How smarter financial tools correlate with global scale (2025)

Business growth is rarely a steady climb. It's marked by pivotal moments when scaling demands bold shifts, like venturing into new markets or adopting new tools. In a global market, these inflection points often occur simultaneously, as companies transition from domestic operations to global strategies.

“What’s happened in the past 10 years in business is the move from offline to online, and as long as you are online, you are naturally a global business,” said Jack Zhang, CEO of Airwallex. 

As more businesses operate globally by default, we’re digging into the data to help you navigate these turning points. Drawing from Airwallex’s report, The state of borderless finance, an analysis of over 150,000 businesses processing more than $220 billion annually, we’ll unpack how payment volume correlates with geographic expansion and what that means for leaders. 

From there, we'll examine the data patterns, identify key takeaways, and illustrate how integrated financial platforms like Airwallex are essential for managing complexity in multi-region operations and optimizing revenue flows. 

Expanding into multiple regions drives exponential growth

Report data shows that as businesses expand into new regions – defined as distinct geographic markets or payout corridors – payment volume multiplies rapidly. At first glance, it may seem intuitive: more markets lead to more payments. However, even modest international growth can yield substantial gains.

For North American–based companies on the Airwallex platform, moving from one to two regions corresponds to an average 14× increase in quarterly payment volume. Expanding from two to five regions drives a 64× jump, and businesses active in five regions process about 883× more volume than those operating in a single market.

Across all global customers, the pattern is even more pronounced. Moving from one to two regions is associated with a 19× increase, while expansion from two to five regions produces a 65× gain. On average, global businesses operating in five regions process roughly 1,236× more volume than single-region peers.

While these figures reflect correlation and not causation, the trend is consistent: companies that operate in more markets tend to achieve significantly greater scale.

How integrated software and financial infrastructure drive expansion

The moment a business enters new markets, the demands on its financial operations intensify – more currencies, more entities, more regulatory layers. Our data shows that integrated infrastructure isn’t just a convenience at this stage – it’s the only sustainable way companies move money globally with speed and control.

Without unified systems, growth can stall under the weight of fragmented processes, rising transaction costs, and compliance complexity. Integrated platforms address these challenges by connecting global collections, payouts, FX management, and reporting – all in one place.

When software layers automation and analytics on top of this infrastructure, businesses gain both visibility and control, and can scale sustainably without expanding headcount.

Here are some examples:

US-based

JayWay Travel, a US-based boutique tour operator offering trips across Europe, reached a point where fragmented financial tools could no longer support its scale. Managing payouts to hotels and suppliers across dozens of countries meant juggling multiple providers, dealing with inconsistent fees, and facing operational breakdowns when cards failed.

By consolidating cross-border transfers, supplier payouts, and virtual card issuing, JayWay cut card creation time from 10 minutes to five seconds, eliminated DCC-related losses, and ensured that every supplier payment arrived in full. These efficiencies allowed the team to manage a growing volume of trips without adding finance headcount.

Worldwide

Air Doctor, a Tel Aviv–based healthtech platform serving travellers in 90+ countries, outgrew its fragmented mix of banks and payment providers. Manual payouts, multi-system reconciliations, and rising FX costs slowed operations and created room for errors.

After moving its global payouts, inbound payments, FX, and multi-currency cards onto one integrated platform, Air Doctor cut FX transaction costs by 45%, supported 200% growth in transaction volume without adding headcount, and automated reconciliation across markets. The result was a more resilient, scalable operation with far greater visibility and control as the company expanded globally.

Top features to look for in a global payments provider

Choosing the right provider for international expansion is about more than payments alone. It requires evaluating the full ecosystem of products, integrations, and protections that support long-term growth. Here are the most critical qualities to consider:

• Global reach: Support for a broad network of markets and currencies to enable local transactions and minimize conversion losses.

• Multi-product ecosystem: Unified access to payments, card issuing, and treasury for seamless flow of funds across markets.

• Security and compliance: Enterprise-grade controls, PCI DSS compliance, and localized regulatory coverage.

• Cost efficiency: Interbank FX rates and transparent, low-fee pricing models.

• Scalability: Open APIs and modular integrations that grow with transaction volume and business complexity.

• Visibility and control: Real-time reporting across collections, FX, and treasury positions for confident financial decision-making.

Questions to ask when onboarding a provider for international expansion

Once you’ve identified a platform that meets those criteria, focus on how it aligns with your operations and growth trajectory. These questions help test fit, flexibility, and long-term scalability:

• Regional fit: Does the platform support your target markets and currencies natively, without hidden FX fees, or does it rely on third-party partners?

• Implementation: How easily can multiple capabilities – payments, treasury, issuing – be integrated into existing workflows?

• Compliance: What safeguards exist for data privacy, AML/KYC, and evolving regional regulations?

• Growth alignment: Can the platform support higher transaction volumes and new markets without reconfiguration?

• Operational insight: Are analytics available to identify your own inflection points and optimize liquidity management?

Why companies are considering Airwallex for financial software and infrastructure

Airwallex was built from the ground up to meet the same criteria businesses use to evaluate global financial partners: reach, integration, security, cost efficiency, and scale. Designed for modern, cross-border operations, Airwallex connects global accounts, FX, treasury, and card issuing in one unified platform. It combines the flexibility of modern software with the stability of a global banking network, helping businesses expand efficiently while reducing operational friction.

And the results speak for themselves. Across our customer base, companies that adopt multiple Airwallex products scale faster. For North American customers, adding a second or third capability often correlates with sharp jumps in payment volume. The trend is strongest in operationally complex industries – travel and lodging (47% using 2+ products), wholesale (43%), manufacturing (40%), and financial services (40%) – showing how integrated infrastructure drives measurable impact for businesses with the highest demands.

What sets Airwallex apart:

• Unified financial infrastructure: Manage collections, payouts, FX, and spend from one system.

• Global scale with local precision: Open accounts in 60+ currencies and transact across 150+ markets.

• Integrated card issuing: Empower teams and suppliers with multi-currency cards that connect directly to your global balances.

• Cost advantage: Interbank exchange rates can reduce FX costs by up to 90%.

• Trusted by leading businesses: 150,000+ companies manage more than $220 billion in global payments annually through Airwallex.

• Future-ready architecture: Open APIs and modular design support automation, analytics, and continuous scale.

Together, these capabilities make Airwallex not just a payments provider, but a long-term infrastructure partner for businesses navigating their next stage of growth.

Build a foundation for borderless growth

Scaling globally requires more than ambition. It takes the right financial foundation to operate efficiently, manage risk, and sustain growth across markets.

Ready to navigate your next inflection point with confidence? Get started with Airwallex today.

Sources

1. https://www.theceomagazine.com/business/coverstory/jack-zhang/

2. https://www.airwallex.com/us/the-state-of-borderless-finance

3. https://medium.com/wharton-fintech/airwallex-ceo-and-co-founder-jack-zhang-empowering-businesses-to-grow-beyond-borders-83196b7fa88f

4. https://www.airwallex.com/us/case-studies/jayway

5. https://www.airwallex.com/uk/case-studies/air-doctor