Aspire: Bringing global trade to the next level for SMEs

Discover how all-in-one financial solution provider Aspire partnered with Wise Platform to deliver over half its payments instantly* – with 92% arriving in just 24 hours.*

In just six years, Aspire’s customers in Singapore have moved over $800 million across borders –  quickly, reliably, and transparently. 

But the true impact isn't in the numbers – it’s in the thousands of small businesses that can now make global payments on time and with confidence without the challenges often associated with moving money across borders. 

While Aspire has made significant strides toward economic empowerment, the broader landscape for SMEs remains complex. Within this ecosystem, many business owners are still hopping between accounts and expense systems, leaving them time-poor and frustrated. 

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Aspire is proving that international payments can be as seamless as a local transfer.

Watch: Holly Fang, Global Head of Network at Aspire, explores how the business has gone from strength-to-strength, offering fast, transparent global payments services to SMEs around the globe.

Meet Aspire

Aspire is the all-in-one financial operating system making life simpler for small businesses. 

Over 50,000 businesses globally trust Aspire with everything they need to manage their finances and financial workflows, from multi-currency accounts and corporate cards to automated expense management and AI-powered real-time analytics. 

Why small businesses face so many challenges

In today’s fast-paced environment, small businesses demand the same speed and reliability they get from consumer apps. 

This need for dependable, convenient services is even more prominent when a business’ operations span multiple borders.

Here’s why: Slow payments trap liquidity. Many cross-border payments still take 3-5 working days to process, leaving SMEs unable to pay suppliers or staff on time.

In a global economy where 90% of businesses are SMEs, this isn’t just an inconvenience, it’s a barrier to growth.¹

What’s more, 70% of global SMEs**** believe paying and receiving payments in foreign currency is a significant challenge,² while 22% say that slow payments**** impact their ability to do business**.**³ 

For an SME, a delayed payment means a missed contract, a strained relationship, or inventory stranded at a port.

How Aspire is solving cross-border payments friction 

Thanks to businesses like Aspire, this narrative is changing. 

To deliver the seamless experience its customers deserved, Aspire needed infrastructure that matched its ambition. This required direct connections into local payment systems across its clients' most crucial markets.

Holly Fang, Global Head of Network at Aspire, shares: "We knew we wanted infrastructure built for efficiency – the direct participation in local payment systems in key markets like the UK, Australia, Europe, and Japan. Importantly, we wanted to remove the friction and complexity of working through intermediaries.".

Building this from scratch would require acquiring licenses, managing complex regulations, and building on-the-ground resources. For a scaling business like Aspire, that offers a suite of financial products, the cost and complexity of building global infrastructure didn’t make sense. 

70% of SMEs feel that moving money across borders is challenging, while 22% say that slow payments impact their ability to do business.

Powering better experiences through partnership

That's where we come in. 

At Wise Platform, we eliminate traditional intermediary-heavy processes – which typically add fees and delays – by plugging directly into local payment infrastructure in a given region. 

Through our focus on direct connections, over 90 banking partners, and tech-driven operations, we enable our partners to deliver cross-border payments quickly,* transparently, and at a low-cost. 

Today, 74% of payments sent via our infrastructure are delivered in under 20 seconds;* 96% in just 24 hours.* 

What’s more, we enable our partners to send and receive payments in over 40 currencies and across more than 160 countries. 

Thanks to our API and Swift enabled solutions, we deliver these benefits to our partners, saving them from the cost and complexity of building their own infrastructure. 

These qualities are exactly why, in 2019, Aspire chose us to bring fast, secure payments to SMEs across the globe. 

Holly explains: "Wise Platform became the obvious choice owing to the business's focus on direct connections to faster local payment systems – bringing exceptional cross-border payment services to our end customers, all from within our own platform".

Delivering speed, convenience, and reliability

Six years later, the results speak for themselves.

"With Wise's infrastructure powering our transfers, over half of Aspire's payments are delivered instantly, reaching the recipient in 20 seconds or less.* 92% of payments reach recipients within just 24 hours**,**"*Holly explains. "That's a significant leap forward from previously, where clients often waited up to two days to receive their funds."

Great payment experiences build trust

For Aspire, it’s not just the reach and speed of our network that matter, but also the reliability and transparency we unlock for our partners.  

Modern businesses expect payments to be where they're meant to be, when they're meant to be there – so they can focus on the day-to-day running of their operations.  

"We greatly value the fact that Wise is a deeply data-driven partner," Holly explains. "The technology and insights allow us to continuously optimise reliability, speed, payment success rates, and user experience. This gives us the certainty to operate and, in turn, build trust and confidence with our clients."

Beyond infrastructure

The advantages of our partnership extend well beyond our global payments infrastructure. It’s our deeply invested team that also sets us apart.

"If we ever have an inquiry, the team at Wise responds within an hour," Holly reveals. "This allows us to be much more responsive to our clients, providing an overall fast, seamless experience."

Our journey together is just beginning

Over the years, our partnership has continued to flourish. In fact, our collaboration has most recently extended to Hong Kong, enabling customers to send money in 40 currencies, including to countries like Singapore, the United States, Australia, Japan and Korea. 

Increasing numbers of SMEs are using Aspire's platform to move more money across borders than ever before – a trend set to continue. 

At Wise Platform, we're excited to see what the future holds as we continue to support Aspire's international growth. 

As Holly reflects: "At Aspire, we see the Wise partnership continuing to deepen, with closer integration across our joint offering - from enhanced cross-border capabilities to new payout and collection corridors – bringing fast, convenient, and transparent global trade services to our clients. As Aspire grows our international roadmap, we look forward to doing so with Wise's support."

Ready to deliver better payment experiences to your customers? Learn how Wise Platform can power your business's global payments infrastructure. Contact our team to get started.

Talk to the team

*Transaction speed depends on individual circumstances and may not be available for all transactions.
Sources used:

1. Future Readiness of SMEs | World Economic Forum
2. Cross-border SMEs bullish on growth, face payment hurdles | The Asset
3. Cross-border SMEs bullish on growth, face payment hurdles | The Asset