Australian company Airwallex, the international payments startup, is moving ahead so its corporate customers can be linked to the Faster Payments scheme in the UK.
Partnering with RailsBank, the open banking platform based in the UK, Airwallex will be able to connect to both the UK and the European Union's SEPA zones. These include the 28 EU states as well as Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Lichtenstein, San Marino, Andorra and Monaco.
The collaboration also means that customers of RailsBank will get access to Airwallex's FX services and cross-border payments.
The expansion of Airwallex's reach into Europe gives it access to over 100 countries and will allow European businesses the opportunity to develop trading with China, a country that has previously had difficulties concerning international payments.
Michael Stachowiak, Airwallex Vice President of Europe Expansion, stated: “As Airwallex continues to expand, we have partnered with RailsBank to ensure we can meet the demand we see from European businesses sending payments to Asia and vice versa.”
He went on to say that the partnership would entail a fast and viable access point for customers so that they can participate in transactions both in and outside of Europe. These domestic and international payment methods would strengthen the economies of Europe and those of the Far East.
Corporations looking to streamline their payments will benefit from the collaboration between RailsBank and Airwallex, according to Clive Mitchell, co-founder and COO of RailsBank.
“We’re excited to help Airwallex customers turbocharge their business by massively reducing the time and complexity of opening bank accounts through our partner network, streamlining technical integration with banks, enhancing banking functionality with core RailsBank services and enabling trusted compliance relationships,” he stated.
The announcement of the collaboration between Airwallex and RailsBank came a day after RailsBank revealed that it had been chosen by Mastercard as one of 11 startups for its latest Start Path program.
