OFX vs Airwallex: Comparison for Australian Businesses

For Australian businesses making payments locally and overseas, getting the right setup makes it easier to sort finances and reduce the cost of managing different currencies. Two compelling options for this in 2026 are OFX and Airwallex.

In this blog, we’ll review OFX vs Airwallex, first detailing what they specialise in and their core features, then comparing them across service categories and headline fees, to give you a better idea of what might work best. There’s also an intro to Wise Business: a multi-currency account for cross-border business transactions.

What is OFX

OFX is a global money transfer platform that helps businesses pay, hold, receive, and convert multiple currencies from a single account, with competitive FX and fast, secure transfers. It’s designed to simplify cross-border payments and company-wide spend – last year, its customers moved $38.4 billion globally through the platform¹.

To this end, OFX has three broad service categories: Accounts, Payments & Cards, Manage & Control spending, and Platform Capabilities (for integrations and customised workflows)¹. Within each of these are the essential features for managing your business finances in Australia and overseas, many designed around foreign exchange.

With OFX, you can¹:

• Use multi-currency accounts to hold, send, and receive funds in 30+ currencies with payments to 180+ countries
• Get paid like a local with account details in AUD, USD, GBP, EUR, and CAD
• Use Forward Contracts to lock in exchange rates or Limit Orders to automatically convert currencies at a target rate.
• Manage accounts payable and bill payments, using AI to extract data from invoices and automate approval workflows.
• Connect Xero and QuickBooks for simple bookkeeping and reconciliation

What is Airwallex

Airwallex is a financial platform that lets global businesses build a complete infrastructure for day-to-day payments and money management. It’s built for scale, powering $287 billion in global payments each year and used by 200,000+ businesses, with tools to lift growing startups, as well as larger enterprises².

Airwallex groups its services into five categories: tools for managing your business spending and taking payments (checkout, invoicing, subscriptions, usage-based billing), plus APIs to build your own financial products². It’s also planning to launch in-person payments in Australia.

With Airwallex, you can²:

• Use Global Accounts to receive funds in 20+ currencies, and send money to 200+ countries
• Issue multi-currency Visa cards to your employees, with granular controls and spend limits.
• Track card expenses and reimburse employees worldwide with Expense Management
• Add ‘low-code’ checkouts to your site and share payment links to convert customers and get paid globally
• Integrate popular apps, including Xero and QuickBooks, for easier accounting and reconciliation

OFX vs Airwallex: Feature comparison

While Airwallex is positioned more as a fintech platform and OFX as a global money and FX specialist, there is quite a bit of overlap in features, especially with their respective multi-currency accounts. Below is a table comparing the core features/services.

Now, we’ll look at Airwallex vs OFX in more detail, starting with the process for opening a business account in Australia.

Ease of setup

OFX says getting set up “is easy”, though you will have to wait for their ‘specialist team’ to contact you to verify your details after completing the initial onboarding form, where you must share some personal/business details and documents¹. After the support team has given you the green light, you can add funds and start transacting straight away.

There’s a more formal process with Airwallex across three steps: a. verifying the business, b. verifying connected individuals (like directors), and c. completing other requirements, such as providing additional ID documents⁵. You’ll need an active Australian Business Number (ABN) and must submit bank statements, audits, and tax returns as evidence of the “nature” of your business activities.

Global coverage

OFX lets you manage 30+ currencies through its Global Business multi-currency account, so you can handle all your finances domestically in AUD while also paying bills and sending money internationally from one hub⁶. You can pay, hold, and receive funds ‘like a local’ in USD, EUR, CAD, GBP, and AUD, while making cross-border payments to 180+ countries in 30+ currencies¹.

Airwallex also has multi-currency Global Accounts, with a wider selection of local receiving accounts – you can get bank details for 20+ currencies, including NZD, HKD, SGD, and USD to hold and convert at a time that’s best for your business³. When sending money, you can complete transfers from Australia to 200+ countries in 60+ currencies⁷.

Expense management

OFX has a ‘Spend Management’ service category with quite a few tools to simplify employee expense admin. You can quickly set custom budgets and approval workflows, and also capture receipts within the mobile app to automatically extract expense data, so there’s less manual reporting⁸. Spending can also be coded to your general ledger and synced with Xero or QuickBooks.

Airwallex also has Expense Management software that automates expense reviews, approvals, and reimbursements across multiple business entities (for larger corps). You get AI-powered receipt matching and categorisation, too, and automated syncing with Xero, QuickBooks, NetSuite, and other tools to reconcile all your expenses without fuss⁹.

Debit cards

OFX has Visa debit cards built for global spending – you can use Apple Pay and Google Pay to make “zero-fee” transactions in over 30+ currencies, then track everything from a simple dashboard on the mobile app¹. It’s also easy to quickly issue virtual Company and Employee cards for your teams to use, complete with useful controls such as freezing and individual limits¹⁸.

