Connected accounts and Embedded Finance solutions

Airwallex's Embedded Finance offering encompasses three solutions—Global Treasury, Banking as a Service, and Payments for Platforms—each targeting different platform use cases. Connected accounts are the foundational infrastructure that all three solutions rely on. Understanding how connected accounts are used across these solutions, and which account type fits your use case, helps you design the right integration from the start.

Connected accounts as infrastructure

The three Embedded Finance solutions rely on the same underlying mechanism: connected accounts give your customers their own accounts within the Airwallex system. Instead of your platform receiving all funds and distributing them manually, connected accounts allow each customer to hold funds, receive inbound transfers, convert currencies, and make payouts in their own name.

This structure is what distinguishes Airwallex's Embedded Finance approach. Your platform doesn't just use Airwallex to move money—you offer your customers financial infrastructure, with Airwallex operating as the regulated layer beneath your product. The Global Treasury, Banking as a Service, and Payments for Platforms solutions are lenses through which to view connected account use cases: the underlying API, onboarding, and funds movement mechanisms are the same across all three.

Global Treasury

Global Treasury is for platforms that enable their customers to collect, hold, and move funds internationally. Connected accounts are the mechanism by which each customer gets their own multi-currency wallet, local account numbers for receiving inbound transfers, and the ability to make outbound payouts.

Connected accounts are required when customers need their own segregated accounts—that is, when funds must be held in the customer's name rather than pooled in the platform's account.

Example use cases:

• Payroll platforms that hold and disburse employee funds in multiple currencies.
• Vendor payout systems where each supplier maintains their own balance.
• Treasury management tools that give business customers independent wallets and Global Accounts.

For more information, see Global Treasury.

Banking as a Service

Banking as a Service (BaaS) is for platforms building consumer or business fintech products—neobanks, digital wallets, and card programs. Connected accounts give each end user their own account, including wallets, Global Accounts, Foreign Exchange (FX) capabilities, and card issuing.

Connected accounts are required for all Banking as a Service use cases. Every end user of a BaaS product needs their own account.

Example use cases:

• Neobank and challenger bank apps offering multi-currency accounts.
• Card issuing programs where each user holds a wallet and a debit card.
• Consumer or business digital wallet apps that give users branded multi-currency accounts.

For more information, see Banking as a Service.

Payments for Platforms

Payments for Platforms is for marketplaces and SaaS platforms where sellers or service providers operate within your platform ecosystem. Connected accounts are always required in this model—the platform's Embedded Finance relationship with Airwallex is built on connected accounts. What varies is the account type and how funds move between the platform and its sellers.

When sellers accept payments from end customers as the Merchant of Record, each seller needs a full connected account with payment acceptance capability enabled. When the platform is the Merchant of Record—accepting all payments in its own name and distributing proceeds to sellers—platforms typically use ledger or withdrawal connected accounts, which have lighter onboarding requirements and broader geographic coverage.

Example use cases:

• Marketplace platforms where sellers are the Merchant of Record and each seller holds a full connected account.
• Marketplace platforms where the platform is the Merchant of Record and uses ledger connected accounts to manage seller balances and pay out proceeds.
• Workforce payment platforms using withdrawal connected accounts to pay contractors in regions where full connected accounts are not supported.

For more information, see Payments for Platforms.

Summary