Navigating the US fintech frontier: Airwallex’s expansion strategy and lessons learned

In recent years, the United States has emerged as a critical battleground for global fintech companies seeking to expand their reach and capture a share of the world’s largest economy. Despite its highly competitive landscape and complex regulatory environment, the US market offers unparalleled opportunities for growth and innovation in financial services. For international fintechs, successfully entering and scaling in the US can be a game-changing milestone, but it also presents unique challenges that require careful strategy and execution.

In this interview, Ravi Adusumilli, Executive General Manager, Americas at Airwallex, shares insights into the company’s journey expanding into the United States market. Founded in Australia in 2015, Airwallex has become a prominent player in the global fintech space, offering cross-border financial infrastructure and services to businesses worldwide. Adusumilli discusses Airwallex’s approach to regulatory hurdles, talent acquisition, product localization, and building credibility in the highly competitive US fintech ecosystem. He also offers valuable lessons learned and advice for other international fintechs looking to make their mark in America.

1. What was the overarching strategic rationale behind Airwallex prioritizing expansion into the massive US market, despite not being headquartered there originally? How did you evaluate factors like market opportunity, competition, regulatory landscape etc. in your planning process?

Airwallex was founded in Australia in 2015 with the belief that businesses should be borderless from day one. And that applies to our business, too. We need to be where our customers are, where money movement is, and where we can hire the best talent. It was never a question of “if” we would expand to the U.S., but “when.” 

Despite the U.S. being an incredibly competitive market for fintech and payments, we’ve found that U.S. businesses still struggle to find cross-border financial infrastructure that meets their needs. We’ve spent years acquiring more than 60 licenses around the world and building relationships with more than 50 financial partners – from Visa and Mastercard to local banking partners. On top of that global infrastructure, we’ve built an expansive product suite, including global accounts, online payments, foreign exchange and transfers, bill pay, cards and expense management, and embedded finance. 

When we present our offering to prospective customers, they’re often surprised by the depth and breadth of our platform. We knew from early conversations in the U.S. that we’d found a strong product-market fit. We first put “boots on the ground” in the U.S. about four years ago, and since that time, have won prominent U.S. customers including the likes of BILL, Brex, Navan, and continue to see triple-digit revenue growth each quarter.

2. Cross-border payments are a core part of Airwallex’s business. What unique challenges and opportunities did the complex US payments environment present? How did you adapt your products/services to succeed in that market?

When we set our sights on the U.S., Airwallex had already established itself as a global fintech with the compliance and regulatory infrastructure necessary to operate in multiple markets. But nothing prepares you for the regulatory hurdles of launching a financial services business in the U.S. Unlike other markets, where we’re typically regulated by a single federal entity, in the U.S., you have to secure a money transfer license (MTL) at the state level to operate independently. And the only way to issue a card is by working directly with a bank as a BIN sponsor.

We decided to take a two-pronged approach in launching services in the U.S.: we established a bank sponsorship so that we could fast track launch of our core products in the U.S. and we concurrently kicked-off efforts to secure MTLs in every state where it is required for business-to-business services. Each license is a major victory and grants us additional freedom to operate. Today, we have licenses or exemptions from licensure in 49 U.S. states and territories. 

3. Building a local presence is critical when entering a new region like the US. Can you walk through Airwallex’s approach to areas like hiring local talent, forming partnerships, setting up operations etc.? What lessons did you learn in this process?

Our philosophy is that to be a successful global business, we need to build successful local businesses all around the world. That means figuring out the challenges our customers face here in the U.S., how our global platform and products can be adapted to address those local challenges, and–perhaps most critically–how we can attract the best talent to make it all happen.

In the early days, I spent more than 50% of my time on recruiting efforts for every single role. We started hiring in the U.S. pre-Covid, and then when the pandemic hit, we faced an incredibly challenging and competitive recruiting environment. While many tech companies went on a hiring spree during that period, we remained focused on finding top talent across compliance, financial partnerships, marketing, and sales, and growing our ranks at a measured pace.  

We have a unique offering to candidates: the stability and financial backing of a mature Series-E tech company, combined with the unlimited potential and fast-paced energy of a startup. The Bay Area has no shortage of talented people willing to take a risk, but building a company from the ground up is not an easy task. We were looking for people up to that challenge. 

We’ve attracted incredible talent from other top tech and payment firms including Stripe, Google, Meta, Marqeta, Visa, Uber, and more. Our goal is to foster a culture that thrives on intellectual curiosity, agility and long-term value creation, and this is reflected in our more than 100 employees across San Francisco, New York, Austin, Toronto and Sao Paulo.

4. Many companies struggle with localization when expanding abroad. Can you provide tangible examples of how Airwallex localized its offerings (products, marketing, customer support etc.) specifically for the US market?

There are many nuances and paradoxes in operating as a fintech in the U.S. Certain aspects are more archaic and complex than other regions – like the U.S. banking and regulatory system. In other ways, the U.S. is a much more sophisticated market. We faced a much more robust and demanding developer community in the U.S. and had to invest significant time and energy to get our documentation and API design up to par for that stakeholder group. 

In the early days, building credibility and educating our target customer base was an uphill battle. We had to do a lot of discovery with the clients – and we’re thankful for those early learning experiences. As we collaborated with our early customers to fix bugs, repair operational inefficiencies, and solve unique challenges, our bonds with them grew stronger, as did our credibility. We worked tirelessly to understand their obstacles, all while working through our own growing pains.

Today, we continue to build upon those early successes – expanding our offerings, entering new markets, and innovating in a space that has become incredibly important for global commerce.

5. Based on your US expansion experience, what advice would you give other international fintechs looking to crack the American market? What factors truly separate the successes from the failures?

Building on the above, I’d offer the following advice to global companies looking to expand into the U.S.:

• Consider an operating model that gives you tight integration with leadership in the home market, as well as latitude to build and innovate with a degree of freedom and independence on the ground. This global/local balance applies to company culture as well. It’s important to have alignment on the business goals, core values, and company vision. Last year we launched a set of operating principles – a set of common traits that guide how we interact with each other and how we make decisions. With that global framework in place, we have a firm foundation to build an employee experience that is engaging and rewarding at the local level.
• To create an enduring business or product, you need to set aside the belief that what worked for the business elsewhere will automatically work for you here. Different markets will call for radically different strategies (and by extension, teams can face vastly different repercussions). I urge leaders to understand this early on.
• Fintechs live and die by their compliance and security infrastructure. As you develop new services and expand to new markets, you need to invest in a robust risk and compliance program, with leaders who understand the nuance of the local market. Airwallex made regulatory excellence a top priority (among others) as it entered the U.S. – and it’s something we’ll never lose sight of.