Aspire Online Business Review - All You Need to Know

Founded in 2018 Aspire is not a bank, but a Payment Services Institution headquartered in Singapore. It has become a popular business-to-business (B2B) fintech provider in Southeast Asia, but it offers multi-currency accounts to businesses globally.

If you’re researching Aspire online business reviews to find out whether it’s a suitable choice for your business, this article will help you decide.

If you’re looking for a multi-currency account provider to send and receive international payments, you may also consider Wise Business as a low-cost alternative with transparent foreign exchange fees.

Methodology: The team of dedicated content experts at Wise research each provider thoroughly, uncovering the key features, fees, and pros and cons to watch out for. This is then collected into an easily digestible format, to save you time and hassle when looking into a provider.

Aspire Online Review : Quick Overview

🗝️ Key features	Send and receive payments in 30+ currencies Multi-currency business accounts and corporate cards Expense management with budgets, employee cards, and claims Payable management to streamline and automate account payables Custom integrations and solutions including payment gateway and bulk payments
💰 Main fees¹	Incoming transfers converting in a currency other than USD: $8 Incoming USD transfers outside the US: $8 Outgoing USD or FX transfers via SWIFT: $15
✅ Great for	Businesses managing multiple currencies that want to manage their finances from a single app.
⭐️ Trustpilot rating²	4.1 out of 5

Aspire Online: Key Features

Aspire provides a free account that aims to give businesses everything they need to scale globally, including a multi-currency account, free local transfers, international payments, virtual cards, bookkeeping integration, and accounts payables and receivables management.

For expanding regional companies with multiple entities, Aspire offers custom subscription options.

You can apply for an Aspire account online and start sending and receiving local transfers for free within hours.

You can send and receive international payments in 30+ currencies with low fees at the mid-market exchange rates. You can also receive international account details for Singapore, Indonesia, the US, the EU, and the UK to accept payments in multiple currencies.

As Aspire is a payment service provider rather than a bank, it safeguards your funds with Tier-1 banks in Singapore. Aspire does not use its customer funds for other purposes, so they are always available.³

With a US dollar account, you can send and receive ACH & ABA/Fedwire Transfers in USD for free. Receiving payments via SWIFT with conversion from 30+ currencies incurs an $8 fee, while sending payments in other currencies via SWIFT costs $15.⁴

An account provides access to two free administrative users and 10 employee users. Adding extra Admin/Finance users costs SGD9 each per month and additional employee users costs SGD5 each monthly.

Aspire provides unlimited virtual debit cards to businesses in Singapore and Indonesia, and one physical card to businesses in Singapore, with additional cards available at SGD15 each. It pays 1% cashback on eligible purchases.

🔍 Read on to discover:
Ease of Use Customer Service How Safe is Aspire? Aspire Online Fees Aspire Online Pros and Cons Aspire Online Alternatives Conclusion: Is Aspire Online the best choice for your business? Discover Wise Business: The easy and low-cost way to make international payments

Ease of Use

Aspire offers integrations with accounting platforms including Xero, Quickbooks and Oracle. Its advanced integrations include receipt attachments with text recognition, line items, and payment status updates.

Aspire provides automated payroll processing to save time and reduce manual errors and allows you to schedule and approve bulk payments ahead of time to streamline your payments to suppliers and vendors.

Its integrated expense management solution allows you to use instant corporate cards and spending controls to optimise processes and gain real-time visibility into your company’s spending. You can quickly issue new cards to employees, set different spending limits and restrict certain merchants.

Positive reviews on Trustpilot state that Aspire’s app is easy to use and frequently adds new features.⁵

However, some negative reviews from Trustpilot indicate that some users have been unable to receive or withdraw funds, so business owners should exercise caution.⁶

Customer Service

Aspire's customer support team is available via chat Monday through Sunday from 9am to 9pm Singapore time (SGT).⁷

How Safe is Aspire?

Aspire’s customer funds are held segregated in trust accounts with Tier-1 banks in Singapore, so if something happens to the company your funds will still be safe.

Aspire complies with personal data protection regulations in Singapore to keep its customer data secure. Transactions require two-factor authentication with a one-time password (OTP) that will be sent to your email or mobile number.⁸

Aspire Online Fees

Below are some of the main fees. of the Aspire Online account:

• Incoming transfers in 30+ currencies via SWIFT: $8
• Outgoing transfers in 30+ currencies via SWIFT: $15
• Additional physical corporate cards: SGD15 each
• Additional admin users: SGD9 per user per month
• Additional employee users: SGD5 per user per month

Aspire notes on its website that “SWIFT transfers may involve intermediary/correspondent banks fees that may be deducted from the received amount. This fee varies based on the correspondent banks used by SWIFT network and can be between $7 - $60. You are unable to select the intermediary bank.”⁹

💡 For an alternative multi-currency account that uses the mid-market exchange rate and has transparent pricing, consider Wise Business. You can receive local account details including SGD, EUR, and GBP, and receive non-wire transfers in those currencies for free.

