Airwallex’s end-to-end platform helps Endowus balance growth and cost control

Endowus, headquartered in Singapore, is a digital wealth management platform actively expanding into Hong Kong and across Asia. Since its founding in 2019, the company has been committed to delivering transparent, cost-effective private wealth solutions and public pension services, including CPF and SRS. To date, Endowus has empowered over 200,000 individual and corporate customers across the region. 

“Our mission is to help everyone invest better – so they can live easier today,” said Steffanie, Managing Director and Head of Hong Kong at Endowus. By partnering with Airwallex, Endowus enables users to seamlessly deposit and withdraw funds, streamlining fund flows and enhancing overall convenience. 

As Endowus scales its operations into Hong Kong, managing cross-border capital efficiently and keeping operational costs under control has become a strategic priority. With Airwallex, the team can make and receive payments in local currencies, activate operations swiftly in Hong Kong, and improve both liquidity and market responsiveness. 

Operating across four markets, Endowus must continuously balance growth and cost efficiency. Traditional international banking setups are often slow, costly, and fragmented – requiring finance teams to log into multiple accounts just to complete routine transactions. Airwallex solves this with an integrated, scalable solution tailored for modern financial teams. 

How did Endowus leverage Airwallex to streamline its global financial operations?

1. Endowus saved 90% on international transfer and FX costs, effectively controlling operating expenses

2. Endowus has accumulatively enjoyed HK$200,000 of cash rebate using the Airwallex Corporate Cards

3. Endowus can seamlessly integrate and automatically update transaction records with Xero every hour, simplifying reconciliation processes and enhancing financial efficiency

Challenge 1: rapid expansion to new markets

As Endowus expands into multiple Asian markets, including Hong Kong, the complexity of financial management continues to grow. Managing payments to international vendors and employees required juggling multiple bank accounts or payment platforms, which was both costly and time-consuming. Each local bank account had its own payment process, often requiring multiple logins, further complicating operations.

“Each SWIFT transaction can cost as much as HK$200, wasting both money and manpower,” noted Steffanie. These inefficiencies hindered the finance team’s ability to focus on business growth and strategic planning.

Solution: leveraging Airwallex, an all-in-one financial and payments platform

Airwallex Business Account meets Endowus’ financial needs across Hong Kong and other regional markets. With payment licences in both Singapore and Hong Kong, Endowus can manage transactions with ease while maintaining operational efficiency during expansion. “Airwallex’s licenses across jurisdictions and global infrastructure give us the flexibility we need to grow,” said Dominic Ong, Chief Financial Officer at Endowus. “Whether it’s Hong Kong or Malaysia, we can open Global Accounts to process payments efficiently and manage transactions in a unified way.”

Additionally, Airwallex integrates seamlessly with Endowus’ accounting system, Xero, automatically syncing and reconciling transactions every hour. “This integration enables our finance team to monitor different entities and regions efficiently,” added Steffanie. “With hourly auto-sync and reconciliation, we ensure our financial records are always up-to-date, so we can make timely, accurate decisions.”

Dominic Ong

Chief Financial Officer at Endowus

“As part of a lean finance team taking care of the company, we can now use one platform to oversee different entities and countries. This consolidation helps us save time and puts our limited resources to good use.”

Challenge 2: cumbersome payment processes and high transfer fees

As Endowus expanded into Hong Kong, the team faced increasingly complex requirements from different markets and suppliers – each with their own preferred payment methods and currencies. Rising SWIFT and transfer fees only added to the challenge, putting pressure on operational costs. 

“As a CFO, having full visibility into our company’s cash position, ensuring proper fund allocation across regions, and maintaining healthy cash flow are critical,T” shared Dominic.

In addition to regular internal fund transfers, the team also needed to accommodate payment preferences of vendors and employees based outside Singapore – many of whom still prefer traditional bank transfers. This created additional friction for the finance team.

Solution: simplifying international payments with Airwallex

Airwallex integrates with local payment networks in over 120 countries, converting costly SWIFT transfers into local transactions – drastically reducing, and in many cases eliminating, transfer fees. 

“We enjoy better exchange rates than traditional banks, with no hidden fees,” said Steffanie. “With access to over 60 trade currencies including USD, HKD, and SGD, we have significantly reduced our transaction costs across the US, Hong Kong, and Singapore.”

Each SWIFT transfer can save up to US$150, with 95% of transfers completed within the same day. Batch payment features support payouts to up to 1,000 recipients in one go. “Since switching to Airwallex for FX & Transfers, we have eliminated unexpected bank charges,” Steffanie noted. “The more we use it, the more we save – reducing transfer costs by as much as 90%.”

Using the Airwallex WebApp, the Endowus team can easily manage and monitor multi-market fund flows from Hong Kong, supporting agile and efficient cash flow planning.

Steffanie Yuen

Managing Director and Head of Hong Kong at Endowus

“Since using Airwallex, we no longer worry about extra fees charged by banks. The more you use it, the more you save, reducing transfer costs by up to 90%.”

Challenge 3: empowering international growth while keeping costs under control

“We are fast-growing, with multiple entities in different countries. But that also comes with heightened scrutiny from investors, especially during fundraising rounds,” says Dominic.

For a growth-stage company, smart expenses management is essential – not just to extend runway, but also build investor confidence by demonstrating financial discipline and strategic planning. And in a competitive capital market like Hong Kong, ensuring that every dollar delivers impact is more important than ever. 

Solution: cash rebate on all spend with Corporate Cards

Airwallex provides Endowus with virtual and physical Corporate Cards that support all domestic, and cross-border expenses without foreign card transaction fees. “From digital advertising, to business travel, every transaction earns cash rebate,” explained Steffanie. Endowus has accumulatively earned as much as HK$200,000 of cash rebate using Corporate Cards.

Each department is assigned its own virtual or physical card, enabling them to manage budgets independently and track spending more effectively. “Airwallex allows us to flexibly issue both virtual and physical Corporate Cards, adjusting limits for different needs,” said Steffanie. “For example, we can set transaction limits for ad spend or travel without forced currency conversion, saving on foreign transaction fees.”

Endowus plans to implement Airwallex’s Expense Management features to automate approval workflows, allowing department heads to directly monitor and approve expenses. “This will further enhance management efficiency and ensure our finance team completes all necessary checks before disbursements,” added Dominic. 

What’s next for Endowus?

The partnership with Airwallex enables Endowus to effectively consolidate multi-market financial operations and manage multi-currency funds from different parts of the world. Leveraging Airwallex’s local payments infrastructure and global account capabilities, Endowus can flexibly manage their assets in major currencies, and make local currency payments, significantly reducing unnecessary FX and transfer costs. 

Hong Kong’s free-market advantages, combined with Airwallex’s unified financial platform, further enhance Endowus’ financial agility and operational efficiency across the markets. 

Take the first step towards streamlining your financial management. Create a free Airwallex account today.