Equals Money vs Airwallex: Compare fees, features and benefits

Managing business finances across multiple currencies works best when you have full visibility on fees and fast settlement times. If you’re looking for a platform that lets you hold, move, and spend globally with clarity and control, Equals Money and Airwallex might be on your radar. 

This guide compares them on pricing, features, and global reach.

What is Equals Money?

Equals Money is a spend management platform. It provides a multi-currency IBAN, prepaid corporate cards, budgeting tools, and batch payments. Cards can be used fee-free in 21 supported currencies when balances are held, with a 1.5% FX fee applied otherwise. Physical cards cost £10 and UK cash withdrawals £1.50. Equals Money is focused on spend control and multi-currency accounts rather than payment acceptance, developer APIs, or large-scale international transfers.

What is Airwallex?

Airwallex is a global financial platform for businesses with international operations. You can open local accounts in more than 23 currencies so customers can pay you like a local. Local transfers are free to over 120 countries and SWIFT payments reach more than 200 countries. For FX, it’s 0.5% above the interbank rate for major currencies and 1% for others. Company and employee cards come with zero international card fees. Airwallex also offers online payment acceptance, batch and bulk payouts, reimbursements, accounting integrations, and developer APIs.

Read more: Wise vs Airwallex: Compare on fees, features, and benefits

Compare Equals Money and Airwallex at a glance

Equals Money vs Airwallex fees

Equals Money

Equals Money charges a £25/month (£250/year) platform fee for up to 20 cards, or £35/month (£350/year) for up to 50 cards. Physical cards are £10 each; up to 200 virtual cards are included.

Card spending in 21 supported currencies is free when you hold that balance. Spending outside those currencies comes with a 1.5% fee. UK and overseas ATM withdrawals cost £1.50 per transaction.

The multicurrency account consists of a single IBAN to collect and send in 38 currencies. Transfers run via SEPA and SWIFT, but FX margins for international payments are not published. 

Airwallex

Airwallex’s Explore plan is £0/month if you deposit or hold at least £10k, or £19/month otherwise. Grow (£49/month) and Accelerate (£999/month) add advanced approvals, automation, and enterprise-grade features.

You can open accounts in 23+ currencies with local banking details, meaning you can collect and spend like a local. You can pay out to 200 countries, with local transfers to 120+ countries being free. 

FX is charged at a published 0.5% above the interbank rate for major currencies and 1% for exotic currencies.

There are no card issuance fees for up to 10 company cards on Explore (50 on Grow), and all cards have zero international transaction fees.

Payment acceptance fees are 1.30% + £0.20 for UK cards, 2.40% + £0.20 for EEA cards, and 3.15% + £0.20 for international cards, with 160+ local payment methods supported.

See which Airwallex plan works best for you.

Why fee transparency matters

When your payments are global, knowing the FX margin before you transact prevents budgeting surprises. For example:

• With Airwallex: Paying a supplier USD $10,000 from GBP at 0.5% FX margin costs around USD $50. (Use our calculator to check in real-time!).

• With Equals Money: Paying a supplier USD 10,000 by card with a 1.5% out-of-currency fee without holding USD costs around USD $150.

Additional features beyond cards and FX

What else can these two platforms do?  

User access and controls

Both platforms offer roles, budgets, and approvals. Airwallex adds multi level approval flows across international entities which is helpful if you operate in several markets. 

Batch and bulk payments

Equals Money supports CSV batch payments. Airwallex provides international batch transfers and a payouts API for programmatic disbursements across countries, which reduces manual work for payroll, refunds, and marketplace payouts. 

Developer tools and APIs

Equals Money provides APIs for accounts, cards, and payments. Airwallex offers a broader developer stack including card issuing in many markets, programmatic FX conversion, and global payouts.

Global invoice and payment acceptance

If you want to accept online payments, Airwallex provides card processing and many local methods with multicurrency settlement as a core product. Equals Money isn’t a checkout solution. 

Mobile and integrations

Both integrate with most accounting tools. Airwallex shows bank feeds, bill pay and reimbursements and syncs with Xero and other systems. 

Global infrastructure

Airwallex offers local accounts in 60 countries, a collection network of 160 payment methods, and a payout network of 200 countries, with free local transfers to 120 countries. That’s useful when you want to collect like a local and then pay suppliers quickly without sending every payment over SWIFT. Equals Money doesn’t publish global local-payout coverage, but does include SEPA and SWIFT as payment networks, which can add time and fees.

Spend management

Airwallex offers a broad spend stack: company cards, expense capture with auto-categorisation, employee reimbursements, and Bill Pay with approvals and OCR. Equals Money is card-centred, with per-card limits, category controls, and real-time alerts. Card spend is fee-free in 21 held currencies, otherwise a 1.5% FX fee applies.

Read more: Spendesk vs Airwallex: compare on fees, features and benefits

Which platform is better for your business?

The question that really matters. 

The crucial difference lies in the global reach and breadth of account infrastructure. With Equals Money, while you can collect and send 38 currencies you only have a single IBAN on your account. With Airwallex, you can open individual accounts in 23+ currencies with local account details in 60+ countries.

Airwallex offers broad collection and payout networks with coverage in 160 payment methods, and 200 countries‌. Airwallex also offers a cost-effective 0.5-1% FX rate and even makes use of free, often-faster local transfers to help customers save on cost.

While Equals Money may work for a startup needing a spend management tool during its formative years, 

Why businesses are switching to Airwallex

Better FX and fewer surprises

Margins of 0.5% for major currencies and 1% for others mean fewer budget shocks. Local transfers are free across a wide network, and SWIFT fees are posted upfront. 

Local bank details in many currencies

Create local account details so customers can pay you like a domestic supplier. This improves conversion and reduces fees and settlement times. 

Cards that match how you operate

Issue company and employee cards in minutes with zero international card fees. Add approvals and limits that mirror your spend policy. 

Scale through APIs

Automate FX, payouts, and reconciliation. If your finance team wants fewer spreadsheets and more control, the developer stack helps you get there without heavy builds. 

Strong backing and momentum

Airwallex continues to invest in coverage and capability. For a finance team, that means a partner with the balance sheet and roadmap to match your growth plans. 

Safeguarding and governance

Both providers safeguard client funds under the UK electronic money framework. Airwallex publishes clear pricing and coverage which supports internal controls and stakeholder reporting. 

See how much time and FX cost you can save

If your business is primarily UK based and you want a simple spend solution with clear card fees, Equals Money will do the job. If you are building for international revenue and supplier payments, Airwallex delivers the reach, automation and pricing clarity you need. Local account details in many currencies, free local transfers to a large set of countries and a published FX schedule help you move faster with fewer surprises. 

Disclaimer: We wrote this article in Q3 2025. The information was based on our own online research and we were 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 every six months. If you would like to request an update, feel free to contact us at [email protected].