Aspire Online Pros and Cons

Benefits	Possible drawbacks
Payments in 30+ currencies	Lack of transparency on international transaction fees
Local account details for five countries	Limited customer service support
Accounting software integration	No spot or forward foreign exchange contracts
Bulk payment services to streamline operations	Virtual and physical payment cards are only available to businesses incorporated in Singapore and Indonesia

What are the benefits of Aspire Online?

Aspire offers global businesses all-in-one, multi-currency accounts with integrated bookkeeping, expense management and bulk payment features. The account allows you to receive money in multiple currencies with local account numbers for five countries. You can also send and receive international payments in more than 30 currencies with low fees and competitive exchange rates.

Aspire’s native Xero integration updates hourly, saving you time in managing your business accounts, and its advanced integrations extend to other accounting platforms like Quickbooks, Oracle Netsuite, Deskera and SAP.

What are the possible drawbacks of Aspire Online?

While Aspire claims that charges and FX rates are shown upfront and there are no hidden fees, the total charges for SWIFT payments are not clearly detailed and can vary depending on the intermediary banks used, which can lead to unforeseen costs that add up if you regularly send and receive international payments.

As Aspire is based in Singapore, there is limited customer support available for businesses abroad – with the website only providing chat support during Singapore daytime hours.

Additionally, while Aspire provides accounts for businesses globally, it only provides virtual payment cards to companies incorporated in Singapore and Indonesia and only issues physical cards in Singapore.

Aspire Online Alternatives

Wise Business

Wise Business is a a Money Services Business (MSB) provider that allows you to hold more than 40 currencies and make payments to 160+ countries. Wise uses the mid-market exchange rate, and allows you to hold local account details for 8+ currencies.

Wise also offers US businesses physical cards available for use at ATMs worldwide, allows you to connect accounting software, and has a free invoice generator.

Some key features of Wise Business include:

Major local account details to receive international payments with ease No monthly account fees just a simple one-off fee for account details Receive payments from e-commerce platforms (such as Amazon or via Stripe). Create invoices using the Wise invoice generator or invoice templates. Accounting integrations, including a QuickBooks Bill Pay connection. Bill payments will be synced, matched, and categorized in QuickBooks for simple reconciliation. Batch payment options. Fast payment of up to 1,000 people.

Open a Wise Business account online

Statrys

Statrys is a Hong Kong -based alternative to traditional banks that provides multi-currency business accounts with debit cards and competitive foreign exchange rates. Account holders can receive payments in 11 currencies with a single account number. Statrys provides spot and forward exchange rates, allowing users to lock in favourable exchange rates. Forex expert relationship managers provide tailored support to businesses with foreign specific exchange needs.¹⁰

However, Statrys primarily onboards companies that are incorporated in Hong Kong, Singapore, or the British Virgin Islands, so its accounts are not available to US-based businesses.

Conclusion: Is Aspire Online the best choice for your business?

While Aspire Online provides support for businesses to receive and manage payments in multiple currencies, not all of its features are available outside of Singapore. A lack of transparency around the cost of SWIFT payments may limit its suitability for businesses that conduct regular international transactions.

Discover Wise Business: The easy and low-cost way to make international payments

Wise is not a bank, but a Money Services Business (MSB) provider and a smart alternative to banks. The Wise Business account is designed with international business in mind, and makes it easy to send, hold, and manage business funds in 40+ currencies. You can also Send money to 160+ countries.

You can also get major currency account details for a one-off fee to receive overseas payments like a local. This means you can get a Singapore Dollar account number and receive payments in SGD with no cross-border fees.

Read the guide on how to open a Wise Business account

You can also make easy batch payments, connect to QuickBooks to track bill payments, and issue physical debit cards to your team to use overseas with foreign exchange fees. Find out more and sign up for a Wise Business account online.

Find out more about
Wise Business

About the author:
	Panna is an expert in business finance topics for the US, covering topics from invoicing to international expansion. She creates high-quality reviews on business finance tools and products with the aim to help businesses save time and make informed decisions. You can read more useful business articles on her author profile.

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Sources:

¹Pricing - Free for SMEs | Aspire
²Read Customer Service Reviews of aspireapp.com
³The all-in-one, multi-currency business account
⁴What are the fees when sending funds from my Aspire USD account?
⁵Read Customer Service Reviews of aspireapp.com
⁶Trustpilot
⁷What are your opening hours?
⁸Is the Aspire system secure?
⁹What are the fees and rates for incoming transfers to the Aspire USD Account?
¹⁰Online Business Account Opening | Hong Kong | Statrys

All sources checked February 2024.