Halter steers smarter financial operations with Airwallex thanks to improved spend visibility

Founded by a farmer-turned-innovator who understood the day-to-day realities of livestock management, Halter set out to give dairy and beef producers smarter, more sustainable tools to run their operations. 

Its technology allows farmers to virtually fence and move cows, offering real-time visibility into herd behaviour and pasture management.

After refining the product to ensure it delivered exactly what farmers needed, the company launched commercially in 2021. Growth accelerated rapidly as customers across New Zealand, Australia and the United States embraced the shift toward data-driven, low-impact farming.

We spoke to Jono Baker, Financial Controller, and Kristin Buswell, Global Head of Brand Marketing, about how the business has partnered with Airwallex to support its growth.

Keeping pace with rapid global growth

Jono says the team had been struggling with the limitations of traditional banks. “Typically, we’ve found it really hard to get them to meet the pace of our business. Opening bank accounts in new markets can be a challenge when you’re growing quickly, and we were being hit with high FX margins and transactional fees along the way.”

As Halter expanded, the gaps in corporate card management became increasingly obvious. “Getting control and visibility over our card spend was a major pain point,” Jono explains. “Setting up corporate cards involved too much paperwork and admin. As a financial controller, you need full visibility, and I was struggling to get that.”

Kristin agrees, saying, "As Global Head of Brand, I’m on the road a bit, as are so many of our teams - customer, sales, product and engineering teams." We love getting out and seeing customers, and with that come expenses.

“Before Airwallex, expenses were a monthly process where some of us were using personal cash or cards to make payments. We’d submit expenses monthly and get approvals from finance afterwards. It was admin-heavy, took a lot of time to work through, and there was a lot of procrastination involved!” 

Scaling globally only added complexity. “We’ve launched in Australia and the US, which is incredibly exciting for us, but it also means more spend, more people joining, and more regulatory hurdles,” Jono says. “Requirements change from country to country and even state to state, so you need to move fast to navigate those complexities.”

Multiple disconnected systems were also making things harder than they should have been. “We were running our expense management and company cards through three different systems. It was complicated and time-consuming to reconcile everything,” he explains. “I was approving the same transactions two or three times before they were paid.”

A single platform for fast-growing teams

The turning point came through a recommendation from a friend working in tech. “He told me Airwallex was making a big difference for their business,” Jono says. “We had a similar need to fix our expense approval process and improve how we provided cards to staff. It sounded like it could be a good fit.”

After speaking with the Airwallex team, the value was clear. “Airwallex’s solution was more holistic. It gave us one platform to manage expense approvals, cards and real-time spend insights. No one enjoys reviewing and coding expenses, so being able to automate that and remove the frustration was really exciting. It freed up time for the work I actually need to be doing.”

Halter first rolled out corporate cards and the expense management and reimbursement tools. “Those products alone allowed us to overhaul our processes and get higher-level visibility into where spend was happening,” Jono adds.

One feature quickly became a clear favourite. “We love the ability to spin out a new card for a team member whenever they’re travelling. I just search for the employee, set the limit and frequency, and they have a card within minutes. It makes life easier for everyone because the budget is clear and they’re not coming home with piles of receipts.”

Expanding the toolkit

As the team saw the benefits, Halter adopted more Airwallex products. “We’re now using Bill Pay, which makes internal and external payments really simple,” Jono says.

“We’re using Yield in Australia and running our Australian payroll through Airwallex, too. Yield gives us the benefit of a term deposit without locking money away, so we get a competitive return and still keep funds liquid.”

Global Entity Management has also become central to Halter’s workflow. “You can see all your companies in a single view. It’s a one-stop shop to review expenses and card charges across the group. Approvals are easier, and the interface just makes everything quicker.”

Jono says integration has been another major win. “We’ve levelled up by being able to connect Airwallex with our HR and ERP systems. Day-to-day processes like onboarding, offboarding and pushing transactions into our accounting system are all much smoother now.”

Fast onboarding and support that actually helps

Jono describes deploying Airwallex as “super seamless” and much faster than expected. “We got the templates in place, uploaded everyone’s details and sent the invites out. The team found it intuitive and easy to use, especially being able to load the app on their phones.”

Local customer service has been another standout. “Having a New Zealand-based support team is really cool. With other platforms based overseas, it can be hard to resolve issues because of time zones. With Airwallex, we get a quick turnaround every time. Two or three hours maximum.”

Jono says Halter’s account manager has also been consistently reliable. “He’s great to work with and is always there when we need him. We catch up regularly.”

Measurable time and cost savings

The operational and financial impacts have been noticeable. “We were spending much more than we needed on FX charges, which have been significantly reduced now that we’re using Airwallex cards,” Jono says. 

“We’ve also cut our operational spend because we retired three or four old systems and consolidated everything into one.”

Reviewing and managing expenses now takes half the time it used to. “It’s given me valuable capacity to focus on other areas of the business,” he adds.

Busy team members like Kristin appreciate the ease of submitting expenses with Airwallex. “I have an Airwallex card in my Apple Wallet, transact over payWave, get a push notification, code and add a receipt if I need to. It’s super easy and done in the moment. With any cash expenses that can’t be put on a card, it’s an easy process to upload the receipt and code automatically,” she says.

“Now, during the month, I’m rarely out of pocket waiting for expenses to be reimbursed because I’ve always got an Airwallex card and phone app handy.”

Together, these gains have created a smoother, more scalable financial foundation for Halter. With Airwallex in place, the team is set up to grow faster, operate smarter and keep its focus firmly on delivering impact for farmers.

Disclaimer: The information contained herein is factual information only and is not intended to imply any recommendation or opinion about a financial product.