Airwallex Launches in Germany Amid High Competition

2026-02-04 - 08:35

Australia-founded payment platform Airwallex is launching in Germany, the company announced on Tuesday (3 February). Tom Sellin “Competition in the German market is high, but at the same time the market is large and not yet fully digitalised,” said Tom Sellin, responsible for Airwallex’s growth in Germany. Airwallex offers a platform for businesses to make and receive international transfers, manage foreign currency accounts, and process online payments. It competes with Wise, Adyen, and Stripe, and claims around 200,000 customers, ranging from start-ups and SMEs to large corporations. Sellin said German companies are strong exporters but “their money often moves at a snail’s pace.” Airwallex processes 68% of payments instantly and offers local accounts in international markets. The company aims to gain several thousand active customers in Germany in the near term. Airwallex operates in Europe under a Dutch e-money license, granted in 2021, which provides access to all EU markets, according to Handelsblatt. One of its first German clients is the fintech Moss, which offers corporate credit cards and a platform for SMEs to manage expenses. In 2025, Airwallex reported recurring revenue of about US$1 billion. The company has moved its headquarters from Australia to Singapore and San Francisco. It plans to invest 31 million euros in Germany over the next five years, mainly in a Berlin office and building the local team. It raised 280 million euros in funding at the end of last year and is now valued at 6.9 billion euros. Airwallex is also facing scrutiny from the Australian regulator Austrac. The authority has ordered an external review to check compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing obligations. Airwallex said it will cooperate fully and described the review as a “transparent opportunity” to validate its measures. Featured image credit: Edited by Fintech News Switzerland, based on image by claudiodiv via Freepik