Airwallex vs Revolut: Comparison for UK Businesses

If you’re looking for a new business account, you have more options than you think. You can now choose from a range of digital solutions, rather than just bank accounts at traditional banks.

Two popular options for UK businesses at the moment are Airwallex and Revolut. But what do they have to offer, and how do they compare? Read on for a full head-to-head review of Revolut vs. Airwallex, comparing everything from fees and features to security.

We’ll also show you an alternative - Wise Business, which lets you effortlessly manage your business finances across 40+ currencies, including GBP, USD and EUR.

💡 Learn more about Wise Business

Airwallex vs Revolut - Comparison overview

Let’s start out with a head to head comparison of both Airwallex and Revolut based on their key features. We’ll look at each option in more detail in just a moment.

Service	Airwallex	Revolut Business
Account opening fee	❌	❌
Monthly subscription fee	❌	£0 to £79 a month¹
Currency account details	23+ currencies²	25+ currencies³
Hold money	23+ currencies²	25+ currencies³
International payments	✅	✅
Business card	✅	✅
Expenses cards	✅	✅
Overdraft	❌	❌
Interest product	❌	✅ - savings account available
Multi-user access	✅	✅
Accounting integrations (which providers?)	Xero, QuickBooks, NetSuite	Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, NetSuite and more
API	✅	✅
Bulk payments	✅	✅
Trustpilot rating	3.7 ⭐	4.1 ⭐

Airwallex review

Airwallex focuses on digital business services including business accounts, payment cards, international transfers and payment processing solutions for online and in-app payments.

Features include:

• Send payments to 46+ currenies⁴
• Send payments to 150+ countries⁴
• Automated domestic and international bill pay service
• Foreign exchange services
• Borderless corporate cards
• Expenses management
• Payment links and plugins
• Receive payments through marketplace sites
• Accounting and other software integrations

As for what existing customers think of it, Airwallex currently has an ‘average’ rating of 3.7/5 on TrustPilot, based on 1,100+ reviews.⁵

Is Airwallex a UK bank?

Airwallex is not a licensed UK bank, as it doesn’t have a banking licence. However, it is licensed in the UK as an electronic money institution by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011.⁶

Is Airwallex a payment gateway?

Airwallex is a payment gateway, or at least it provides payment gateway services - as well as payment processing services.⁷

A payment gateway is an online platform which allows businesses to accept payments from their customers, usually via credit or debit card, as well as other forms of electronic payment (such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, for example).

How safe is Airwallex?

Airwallex is safe to use to manage your business finances. It is regulated by the FCA, and your money is safeguarded as required by the UK regulator.⁶

The company also has a suite of security features designed to protect your account, data and business funds. This includes real-time fraud protection, encrypted payments, network tokenization and 3DS2.

Airwallex pricing

Airwallex doesn’t charge subscription fees, but it does have charges according to what products and services you use. It also charges per payment when accepting payments from your company’s customers.

Take a look below for the main fees you need to know about:

Service	Fee⁸
Send local payments	Free
Send international payments	£10 to £20
Receive international payments	Free⁹
ATM withdrawal	Not available
Accepting card payments	1.30% to 3.15% (depending on card type) + £0.20
Currency exchange	0.5% to 1% markup on mid-market exchange rate
Business card fee	Free for company cards Employee cards £5 per cardholder per month (first 5 cardholders free)

Revolut Business reviews

Revolut is a UK-based financial technology platform which offers digital accounts to both personal and business customers.

Revolut Business plans are aimed at companies of all sizes, including sole traders. It has Basic (free), Grow, Scale and Enterprise plans available, so there are options for businesses at all stages.

The free Basic plan gives you access to simple features, including multi-currency accounts, Revolut Business cards, IBANs for global transfers, accounting app integration, payroll management and the option to create invoices. You can also use Revolut to accept payments online.

But it also comes with lots of limits. If you upgrade to a paid plan, you can increase these limits and unlock additional features such as:

• Higher allowances for fee-free local and international payments
• Foreign exchange at mid-market exchange rate (monthly limits apply)
• Bulk payments
• Transfer approval
• Analytics tools
• Rewards
• Business API integrations

Revolut Business account reviews from existing customers are pretty good. The company gets a ‘Great’ 4.1 rating on TrustPilot from 150,000+ reviews (includes reviews from personal account customers).¹⁰

Is Revolut Business safe?

