Airwallex gets payments services license in Singapore

Airwallex (Singapore) Pte Ltd has been recently granted a Major Payment Institution License by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) under the Payment Services Act.

This will now give the Singapore entity of the global fintech platform approval to provide a suite of payment services, including account issuance, domestic money transfer, cross-border money transfer, merchant acquisition, and e-money issuance. The announcement was made during the Singapore FinTech Festival.

Jack Zhang, CEO and Co-founder of Airwallex, said receiving this approval reflects on their robust policies, compliance framework, and risk management systems that they have put in place.

“We will continue to work closely with regulators and partners to ensure we facilitate a safe, effective, and transparent way to manage their cross-border financial transaction needs,” Zhang said in a statement released today.

Next year, they look forward to launching their services in Singapore and enabling businesses in Singapore to operate globally without borders.

Airwallex will progressively introduce a suite of product and service offerings that will enable businesses in Singapore to operate and grow across the ASEAN region and globally.

This includes a modern global business account, multi-currency wallet, company and employee cards, spend management, online payments, international collection & transfer and other value-add solutions for Small and Medium-sized businesses, as well as an API for larger enterprise businesses that require embedded payments and financial services.

In September, it announced its entry in Southeast Asia after securing a money service business (MSB) license in Malaysia. This was then followed by news that they raised a $200 million Series E fundraising round.

Airwallex is now valued $4 billion and it continues to focus on its regional and global expansion. Since its founding in 2015, Airwallex has nearly doubled its headcount in 2021 to over 1,000 employees today across 19 locations globally, including Singapore.

In September, the company announced that it will start offering its payment solutions to Malaysian businesses in early 2022 after securing a money services business license from the country’s central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia. The license marks Airwallex’s entry into the Southeast Asia region.