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Behind the Bank

Issues · Issue #6 · · ~3-minute read

$1.3B of revenue from moving other people's money

How Airwallex makes money from businesses, Adyen's half-year, Paytm's merchant machine, and pricing FX in the open.

1. The Big One: Airwallex, the bank account for borderless firms

The story. Airwallex was founded in Melbourne in 2015 and is now co-headquartered in Singapore and San Francisco. It sells global accounts, card acceptance, corporate cards and FX to businesses. In June 2026 it raised money at a higher valuation (Airwallex, 25 Jun 2026).

The numbers (same source):

  • $320M Series H at an $11B valuation (June 2026), up from $8B in Dec 2025.
  • $1.3B annualised revenue in March 2026, up 74%.
  • $287B annualised transaction volume, up more than 120%.
  • 90%+ of revenue from customers using more than one product. 676,000+ businesses served; 85+ licences.

Our read (opinion). The 90% multi-product figure is the key one. FX spreads alone get competed away. Bundling accounts, cards and acceptance makes customers sticky. The licences took a decade to collect, and they are the moat banks underrate.

2. The Scout

Three bets banks and challengers are making right now, and what they tell you.

  • Adyen keeps scaling (Europe). H1 2026 net revenue was €1.30B, up 19%, on €803.8B of processed volume (Adyen). What it tells you: a single platform for acceptance still compounds.
  • Paytm earns from merchant devices (APAC). In Q1 FY27 (to June 2026), 1.57 crore (15.7M) merchants paid for its payment devices. Financial services revenue rose 45% (Paytm). What it tells you: with UPI transfers free, the money comes from device subscriptions and loans.
  • Emirates NBD settles for Visa (Middle East). Visa appointed it as its National Net Settlement Service Agent in the UAE, according to its H1 2026 results (Emirates NBD). What it tells you: incumbents are taking on network infrastructure roles.

3. The Playbook: Price FX in the open

What it is. Show the fee and use the mid-market rate instead of hiding a markup. Then win on volume. Wise's cross-border take rate fell to 0.52% in FY26 (year to March 2026), while volume rose 31% to $243.5B (Wise).

How it runs. Publish the full price before checkout. Cut prices as volume brings costs down. Earn the rest from balances, cards and other services.

Your move. Put your all-in FX cost on a common corridor next to a transparent provider's. If the gap needs a footnote to explain, customers will notice it.

APAC angle. GoTyme customers in the Philippines send and receive international transfers through the Wise Platform (JG Summit).

Not investment advice.

Sources