Revolut uses a number of security protocols to protect your business funds, and your account. This includes the following:¹¹

• Anti fraud systems, including extra verification on accounts and users, and flags for suspicious transactions
• Card protections, including 3D secure and contactless card limits
• Safeguarding funds with licensed banks
• Team permissions - including access management and spending limits, plus custom rules for payment approvals

Like Airwallex, Revolut is not a licensed bank in the UK and is instead authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as an electronic money services provider. It also uses safeguarding to protect customer funds.

Revolut Business account fees

Now, let’s look at Revolut Business pricing plans and fees. Unlike Airwallex, it does charge monthly subscription fees - although there is a free Basic plan available.

For everything else, the following fees apply (based on the Basic plan):¹²

Service	Fee
Send local payments	£0.20 per transfer outside of free allowance (5 free transfers)
Send international payments	£5 per transfer
Receive international payments	Free
ATM withdrawals	2%
Currency exchange	0.6% to 1% when free allowance of £1,000 a month is exceeded
Business card fee	First card free £4.99 for each additional card

Revolut vs Airwallex fees - Head to head comparison

To help you choose the most cost-effective account for your needs, here’s a head-to-head comparison of fees for both Revolut and Airwallex:

** Transaction type**	Revolut fee¹²	Airwallex fee⁸
Send local payments	£0.20 per transfer outside of free allowance (5 free transfers)	Free
Send international payments	£5 per transfer	£10 to £20
Receive international payments	Free	Free
ATM withdrawals	2%	Free
Currency exchange	0.6% to 1% when free allowance of £1,000 a month is exceeded	0.5% to 1% markup on mid-market exchange rate
Business card fee	First card free £4.99 for each additional card	Free for company cards Employee cards £5 per cardholder per month (first 5 cardholders free)

Wise Business Account: alternative to Airwallex and Revolut

If you need to pay or get paid in foreign currencies, you could be better off withWise Business. Whether it’s paying contractors and suppliers overseas, or accepting global customer payments digitally and through PSPs like Stripe and Airwallex, Wise has low cost solutions to help.

Wise Business accounts can hold and exchange 40+ currencies, send payments to 160+ countries and come with local account details to get paid in 8+ currencies like a local.

Use your Wise account to get paid in a selection of major foreign currencies by customers and clients, through marketplaces - and via PSPs. Whenever you need to send, spend or exchange foreign currencies, you’ll benefit from the mid-market exchange rate, with low, transparent fees.

Wise has an ‘Excellent’ rating of 4.3 on TrustPilot, from over 220,000 reviews.¹³

Wise Business account fees

So that you can compare with other providers, here are the main fees you need to know about with the Wise Business account:

Service	Fee
Send local payments	Free
Send international payments	From 0.33%
Receive international payments	Free in 19 major currencies
ATM withdrawals	Free up to £200 a month (max. 2 withdrawals) 1.75% + £0.50 per withdrawal after that
Currency exchange	Mid-market exchange rate, with no mark-up
Business card fee	Free first card £3 one-off fee for each team member card

Open Wise Business account

When you open a Wise Business account, you’ll benefit from all of these useful features:

• Hold and exchange 40+ currencies in one powerful online account
• Send payments to 160+ countries for low fees and mid-market exchange rates
• Get local account details to get paid in 8+ currencies like a local.
• No ongoing fees, minimum balance requirements or foreign transaction fees
• Debit and expense 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 people at once with the Wise batch payments feature
• Integrate with your favourite cloud accounting solutions, and use the Wise API for automation and streamlining workflow
• Use the Wise Interest feature to make your money work harder when you’re not using it

It’s quick and easy to open a Wise Business account, with a fully digital application, verification and on-boarding process. Check out the requirements here.

Get started with Wise Business 🚀

---

After reading this, you should have all the info you need to compare Revolut and Airwallex (and Wise Business too). We’ve covered everything from features and fees to security, so that you can choose the right provider for your business.

---

Sources used:

1. Revolut - Business Account Plans
2. Airwallex - Revolut vs Airwallex: compare on fees, features and benefits
3. Revolut - Multi-currency accounts
4. Airwallex - Global Business Account
5. TrustPilot - Airwallex
6. Airwallex - How is Airwallex licensed and regulated?
7. Airwallex - Payment gateways: What are they and how do they work?
8. Airwallex - Pricing
9. Airwallex - Fee Schedule
10. TrustPilot - Revolut
11. Revolut - Business Security
12. Revolut - Business Fees (Basic)
13. TrustPilot - Wise

Sources last checked on date: 04-Jun-2024