Airwallex has a very similar offering, with company and employee Visa debit cards that tie neatly into its Expense Management service, which lets you keep tabs on every expense from one platform. Custom controls are plentiful – you can set custom expiry dates and per-transaction limits, all built for global spending with ‘market-leading FX,’ so there are fewer surprise fees¹⁰.

Integrations

Airwallex has a large catalogue of integrations across four categories: Accounting Services, Productivity, Marketing & Sales, and Ecommerce⁴. There are currently 8 accounting software integrations, including Xero, QuickBooks, and Sage, plus 12 ecommerce apps to streamline orders and payments on platforms such as Amazon, eBay, and Shopify⁴.

OFX says it’s “working on more” integrations, but for now, you’ll only be able to plug into Xero and QuickBooks, although that’s likely to be enough for small businesses to reduce time-consuming manual entry and automate key bookkeeping tasks¹.

OFX vs Airwallex: Fee comparison

OFX and Airwallex both use a subscription model, with free plans available alongside paid tiers that offer additional features and higher usage limits. Their other fees vary depending on how you use the platform, so it’s worth looking beyond the monthly cost to get a better idea of the overall price.

Here’s an overview of how Airwallex vs OFX compare on pricing.

The card fees here aren’t directly like-for-like: OFX’s rates apply when paying by card or receiving funds into its Global Business Account, while Airwallex’s rates are for accepting card payments from customers.

Airwallex vs OFX: Review comparison

Here’s how the two platforms compare on Trustpilot.

Considerations when choosing a solution for global finances

When comparing different providers, it’s useful to take stock of your specific business requirements. You should think about:

• What you need. Are global money transfers enough, or do you need checkouts, invoicing, or subscriptions? Create a list of must-haves and match them to each provider.
• How much can you spend? Work out a ballpark figure for what you’ll spend based on your current activity, including account fees and per-transaction charges.
• Do you have room to scale? Also, run through a few scenarios to see if the platform can support future growth (higher plans, allowances, etc.).
• Is business spending important? If your team will make purchases outside Australia, check the card fees and expense management tools.
• The integrations you’ll need. Make sure the platform connects with your accounting software, and decide if you need marketing, ecommerce, or other app integrations and APIs.

Wise Business: Alternative solution for global finances

Wise Business is another option for Australian businesses that need to manage international money. It uses the mid-market exchange rate (no markups), with international transfer fees varying by currency and starting from just 0.63%. You also get account details in 22+ currencies. All of this with no recurring monthly fees.

A Wise Business account allows users to send, receive, and hold in multiple currencies. Experience hassle-free global transactions by transacting like a local business. Here's what you get with a Wise Business account:

• Free to register — Hold and convert between 40+ currencies. Send to 140+ countries
• Debit cards for you and your team, which you can use in 150+ countries
• Multi-user access for team members, with ways to control and manage permissions
• Pay up to 1,000 recipients at once with the Wise batch payments feature
• Integrate with your favourite cloud accounting solutions like Xero, QuickBooks, and more
• Get account details to receive in 8+ currencies for a one-time fee of 65 AUD
• Earn potential returns** on your everyday money through Wise Interest

Sign up for the Wise Business account! 🚀

This general advice does not take into account your objectives, financial circumstances or needs and you should consider if it is appropriate for you.
**Capital at risk, growth not guaranteed. Interest is the name of a custody and nominee service provided by Wise Australia Investments Pty Ltd in partnership with Franklin Templeton.

FAQs

1. Can I integrate OFX and Airwallex with my Xero accounting software?
Yes, both OFX and Airwallex integrate with Xero. You’ll be able to sync all your payments and expenses in real time, so your records update automatically without manual work, which makes reconciliation much easier.

2. What are the transfer limits with OFX and Airwallex
OFX says it doesn’t enforce maximum transfer limits¹⁵, giving you freedom to send as much as you want above the $250 AUD minimum¹⁶. Airwallex states that transfer limits depend on several factors, including the transfer method, and that the exact details are provided when creating a transfer¹⁷.

Source:

1. OFX AU - Home page
2. Airwallex AU - Home page
3. Airwallex AU - Global Accounts
4. Airwallex AU - Integrations
5. Airwallex AU - Documents required for companies in Australia
6. OFX - Global business account
7. Airwallex - Transfers
8. OFX - Spend management
9. Airwallex - Expense management
10. Airwallex - Corporate cards
11. OFX - Business pricing
12. Airwallex - Pricing
13. Trustpilot - OFX reviews
14. Trustpilot - Airwallex reviews
15. OFX - Maximum transfer
16. OFX - Minimum transfer
17. Airwallex - Transfer limits
18. OFX- Business Virtual Card