while expanding its global reach. For Founder and CEO Trung Pham, sustaining growth means not only revolutionizing smart home technology but also optimizing the company’s operational infrastructure to enable seamless global operations.

Airwallex has become a key enabler in this journey, providing the financial agility needed to support RYSE’s mission of innovation and expansion. By removing financial barriers, Airwallex helps RYSE maintain its focus on driving growth in the smart home market. 

The challenge

As a business operating across Canada and the US, RYSE faced significant challenges in managing its financial operations. With 90% of its revenue in USD but expenses and investments often in CAD, frequent currency conversions were costly and complex. Additionally, manufacturing in China introduced the need for regular international transfers, further complicating cross-border workflows.

Managing these transactions required relying on a mix of fintech platforms and traditional banks, but these solutions often fell short. Wire transfers were slow and resource-intensive, requiring manual intervention. Partial solutions like Wise lacked critical features, such as instant transfers between entities or batch payment capabilities without costly fees, leaving RYSE with inefficient and fragmented financial workflows.

Trung Pham

Founder and CEO, RYSE

“We needed a platform that could simplify all these processes, save us money, and allow us to operate efficiently across borders.”

The fragmented financial tools created inefficiencies and hindered RYSE’s ability to scale effectively, making it clear that a more integrated and robust solution was essential for the company’s long-term growth.

The solution

RYSE turned to Airwallex to streamline its cross-border financial operations and overcome the hurdles of traditional banking systems. With Airwallex, the team consolidated its financial tools into a comprehensive platform, removing silos and simplifying workflows for seamless management of its US and Canadian entities.

Airwallex’s multi-currency Business Account, which enables businesses to hold, manage, and convert funds across multiple currencies in a single account, replaced cumbersome wire transfers, allowing RYSE to manage USD and CAD transactions instantly and efficiently. This eliminates the need for multiple bank accounts and reduces conversion fees, streamlining financial operations. Batch payment functionality adds another convenience layer, enabling RYSE to process multiple payments simultaneously without additional costs, saving time and reducing manual workload. 

The team also uses Airwallex Corporate Cards to enhance spending control. By assigning unique cards to service providers, RYSE streamlines expense tracking, improves security, and reduces manual effort. 

“I can assign a specific card to each service provider, like software subscriptions, to make managing expenses easier,” Pham explains. “If a card is ever compromised, I can simply cancel that card without having to update the payment details for every service provider. It’s a best practice that saves a lot of time and hassle."

Additionally, the ability to specify payment and receiving currencies via Payouts provides greater flexibility, simplifying cross-border transactions.

With Airwallex integrated into its financial operations, RYSE has the tools to scale efficiently, unlocking new growth opportunities across global markets.

Trung Pham

Founder and CEO, RYSE

“Airwallex is like if Brex and Wise merged,” says Pham. “It has all the banking capabilities of Brex and all the foreign currency capabilities of Wise.”

The results

Centralized operations with reduced FX costs

RYSE uses Airwallex’s multi-currency accounts to collect all USD and CAD sales from Amazon and Shopify, streamlining revenue collection and simplifying cash flow management. By leveraging Airwallex’s competitive foreign exchange rates, RYSE saves $25k annually in FX costs. With the company’s rapid growth, these savings are set to increase significantly.

Faster, low-cost payments

With Airwallex’s global payout capabilities, RYSE can quickly and cost-effectively pay suppliers and contractors worldwide. Payments are executed in local currencies, reducing fees and improving speed.

Streamlined expense management

Airwallex Corporate Cards allow RYSE to assign specific cards to individual service providers, enabling quick replacements if a card is compromised and improving overall security.

Scalable solutions for global growth

As RYSE expands to new markets like Europe and Australia, Airwallex supports the company’s need for efficient currency conversions and global financial operations. The platform’s scalability ensures that RYSE can easily manage increasing transaction volumes and complex financial requirements.

“I recommend that every Canadian business open an Airwallex account,” says Pham. “I’m very direct about this – I’ve worked with all the fintechs and traditional banks in Canada, and Airwallex is the best.”

Simplifying finances and empowering RYSE to scale globally

Trung Pham

Founder and CEO, RYSE

“What I tell people is, screw everything else — just use Airwallex. Trust me. Airwallex is a vital part of the tech stack, especially for Canadian corporations. When starting a business, you think, ‘What tools do I need?’ Slack is for internal communication, Asana is for project management, Google Drive or Dropbox is for your cloud, and Airwallex is your financial partner. It’s a no-brainer.”

With Airwallex, RYSE saves time, cuts costs, and gains the financial agility needed to scale globally. For Trung and his team, Airwallex isn’t just another financial tool – it’s a game-changer for the business.