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Airwallex says you can open a business account free of charge, and its Explore plan has no monthly fee. Currency conversion carries a margin of 0.4% over the interbank rate for major currencies and 0.6% for others. Approval usually takes 1 to 3 business days. The pages read say nothing on foreign or non-resident owners.
This is an independent guide. It is not Airwallex and it cannot open an account for you. When you use the quote form below, we pass the request on to suitable providers, and some pay us when you take them on.
What are the plans and what do they cost?
Airwallex's pricing page, read on , lists three tiers.
| Plan | What the page says |
|---|---|
| Explore | No monthly fee. Business accounts, basic spend features, payment acceptance |
| Grow | A paid monthly plan with approval workflows and AI expense policy features |
| Accelerate | A higher paid tier with unlimited company cards and an account manager |
The page shows paid plan prices without a clear currency, so this guide does not quote them. Check the figure and the GST treatment on the page itself. Pricing there excludes GST, and per-transaction fees apply beyond the monthly plan.
What does it charge per payment?
| Item | Airwallex publishes |
|---|---|
| FX, major currencies | 0.4% above interbank rates |
| FX, all other currencies | 0.6% above interbank rates |
| Local transfers | Free to 120+ countries |
| SWIFT transfers | A per-transfer fee, listed as a range on the page |
A margin of this kind is easy to underestimate. On a payment of S$10,000 converted at 0.4%, the margin is S$40, so 0.4% of the amount, before any other charge. Compare that figure against your bank's quoted rate for the same pair on the same day.
How does the account opening work?
Airwallex's guide gives four steps:
- Sign up with a business email and a password.
- Give the company name, size and UEN.
- Upload identity and company documents.
- Wait for approval, which the guide puts at a few business days.
The business account page adds that the application takes around 15 minutes. It is done entirely online, with no branch visit.
Which documents does Airwallex list?
- The ACRA business profile, which you can pull from ACRA's records.
- The certificate of incorporation.
- Identification for each director or partner, passport or Singapore IC.
- Proof of residential address for the directors.
- A board resolution.
- The company constitution.
Airwallex adds that further documents may be requested. Treat the list as a starting set, not a full promise.
Can a foreign or non-resident owner apply?
The pages read do not say. They list a passport as acceptable identity and ask for a residential address for directors, which a foreign director would supply too. That is not the same as an eligibility rule. A company with directors abroad should ask Airwallex how it treats them before spending time on the application.
What does Airwallex not say?
- Whether foreign or non-resident owners are accepted.
- Any approval rate, and no honest provider can give one.
- Industries or countries it declines on the pages read.
- A fixed charge for each SWIFT transfer, beyond a range.
Who might consider it?
A company that pays suppliers or receives customer money in several currencies, and wants spend cards on the same platform. A company that needs a local bank for payroll or cheques may still want a bank account alongside it: see DBS, OCBC or UOB. Alternatives in the same category are Wise, Aspire and Statrys.
If you are heading for GST registration, your multi-currency receipts will need clear records. See our page on GST registration.
Use the quote form on this page if you want a provider to prepare the documents for you.
What should you check before you apply?
Work out your main payment pattern first: which currencies you receive, which you pay, and roughly how much moves each month. Then compare the 0.4% and 0.6% margins to what your current bank charges on the same flow. A margin looks small until volume rises.
Keep the company constitution and board resolution as clean PDFs. Missing or unsigned documents are the common cause of back and forth in any online verification, and Airwallex says extra documents may be requested.
Last, check which plan you really need. The Explore plan is free, so start there unless you already know you need the spend management features on a paid tier.
Sources
- Airwallex: Singapore business account: free opening, timing, documents.
- Airwallex: plans and pricing: plan tiers, FX margins, local transfers.
- Airwallex: how to open a business bank account: steps and document list.
