Revolut Business vs Airwallex: Which is better for your business?

Key takeaways

• Airwallex gives New Zealand businesses local receiving details in 20+ currencies across more than 70 countries, letting you collect payments domestically using local clearing rails for near-instant settlement. By contrast, Revolut Business New Zealand offers local details for a limited number of currencies.

• Revolut Business caps your fee-free currency conversions with monthly plan allowances, then charges a 0.6% overage fee plus an extra 1% surcharge if you convert money outside market hours (including weekends). We charge a flat margin of 0.5% on major currencies and 1% on others – with no monthly caps, no overage fees, and no weekend surcharges.

• Our Grow plan (NZ$99/month) bundles automated expense management – including receipt scanning and multi-level approval workflows – at no extra cost. Revolut Business charges a separate NZ$8 per user, per month on top of its plan price to unlock similar tools.

Revolut Business launched in New Zealand in June 2026, giving Kiwi businesses another option to consider alongside Airwallex and other local players. 

This guide compares Airwallex and Revolut’s pricing in New Zealand, features, and currency coverage, so you can choose the more cost-effective, operationally efficient platform to scale your business.

How does Airwallex work in New Zealand?

Airwallex is a global payments, treasury, and merchant acquiring platform built to help businesses of all sizes grow without borders – not a bank. We're a registered Financial Service Provider in New Zealand, and we use our own global financial network to help you move money fast.

• Global Accounts give you local banking details in 20+ currencies across more than 70 countries, so you can receive, hold, and spend money globally without setting up costly offshore entities.

• We connect directly to local clearing networks in over 120 countries, so 93% of your transfers land on the same day – bypassing slow, expensive SWIFT wires.

• You can issue multi-currency Corporate Cards, pay your global team, accept payments directly on your website, and put idle cash to work with liquid Yield products.

How does Revolut Business work in New Zealand?

Revolut Business is the business version of Revolut's consumer app, tailored for New Zealand limited companies, partnerships, and sole traders. It's designed as a centralised dashboard to help startups and SMEs handle cash flow, multi-currency payments, and daily admin.

• You can set up multi-currency accounts to send, receive, hold, or exchange 30+ currencies, and send transfers to over 150 countries.

• It offers physical and virtual team cards with spend limits, custom approvals, and direct integrations with Xero.

• It runs on a tiered monthly subscription model, where a higher monthly fee unlocks larger limits for currency exchange and transfers.

Details snapshot: Revolut Business vs Airwallex

In depth: Features of Revolut Business and Airwallex in New Zealand

Multi-currency support

Airwallex

Airwallex gives you local bank details in 20+ currencies, including NZD, USD, AUD, GBP, EUR and CAD, so you can collect payments domestically. Your customers pay using their own domestic networks – like ACH in the US or Faster Payments in the UK – instead of sending expensive SWIFT wires. Because we use local rails, 93% of these payments clear on the same day, keeping your cash flow moving. 

Revolut Business

Revolut Business relies much more on the SWIFT network. It provides local bank details for two currencies, but if your business operates across more than those markets you will find you cannot open a local account. Revolut also allows you accept and hold 30+ currencies into your multi-currency account. Each tier has a monthly FX exchange allowance at the interbank rate, starting at NZ$1,000 per month on the Basic tier. Above that allowance, Revolut charges 0.6% on currency conversions, plus a 1% surcharge on any FX exchange made outside market hours.

Pricing and fees

Revolut Business pricing and FX allowances

Revolut Business uses a tiered monthly subscription to keep costs predictable, but you need to watch your limits. No matter your tier, the 1% out-of-market hours fee for interbank transfers applies. Outside of the monthly allowance, a flat NZ$5 fee applies to international transfers.

• Basic (NZ$10/month): A NZ$1,000 monthly FX allowance, then 0.6%. No fee-free international transfers are included.

• Grow (NZ$50/month): Extends your monthly FX allowance to NZ$25,000, plus five free international transfers.

• Scale (NZ$150/month): Extends your monthly FX allowance to NZ$100,000, plus 25 free international transfers.

• Enterprise (custom pricing): tailored plans with custom pricing and transfer limits.

Airwallex pricing and flat FX margins

Our Explore tier has a NZ$0 monthly fee, and we don't use plan caps or monthly FX allowances. Instead, we charge a transparent margin on top of the mid-market exchange rate: a flat 0.5% on major currencies (including USD, AUD, GBP, EUR, CAD) and 1% on others. We don't charge weekend FX surcharges, out-of-hours fees, or monthly overage caps. Exchange money on a Saturday afternoon and you get the same 0.5% margin on major currencies as you would on a Tuesday morning.

Spend management and Corporate Cards

Airwallex

Our free Explore plan includes up to 10 free company cards (virtual) and unlimited employee cards (physical and virtual), with two free employee card users per month. These multi-currency cards let your team spend directly from your foreign currency balances, avoiding double-conversion fees. Advanced automated features – OCR receipt scanning, automated bill pay, and multi-layer spending approvals – come with the Grow plan at NZ$99 a month. 

