Airwallex Accelerates Market Entry in the Middle East With Multiple Regulatory, Infrastructure and Partner Wins

Airwallex, a leading global financial platform for modern businesses, today announced a series of regulatory, infrastructure and partner successes that will allow it to accelerate its expansion into the Middle East. The developments are part of a strategic push in the Middle East to capitalise on the huge growth opportunity in the region, and come as the business expands across the broader APAC, EMEA and the Americas regions.

In the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Airwallex has secured In-Principle Approval for Stored Value Facilities and Retail Payment Services (Category II) Licences from the Central Bank of the UAE. This includes a Register of Stored Value Facilities (SVF) wallet with a limit that will support all businesses, including SMB use cases. This will allow Airwallex to offer customers multi-currency accounts and global transfers, Payment Acceptance (PA), and Corporate Cards.

The work to operationalise Airwallex’s UAE entity will now accelerate, with office and staff in the UAE to expand as part of go-live preparations. 

In parallel, Airwallex has officially established a new Entity in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), following the granting of an incorporation by the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia.

This move reflects the company’s long-term commitment to supporting the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 agenda and contributing to its growing digital economy. Airwallex was also present at the inaugural Money 2020 Middle East, which took place in Riyadh earlier this month.

Alongside these regulatory milestones, Airwallex is also developing additional capabilities in the Middle East for existing merchants. Specifically, Airwallex has partnered with Tabby, the Middle East’s leading ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) provider. This will allow BNPL payment options at checkout in the UAE and KSA, to help global merchants drive higher conversion, larger basket sizes, and stronger engagement with local shoppers.

Jack Zhang, Co-Founder and CEO of Airwallex, said:“We are building the future of global banking and finance, and when you consider the UAE’s 2031 Vision and Saudi Vision 2030, nowhere is more forward-looking than the Middle East. This is why it is so exciting to have secured our In-Principle Approval for payments licence in the UAE, and established our first entity in KSA.”

“Market entry in the region will not only empower our 150,000 existing global customer base, but it will also create huge opportunities for local businesses – big and small. To be fully global we also need to be hyper local, and we are delighted to be working on how to bring Airwallex’s cutting-edge solutions to this critical, energetic, and fast-growing region.”

Jeanette Chan, Chief Legal, Compliance and Risk Officer at Airwallex, added: “As an infrastructure-first company, we have spent ten years diligently working with regulators and building our infrastructure. We now have over 60 licences and permits globally, and these new steps in the UAE and Saudi Arabia are an exciting part of our broader strategy to provide our customers with the right technology and opportunities to be ‘default global’ across our entire product suite”. 

Airwallex recently announced a $300 million Series F funding round at a $6.2 billion valuation, and also announced a global partnership with Arsenal Football Club, complementing its existing relationship with Formal One’s McLaren Racing.