Airwallex vs. Wise: compare fees, features, and benefits in Canada

Imagine you're at the helm of an online business catering to a global clientele. In such a scenario, the ability to effortlessly collect payments in multiple currencies and execute cross-border fund transfers for various purposes like supplier payments, advertising costs, or staff salaries becomes paramount. This is where Wise and Airwallex step in, offering to streamline your global financial operations. But how do they stack up against each other regarding cost and critical features? Let's delve deeper to find out.

What is Airwallex?  

Established in 2015, Airwallex is on a mission to simplify global business payments and financial management. It offers a comprehensive platform that equips businesses to manage their finances across borders easily. In contrast to Wise, Airwallex is exclusively designed for businesses, catering to their unique financial needs.  

With Airwallex, domestic and international customer payments flow into a multi-currency wallet. Businesses can then pay suppliers and contractors abroad via Borderless Cards and rapid transfers — no costly transfer fees are required if local payment rails are used worldwide. Airwallex provides access to interbank foreign exchange (FX) rates, minimizing cross-border friction. This unified financial flow saves time and money, freeing modern companies to focus on global growth.

For businesses, critical elements of Airwallex’s offering include:  

• Global accounts held in 20+ currencies

• Fast, low-cost international transfers   

• Borderless debit cards to spend in multiple currencies

• Accounting platform integrations

• Batch international transfers

What is Wise?

Previously known as Transferwise, Wise launched in 2011 as a consumer-focused international money transfer service. Over the past 13 years, it has expanded into business accounts and other financial services while maintaining a reputation for low-cost currency exchange and transfers.   

Wise offers multi-currency accounts to hold and convert funds at competitive rates. It can accept payments in nine currencies with local bank details. The company facilitates bank transfers to over 70 countries, with additional payment options for vital markets. 

For businesses, key features include:

• Multi-currency accounts  

• Accounting software integrations 

• Payment requests

Compare Airwallex and Wise

Wise fees explained

For Wise business account holders, fees consist of:

Account opening

One-time fee to open an account ($42 in CAD). Differs by country.

International transfers & FX conversions

A fixed fee plus variable fees starting at 0.33%. Differs by currency and rails used – e.g., local, SWIFT. 

Card transactions

• The first card on the account is free, with $5 CAD replacement fee for lost cards

• If auto-conversion is needed, a small % FX fee will be charged  

Cash withdrawals from ATMs also incur a fee. 

Airwallex fees explained  

Airwallex helps centralize global financial workflows. Main fees include:   

Account opening

Free business account, no monthly fees

International transfers & FX conversions

• No transfer fees for the majority of currencies on local rails in 120+ countries

• Flat fees apply for SWIFT transfers to 150+ countries

• FX Rate: Interbank rate + 0.5% for USD, HKD, CNY, AUD, EUR, GBP, CAD, SGD, CHF, NZD, JPY, and 1.0% for all other currencies

Card transactions

• Free multi-currency virtual cards with no international transaction fees

• Up to 1% cash rebates on local card spend in CAD

• Spend directly in 10+ currencies from your multi-currency wallet

• For all other currencies, auto-converts from your domestic or designated currency for a small fee

• All other currencies supported by Visa

Airwallex vs. Wise: Comparing additional features

Beyond international payment capabilities, what else can these two platforms do?⁹ 

Borderless cards

Wise offers teams the ability to make online and in-store payments either physically or via a digital wallet, and it offers cashback depending on location.

Airwallex Borderless Cards can be spent directly in 10 currencies, drawing from held balances or any currency supported by Visa. There’s the opportunity to earn up to 1% cash rebates on local card spend in CAD while paying no international transaction fees. Company and employee cards are free to create and come with a built-in expense management tool to help businesses track, control, and approve spending. Airwallex Borderless Cards are virtual with physical cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay coming soon.

Team expenses

Airwallex offers comprehensive tools for managing team expenses and accounts payable globally. Teams can track spending, capture receipts, submit expenses, and navigate multi-layer approval workflows to ensure proper use of company funds. All data seamlessly syncs with accounting platforms like QuickBooks, Xero, and NetSuite. For accounts payable, Airwallex centralizes supplier payments, allowing businesses to upload bills and invoices, extract relevant data, and execute domestic and international payments with multi-layer approval.

Airwallex also supports batch payments of up to 1,000 transactions, automated across currencies and countries, at no additional cost.

Wise offers a streamlined solution for team expenses and accounts payable as well. Businesses can easily import bills from QuickBooks and Xero to make payments, providing an intuitive experience for managing finances. Batch payments of up to 1,000 transactions can also be automated, with multiple user access and set permissions. While batch payments are available, businesses using Wise may face additional costs depending on the volume of transactions.

Developer platform and APIs  

For developers and technical teams, Airwallex opens access to APIs to scale, customize, and automate payouts, FX, and card issuing. Wise provides more limited developer options tailored to basic transfers and FX needs.  

Customer support

As a dedicated business solution, Airwallex also provides account management and onboarding assistance for eligible businesses. 

Final thoughts: Airwallex vs. Wise

Which global financial platform is right for your business? Wise offers solid rates for peer-to-peer consumers and micro businesses. On the other hand, Airwallex may be a more suitable solution for growing, mid-market, and enterprise-scale companies managing complexity across borders.  

With extensive capabilities for collections and payouts worldwide, zero hidden fees, top-tier FX rates, and integrated financial management tools, Airwallex is purposely built to be a growth engine for international business in the modern digital economy.

Sources: 

For more information on Airwallex, visit Airwallex Business Account and Airwallex pricing.

1.  https://wise.com/ca/pricing/business

2.  https://wise.com/ca/pricing/business

3.  https://wise.com/gb/business/

4.  https://wise.com/help/articles/2978029/how-long-does-it-take-to-receive-money-into-a-balance

5.  https://wise.com/gb/pricing/business/receive

6.  https://wise.com/ca/pricing/business/send-money

7.  https://wise.com/tools/exchange-rate-alerts/

8.  https://wise.com/gb/business/app-marketplace

9.  https://wise.com/gb/pricing/business/receive

Disclaimer: We wrote this article in Q2 2024. The information was based on our own online research and we were 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 every six months. If you would like to request an update, feel free to contact us at [email protected].