Revolut Business

Revolut Business gives you card controls on every subscription tier, including up to three physical cards and 50 virtual cards per team member. You can freeze cards, block specific merchant categories, and set strict spend limits from your dashboard. But if you want its automated expense management tool – which prompts employees to snap receipts, reads the details, and matches them to transactions – you'll pay a separate NZ$8 per active user, per month. 

Earning returns

Airwallex Yield

Airwallex Yield lets New Zealand businesses earn a variable, no-lock-up return on idle USD and AUD balances by investing in AAA-rated JPMorgan Liquidity money market funds. There are no lock-up periods – you can request a withdrawal at any time. The funds typically settle back to your wallet balance within one to two business days.

Revolut Business

Revolut Business doesn't currently offer an interest or yield product for New Zealand business customers. Any cash held on the platform sits in a non-interest-bearing balance, so significant AUD or USD holdings earn nothing.

Online payments and Xero integrations

Which platform is better for accepting online payments?

Airwallex offers an integrated setup for accepting online payments, with a checkout that plugs directly into Shopify, WooCommerce or Magento and accepts payments from over 180 countries. Our New Zealand card processing fees: 2.60% + NZ$0.30 domestic, 3.60% + NZ$0.30 international. We also support like-for-like settlement – if a US customer pays in USD, it lands directly in your USD wallet without forced conversion to NZD, saving you unnecessary FX margins. 

Revolut Business does not currently allow New Zealand businesses to accept online customer payments. However, checkout features are available in other regions.

How well do Airwallex and Revolut Business sync with Xero?

Both integrate directly with Xero, but focus on different things. Airwallex runs an automated sync that matches your card receipts, wallet balances, conversions and Yield returns to your Xero ledger – built for businesses with complex, continuous global transactions. Revolut Business focuses on employee expense reconciliation: it pulls in card spend and receipts, matches expenses to policies, and lets you pay supplier bills directly from your dashboard with a single click – useful for services businesses keeping a close eye on employee budgets.

Are Airwallex and Revolut Business regulated in New Zealand?

Neither platform is a registered bank in New Zealand. Both are registered on the Financial Service Providers Register (FSPR) and use safeguarding structures to keep your funds separate from their own operating capital.

• Airwallex: Registered as Airwallex (New Zealand) Limited, FSP No. 1001602. We meet the highest international security standards including PCI DSS, SOC1, and SOC2 compliance. 

• Revolut Business: Operates as Revolut Payments New Zealand Pty Ltd, NZBN 9429048733212. Revolut has applied for a registered bank licence from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (application submitted December 2024, still under assessment). If approved, Revolut would become a fully licensed bank and could offer interest-bearing savings products and a broader range of credit options.

The final verdict: how to choose

Choose Airwallex if you:

• Want native local details to collect funds in 20+ currencies from global clients without paying SWIFT wire fees.

• Want the flexibility to trade or convert currencies on weekends and outside market hours without paying a 1% surcharge.

• Run an eCommerce or export business and want to accept card payments that settle directly like-for-like into your foreign currency wallets.

• Want to put idle AUD and USD balances to work earning variable returns through high-liquidity money market funds.

Choose Revolut Business if you:

• Are a local startup or sole trader and won’t be impacted by the account limits, even as your business scales

• Are a current Revolut user and are familiar with the dashboard, enabling faster setup

• Prioritise a mobile-first app for paying supplier bills and managing employee expenses on the go.

Frequently asked questions

Are Airwallex and Revolut Business registered banks in NZ?

No – neither provider is a registered bank in New Zealand. Both Airwallex and Revolut operate as registered Financial Service Providers in New Zealand.

Do these accounts directly integrate with Xero?

Yes – both platforms offer direct, automated Xero integrations on all their plans. Airwallex focuses on automated syncing for multi-currency bank feeds, cards and Yield balances. Revolut Business focuses on automated employee expense matching and direct bill payments.

Which is cheaper for NZ businesses making frequent international payments – Revolut Business or Airwallex?

For frequent or high-volume international payments, Airwallex can generally be the more cost-effective option. We charge a flat FX margin of 0.5% on major currencies with no plan caps or weekend fees. Revolut Business offers fee-free FX within its monthly allowances, but charges a 0.6% overage fee and a 1% surcharge outside market hours.

Can I get a New Zealand dollar (NZD) business account with Revolut Business?

Yes – New Zealand business customers on Revolut Business get dedicated domestic NZD account details, letting you receive domestic NZD bank transfers and make local payments without extra transaction fees.

Sources

• https://www.revolut.com/en-NZ/business/business-account-plans/ 

• https://www.revolut.com/en-NZ/legal/terms/ 

• https://www.revolut.com/en-NZ/news/revolut_has_applied_to_become_a_registered_bank_in_new_zealand/ 

• https://www.revolut.com/en-NZ/business/multi-currency-accounts/