Bolt brings financial services to drivers with Airwallex

Introducing Bolt

Every day, millions of people use Bolt to get where they’re going, while millions of driver and courier partners access flexible earning opportunities through the platform.

As a global mobility platform spanning ride-hailing, micromobility, and food delivery, Bolt operates a complex financial ecosystem. Its driver and courier partners earn through Bolt, but traditionally manage their earnings and everyday spending through separate financial experiences.

Bolt saw an opportunity to bring those experiences closer together, giving drivers and couriers a more useful way to access and manage their money through the platform they already use.

The challenge

Bolt wanted to simplify access to available earnings

Bolt's Driver and Courier Partners use the platform to receive their earnings quickly, wherever they are, in whatever currency they hold. Delivering that experience at global scale requires financial infrastructure that can move money efficiently across markets while giving Bolt the flexibility to build new experiences on top of it.

Bolt initially partnered with Airwallex to improve payout operations for driver partners in Canada. An Airwallex Business Account gave Bolt the foundation to receive, hold, and pay out funds efficiently.

As the relationship developed, Bolt saw that Airwallex's broader licensing and financial infrastructure could enable something bigger: bringing earnings and everyday spending together inside the Bolt platform.

The solution

Bolt is building a financial experience for drivers

Bolt is now building Bolt Money, a new financial offering powered by Airwallex.

The vision is to give driver and courier partners a wallet and a card for everyday spending, along with access to their Bolt earnings. Instead of earning money in one place and managing it somewhere else, drivers can access and use their funds through the platform.

Airwallex provides the financial infrastructure behind this experience, including the accounts, payouts, licensing, and card issuing capabilities that Bolt needs to build and scale the product.

What changes for Bolt

Eligible partners can access available funds in real time

Bolt Money is designed to give drivers greater visibility and access to their earnings throughout the day. Rather than waiting until the scheduled payout cycle, drivers can see what they’ve earned and use that money straight away.

Drivers have an optional way to manage available funds

Bolt is offering an optional, integrated way to access eligible funds. Drivers can have their own wallet and card, giving them a simpler way to manage their money without moving funds between different apps.

Bolt is able to build financial services into its platform

By embedding financial services directly into Bolt, the company can build around drivers’ and courier partners’ needs rather than sending them elsewhere to manage their money. This creates a connected experience while giving Bolt a foundation to continue building on.

The results

A new financial experience for drivers

Bolt Money brings financial services directly into the platform used by driver and courier partners, creating a connected way to access and manage earnings.

Immediate access to earnings

The experience is designed around how drivers earn: giving them visibility into their earnings as they happen and making those funds available to use without waiting for a traditional payout cycle.

A foundation for future financial services

Airwallex provides the infrastructure Bolt needs to build and scale its financial offering, from accounts and payouts to licensing and card issuing.

One partner behind the experience

With Airwallex providing the underlying financial infrastructure through a single integration, Bolt can focus on building the experience for its drivers while benefiting from a foundation designed to support its growth.

Edgars Kokins

Managing Director, Bolt Money

“Having the right financial infrastructure is really important. Airwallex gave us that foundation from day one: the licensing, the accounts, the payouts, and the card issuing, through one partner and one integration. Knowing that we can build and scale confidently with Airwallex is what lets us focus on the experience itself.”