Airwallex vs ASB: A modern business account for scaling Kiwi businesses
While ASB offers traditional banking with a local branch network, Airwallex provides a modern, digital-first platform built for speed and scale. Save on FX, avoid unnecessary fees, and empower your team with digital tools designed for the way you work today.
3 reasons why businesses choose Airwallex over ASB
Global accounts to help you scale
With Airwallex, you’re global from day one. Open local banking details in 20+ countries so you can pay suppliers and receive funds from business partners without forced conversion. Get paid from 70+ countries and pay out to 200+ countries.
Lower FX and transfer costs
Access interbank exchange rates and send money to 120+ countries using local payout rails. While traditional banks like ASB charge you sending and receiving fees, along with correspondent bank fees, Airwallex saves you up to 80% on FX.
An all-in-one financial platform
Access all of Airwallex’s business features and tools including Global Accounts, expense management, multi-currency physical and virtual cards, low-cost FX, checkout solutions to accept customer payments in 130+ currencies; a Yield account to grow your USD and AUD balances; billing and invoice management; and more.
Save more and keep more revenue with Airwallex
Most traditional banks in New Zealand, including ASB, typically force you to convert foreign currency back into NZ$ at high margins. Airwallex lets you receive, hold, and spend in 20+ major currencies, allowing you to pay global suppliers directly from your held balances and skip the conversion fees entirely.
Transparent FX and zero international card fees
Traditional bank fees can quickly erode your profits through high offshore service margins and correspondent fees. Airwallex provides transparent, interbank rates and allows you to spend globally with zero international transaction fees.
What local businesses are saying about Airwallex
"Airwallex Bill Pay has given us better control over our finances, and has helped us roll up important strategic budgeting and forecasting capabilities. It’s also improved our relationship with our suppliers, because we now never miss a beat with paying them on time."
Joel Stehr
Chief Operating Officer, Bilue
"One thing we like about Airwallex, which differentiates it from other providers out there, is the team card approach as well as the individual cards. It’s a massive time saver too - to the point that we just wouldn't use a solution that didn't have an integration with Xero, just due to the volume of transactions and manual work that would be required otherwise. It's amazing.”
Georgia Burns
Strategic Finance Director, Auror
"It’s definitely time saving, from mine and our Head of P&C’s perspective as people that prepare payroll are not having to granularly look through each expense item line. The users have taken to it like a duck to water. It's not a difficult system to use. Sometimes people are like ‘oh, another system, another app to download.’ But it wasn’t arduous at all. Once you download the app, it's very straightforward. There's really been no push back whatsoever from anyone because I think people immediately get the buy in.”
Alec Alltimes
APAC Finance Director, Commission Factory
Frequently asked questions
What is like-for-like settlement?
Like-for-like settlement means that if a customer pays you in A$ (AUD), you receive and store exactly A$ in your account. This allows you to avoid forced conversion fees and use those same funds to pay international expenses later.
What types of business accounts does ASB offer?
ASB offers a few different accounts for Kiwi businesses, including the standard Business Account for everyday transactions and the Business Saver for earning interest. For businesses that need to manage foreign exchange, ASB provides separate Foreign Currency Accounts.
What are the fees for using an ASB Visa Business card overseas?
When you use an ASB Visa Business card for international purchases or at an overseas ATM, you will generally be charged an offshore service margin of 2.10%. This margin is applied to the converted NZ$ amount of the transaction. Unlike Airwallex, which allows you to spend directly from your held foreign currency balances to avoid these fees, ASB cards typically convert every overseas transaction back to NZD.
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The information in this article is based on our own online research. Airwallex was not able to manually test each tool or provider. The information is provided for educational purposes only and a reader should consider the specific requirements of their business when evaluating providers. This research is reviewed annually. If you would like to request an update, feel free to contact us at [[email protected]].
This information doesn’t take into account your objectives, financial situation, or needs. If you are a customer of Airwallex Pty Ltd (AFSL No. 487221) read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for the Direct Services available here.
The Airwallex Yield Liquidity Fund (Yield) is issued by K2 Asset Management Limited (K2) (ABN 95 085 445 094, AFSL No 244393), a wholly owned subsidiary of K2 Asset Management Holdings Limited. This information doesn’t take into account your objectives, financial situation, or needs. Read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and Financial Services Guide (FSG) for Yield, available at www.airwallex.com.au/terms from Airwallex Capital Pty Ltd (ABN 37 609 653 312, AFSL No. 549026). All investments carry risk. *Target returns are net of fees as at 23 January 2026 (AEDT) and indicate past 7-day annualised returns of the relevant underlying JPMorgan Liquidity Funds.