Buddy Bites gains strict cash flow visibility to fuel Asia expansion with Airwallex

Introducing Buddy Bites

Buddy Bites was born from a simple insight: Hong Kong’s pet owners were underserved – craving better nutrition and digital convenience. The founders responded with a model that blends premium quality with social responsibility, sourcing vet-approved ingredients from Europe for direct doorstep delivery. Today, Buddy Bites has built a loyal community in Hong Kong and Singapore, with Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan identified as key expansion markets in 2026.

But staying true to that mission while scaling a cross-border supply chain takes grit. With product sourcing involving multiple overseas markets, the brand handles frequent cross-border payments. As the pet nutrition subscription business expands across Asia, the team requires strict visibility over every dollar to ensure operational precision – replicating their Hong Kong success in new markets.

Ryan Black

Co-Founder of Buddy Bites

“When we started scaling, I never imagined cross-border payments would be such a barrier. Long payment terms and transit times forced us to front capital, slowing down our operational rhythm. I quickly realised that to support high-speed global growth, we couldn't rely on patched-together tools; we needed modern financial infrastructure that scales with us.”

The challenge

As the business expanded rapidly, Buddy Bites found that traditional solutions could not keep pace, stalling the team in three critical operational bottlenecks:

Reliance on personal cards created administrative chaos

Co-Founder Ryan faced hurdles applying for traditional corporate cards, often resorting to personal credit cards to front company expenses. This habit of juggling personal and business funds resulted in scattered financial records and inflated administrative costs. As the team grew, the lack of a unified payment tool meant they couldn't systematically authorise employee purchases, creating a significant drag on operational efficiency.

Disconnected accounts obscured global visibility

Before Airwallex, managing cross-border payments was highly inefficient. With operations spanning Hong Kong, Singapore, and Europe, the team was forced to juggle multiple incompatible portals just to handle different currencies. This fragmented architecture obscured the bigger picture, preventing management from seeing real-time cash flow or FX risk in a single view – delaying critical decisions on inventory and market entry.

Ryan Black

Co-Founder of Buddy Bites

“Dealing with overseas transfers and managing multiple markets was a constant nightmare – too many different portals, tedious administrative work, and slow transfers all drained our time, cash, and energy. Airwallex’s consolidated approach really helped us cut through the chaos.”

Slow cross-border settlements constrained supply chain liquidity

With a supply chain stretching from Europe to New Zealand, traditional bank transfer speeds could catch up with Buddy Bites' growth. Settlements often took several business days and incurred high SWIFT fees and opaque FX markups, eroding profit margins.

Furthermore, since suppliers required upfront payments, working capital was frequently tied up in transit, reducing the flexibility needed to restock and respond to market demand.

The solution 

Airwallex provides Buddy Bites with a flexible, plug-and-play financial stack, driving efficiency across borders.

Empowering team autonomy with flexible, shared credit

Buddy Bites moved away from ad-hoc personal spending by adopting Airwallex Credit Cards*. The founders can now issue virtual cards to specific team members to manage operational spend – from SaaS subscriptions, packaging costs, to digital marketing spend. This allows the team to "share the spending limit, not the physical card," empowering employees to transact instantly while the finance team maintains real-time oversight.

Crucially, they can settle expenses using HKD or USD credit limits, bypassing the foreign transaction fees (often adding up to 1–4%) common with legacy corporate cards.

Centralising global cash flows on one platform

Airwallex became the central platform for Buddy Bites' finances, consolidating previously scattered workflows. The team now manages HKD, SGD, EUR, and other funds through a single dashboard, handling FX for over 90 currencies. This eliminated the inefficiency of toggling between multiple systems, giving management a real-time view of their global financial position to make smarter decisions on inventory and expansion.

Additionally, they replaced the slow SWIFT network with Airwallex’s local payment rails to settle with suppliers in 120+ countries. This allows for faster, more cost-effective transfers. On the revenue side, Shopify settlements flow directly into Global Accounts, syncing automatically to Xero for data accuracy.

Ryan Black

Co-Founder of Buddy Bites

“Our mission is to give dogs better food, not to battle banking systems. Airwallex removed the operational headaches for us, so we can focus on developing better products, building stronger customer relationships, and supporting shelters — the causes we truly care about.”

The results 

By consolidating fragmented financial processes onto Airwallex, Buddy Bites achieved immediate operational leverage: eliminating administrative friction and freeing up capital to fuel growth.

• Automated financial governance: eliminated reliance on personal cards, enabling real-time expense monitoring and automated reconciliation with Xero.

• 80% reduction in currency exchange costs: leveraged local payment rails and multi-currency settlements to cut high SWIFT fees and FX premiums associated with traditional banks.

• Expansion powered by real-time data: A single platform provides a clear view of global transaction data and cash flow, offering a solid decision-making foundation for entry into Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan.

For founders facing similar growing pains, Ryan’s advice is simple: learn from the experts.

“The unknowns are usually easier than you imagine,” he says. “Bring in trusted partners that help you move faster, test quickly and iterate whenever necessary.”

*With the Airwallex Credit Card, there is no revolving credit carried over – pay your statement balance in full at the end of each repayment period.