An Australian financial platform hopes the launch of its global payment services in New Zealand will support local businesses to expand into international markets.
Airwallex, which offers IT service management services and operates across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, wants to drive business growth in the Australasian region.
The company said in a statement that the new technology will enable businesses in NZ to tap into Airwallex’s global payments services, offering what it says will be a “faster, more cost-effective and transparent alternative to traditional banks”.
Airwallex's head of ANZ growth, Sam Kothari, said extending its services to NZ was a “natural next step” after setting up the platform in Australia.
"We see today’s launch as a huge opportunity for Kiwi businesses to broaden their reach into international markets,” he said.
Kothari said Airwallex customers now could open a global account in NZ dollars in seconds.
With this, businesses in Australia and NZ could easily collect payments from their customers, pay their suppliers and staff in both countries, and convert New Zealand dollars to Australian dollars and back again at market-leading rates, which would drive increased business growth opportunities between both markets.
Kothari said many of the company’s customers had expanded into NZ and ensuring they had an “efficient and cost-effective way to streamline their financial operations between the two countries” would help Airwallex with its own growth plans for the Australasian region.
“By providing local businesses with a single global financial platform, we aim to empower them to scale successfully, which is especially critical in this current economic environment,” he said.
The technology company is registered with the Financial Service Providers Register in NZ and has 1,200 employees in 19 locations around the world.
