Get started with connected accounts

Connected accounts enable platforms to programmatically create and manage accounts for their customers, such as individuals, businesses, merchants, or service providers. Each platform has unique needs: some need treasury capabilities for global fund collection and disbursement, others need payment acceptance infrastructure, and many require both. Understanding connected accounts helps you make key integration decisions and design solutions that meet your platform's specific requirements.

What is a connected account?

A connected account is a customer account that your platform creates and manages through Airwallex. Connected accounts function as sub-accounts under your platform's master account. Each connected account:

• Has its own wallet for holding funds in multiple currencies.
• Can have capabilities like receiving payments, making payouts, or holding cards.
• Goes through identity verification independently.
• Has its own transaction history and reporting.
• Is managed by your platform via API, Console, or embedded components.

Your platform can create accounts on behalf of your customers and manage their financial operations while Airwallex handles the underlying banking infrastructure and compliance.

When do I need connected accounts?

Connected accounts are required for platforms that:

• Collects funds on behalf of others: Marketplaces, payment facilitators, or platforms that need to hold and disburse funds to multiple parties.
• Enables global treasury: Platforms that let customers collect, hold, and move funds across borders in multiple currencies.
• Facilitates payment acceptance: Platforms where merchants or service providers accept payments from end customers.
• Issues cards: Platforms that provide card issuing capabilities to customers for spending or payouts.
• Manages payroll or reimbursements: HR or expense management platforms that handle employee payments globally.

If you're using Airwallex for your own business benefit rather than managing financial services for others, you don't need connected accounts. Use other Airwallex products instead.

Platform relationship model

Your platform account sits between Airwallex and your end customers. In this model:

• Your platform authenticates to Airwallex using your API credentials.
• You create and manage connected accounts on behalf of your customers.
• You orchestrate funds movement, compliance workflows, and account operations.
• Airwallex handles the underlying banking infrastructure, regulatory compliance, and funds custody.

Understand your requirements

Before implementation, determine what type of accounts and capabilities you need.

Account types

Connected accounts can be created as either Business or Individual accounts, depending on the type of customer your platform serves.

Business accounts are for platforms onboarding:

• Companies, corporations, or partnerships.
• Registered businesses with a legal entity.
• Merchants operating under a business structure.

Individual accounts are for platforms onboarding:

• Sole traders or freelancers.
• Gig economy workers.
• Service providers operating as individuals.
• Consumers in card issuing or wallet use cases.

Account capabilities

Account capabilities determine both who owns the funds and what operations the account can perform. This choice impacts your platform's regulatory obligations and the financial services available to your customers.

Ledger Accounts

Funds remain your platform's property.

• Track balances and transactions in your platform's ledger.
• Minimal onboarding requirements (light screening only).
• Suitable for marketplaces that retain ownership of funds in exchange for broader geographic coverage and faster onboarding.

Withdrawal Accounts

Funds belong to the account holder.

• Can receive and hold funds.
• Can make payouts to external bank accounts.
• Cannot accept payments from end customers.
• Requires full identity verification.
• Suitable for treasury and payout use cases in regions where full connected accounts aren't available (payroll, vendor payments, freelancer payments).

Full Connected Accounts

Funds belong to the account holder. Includes all withdrawal account capabilities, plus:

• Can accept payments from end customers.
• Can be enabled for card issuing.
• Most comprehensive capabilities and regulatory requirements.
• Suitable for marketplace sellers, merchants, and platform users needing full financial services.

Regional availability

Connected accounts can be created for customers in supported regions. The specific verification requirements vary by country. See Supported regions for a complete list of where you can create connected accounts and the requirements for each region.

Choose your integration approach

Airwallex offers multiple ways to integrate connected account onboarding. Choose the approach that best fits your development resources, timeline, and desired user experience.

Programmatic integration options

Manual onboarding via Console

For platforms with internal operations teams or those handling a small number of accounts, you can manually onboard connected accounts through the Airwallex Console. This approach requires no development effort but is not suitable for customer-facing flows.

Additional considerations:

• Deferred IDV support: Available for Embedded Component, Hosted Flow, and Native API integrations.

For detailed integration steps, see:

• Hosted Onboarding
• Embedded KYC Component
• Native API
• Console

Understand compliance requirements

Compliance is central to connected accounts. Understanding the requirements upfront will help you design better integrations.

Onboarding verification

All connected accounts—both Business and Individual—require onboarding verification to verify the account holder's identity and comply with anti-money laundering regulations.

For Business accounts, you'll collect:

• Business registration details.
• Information for beneficial owners and controllers (name, date of birth, address, government ID).
• Business phone number and email.

For Individual accounts, you'll collect:

• Name, date of birth, and address.
• Government ID.
• Phone number and email.

Payment activation verification

Business accounts that will accept payments from end customers (Merchant-of-Record use cases) require additional payment activation verification to verify the business entity, its ownership structure, and its legitimacy to accept payments.

Business accounts using only treasury capabilities (receiving funds, making payouts, holding balances) don't require payment activation verification.

You'll collect:

• Business registration documents.
• Business address and contact information.
• Beneficial ownership information (individuals owning 25%+ of the business).
• Business type, industry, and expected transaction volumes.

RFIs (Requests for Information)

During verification, Airwallex may request additional information if submitted documents are unclear or expired, additional identity verification is needed, business details require clarification, or transaction patterns trigger compliance reviews.

RFIs are normal and expected. Design your integration to handle RFIs gracefully so your customers can resolve them quickly.

Deferred identity verification

If enabled for your platform, you can use deferred identity verification (deferred IDV) to create accounts and let customers start transacting without providing full identity documentation upfront. You collect complete identity details later when they reach transaction thresholds. This is useful for platforms prioritizing fast onboarding while maintaining compliance. See Deferred identity verification for details.

Quickstart: Create your first account

To experience the core connected account workflow in the sandbox environment, complete the Quickstart: Your first connected account guide. The quickstart demonstrates account creation, verification submission, and status monitoring regardless of which integration approach you choose.

Plan your path to production

After completing the quickstart, follow these steps to build your production integration:

1. Choose your integration approach based on your development resources and desired user experience.

   • Hosted Onboarding: Redirect to Airwallex-hosted verification pages.
   • Embedded KYC Component: Integrate verification within your UI with your branding.
   • Native API: Build a fully custom verification experience.
   • Console: Manual onboarding for internal operations teams.

2. Build your onboarding flow using the detailed integration guides for your chosen approach.

3. Set up compliance workflows to handle verification and ongoing compliance requirements.

   • Handle KYC RFIs: Respond to requests for additional identity information.
   • Configure webhooks to receive notifications on account status changes in real-time.

4. Implement funds movement to enable your core platform functionality.

   • Move funds between accounts: Transfer funds between your platform and connected accounts.

5. Test thoroughly in the sandbox environment before going live.