Creators – numbering in the tens of millions to hundreds of millions, depending on who’s counting – face unique challenges in accessing revenue due to the global nature of their businesses.
Airwallex, a global fintech platform created to address the costs and complexities of international payments, seeks to serve those creators with embedded finance tools made for their specific needs. The tools launched last week.
The cross-border creator economy fits right into the company’s customer base, Airwallex Americas President Ravi Adusumilli said during a recent interview at the Fintech Meetup event in Las Vegas.
“Airwallex exists because we [saw] this problem of being able to move money from one country’s currency to another one’s currency,” he said. “That's what we're building for.”
The creator economy didn’t exist before the advent of social media, yet it will be worth $480 billion globally by 2027, according to Goldman Sachs.
Airwallex’s creator tools are designed to be embedded in the platforms on which creators monetize. The tools allow creators to accept payments from followers and fans in multiple currencies, to hold those funds in a digital multi-currency wallet, to select from which currency outgoing payments should be made and to save on currency conversion fees when they move their funds to their home currency, he said.
The savings come from Airwallex’s transaction volume discounts, which the company passes on to customers, he said. Airwallex processes $130 billion in transactions annually.
The goal is not only to simplify creators’ lives, but to “help them keep more money within their pockets,” Adusumilli said.
Additionally, Airwallex offers embedded taxfiling assistance to creators by automatically capturing taxpayer information, taking the guesswork out of 1099 filing.
“[We’re] making their life simple by providing an embedded tax integration. Since it’s integrated, it's not an afterthought,” Adusumilli said of the product.
One of the first companies tapping Airwallex's new capabilities is PartnerStack, which connects creators to brands and affiliates.
“A key aspect of our offering is helping creators and publishers to simplify their payouts and seamlessly manage and grow their partnerships, all on one platform,” said Geoff Seeman, senior product manager at PartnerStack, in a prepared statement.
“With Airwallex, we can centralize tax reporting and global payouts – creating a smoother experience for our users and allowing us to focus on supporting the growth of our network," Seeman said.
Airwallex has been on a growth path this year, in part via acquisition. The firm announced plans to acquire Vietnam-based payments firm CTIN Pay last week, deepening its southeast Asia footprint, and it finalized the acquisition of Mexico-based payments firm MexPago in January. It also received licensure to operate in Brazil by Banco Central do Brasil.
