The cross-border payments services startup's new offering opens the doors to one of the most active consumer markets in the world.
Airwallex is launching a new payments acceptance service that will allow merchants in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore to add Wechat Pay as a payment option, the startup announced on Thursday.
This solution, which allows users to seamlessly make payments in their local currency for their purchases, enables merchants them to tap into a key Asian e-commerce marketplace. The social media platform has 1.2 billion monthly active users, with its pay function handling over 1 billion transactions daily.
«As more merchants transition online, they require a wide range of payment acceptance options to remain relevant to different payment preferences around the world,» Dave Stein, Airwallex's head of corporate development in Australia, said in the announcement.
Unicorn Status
Founded in 2015, the Melbourne-based startup achieved unicorn status last year when it closed its series C funding.
In April, it raised $160 million in a series D round, which included investors like Salesforce Ventures and ANZi Ventures, the investment arm of ANZ Bank, as well as returning backers DST Global, Tencent, Sequoia Capital China, Hillhouse Capital and Horizons Ventures.
Airwallex said the funds will be used to build an end-to-end financial services product for digital businesses. Card payment acceptance will also be rolled out this year, starting in Hong Kong. The firm operates offices in 10 international locations.
