The truth about global payments has been exposed by Airwallex.

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Author: Brother Gang

After publishing the previous article, many people privately messaged me, mainly focusing on the following categories:

"Some platform looks similar, is it reliable?"

"Is digital currency payment no longer so complicated?"

"Airwallex is doing heavy payment infrastructure, is this necessary?"

To answer these questions, you can actually take a look at the popular article "The Hardest Road is the Way Out: An Overview of Global Payment Infrastructure" posted by Airwallex founder Jack Zhang on the official WeChat account and X.com (formerly Twitter).

Figure 1 Jack Zhang's original Twitter post

This article not only explains why Airwallex chose the "heavy asset" route but also reveals a long-secret issue in the global payments industry.

What exactly does he talk about? Let me introduce it to everyone below. 【Full text 2966 words, estimated 10 minutes】

01 Surface Homogenization, Underlying Differentiation

When corporate clients choose a payment platform, they are often confused by a question: the several payment companies they communicate with seem to have similar capabilities.

For example, over a hundred global payment companies almost all use similar language to introduce their products: instant settlement, global coverage, serving modern enterprises, with increasingly similar functions and interfaces.

Everyone has global acquiring: connecting to a packaged Visa/MasterCard channel, which can be described as "supporting over 200 countries and regions worldwide";

Everyone has a global account: partnering with several banks, which can be described as "one account for global collection, covering 20+ mainstream currencies."

The problem is, on the surface, the functions look more and more alike, but the underlying capabilities are worlds apart.

Figure 2 Surface homogenization cannot hide the huge underlying differences

Users also cannot see the true differences between platforms in product descriptions, so they tend to scrutinize costs, backgrounds, licenses, and risks with payment institutions repeatedly.

Ultimately, what enterprise clients truly care about is not just the onboarding experience, but whether the capital flow is stable, whether the compliance system is solid, and whether they can smoothly expand into new markets. Therefore, judging whether a payment platform is reliable cannot be based solely on its front-end appearance; more importantly, it depends on whether the platform leaves the complexity to itself or shifts it to the customer.

02 Three Paths of Global Payments

Since the front end clearly shows core capabilities, we must go back to the underlying layer and dissect the common paths in this industry.

If we look at the mainstream players in the industry, there are roughly three routes.

Figure 3 The three diverging paths of global payment evolution

2.1 First Path: Bypass Traditional Chains

First Path: Web3 Digital Currency Payments

The common story on this path is: stablecoins, on-chain settlement, programmable payments, peer-to-peer payments. Compared to traditional payments, this route offers shorter paths, faster speeds, and lower costs; and aims to penetrate consumer retail scenarios with small, high-frequency transactions.

However, you'll find that very few players have emerged in digital currency payments on this route.

The core reason is not that this route lacks efficiency, but that in front of mainstream payment platforms, new players have no competitive advantage, and too many compliance frictions are difficult to resolve in the short term.

Figure 4 First Path: On-chain settlement bypasses traditional chains

Currently, mainstream global payment platforms not only possess global payment networks but also deeply integrate into local ecosystems in various countries, build operational teams, and form comprehensive advantages in technology, service, and compliance for digital currency payments.

On the technical level: instant global payments, merchant settlement to card D1/D0 options;

On the service level: competitive payment costs and mature local operational teams serving the last mile of customers;

On the compliance level: regulatory doubts persist in various jurisdictions, resulting in significant compliance friction;

On the product level: mainstream payment platforms also focus on stablecoin payments; once compliance policies are implemented, products can be integrated or replaced at any time.

Therefore, new players on this route will find that the only options are often fragmented markets that mainstream payment institutions are unwilling to serve, or gray/black markets that they dare not serve.

This is also why many entrepreneurs with Web3 payment dreams ultimately have to withdraw in disappointment.

2.2 Second Path: Packaging Traditional Infrastructure

This is the most common route in the industry: relying on partners and intermediaries to wrap complex and outdated underlying architectures, then promote market expansion through better product experience and faster marketing.

The advantage of this route is obvious: quick results, rapid expansion, and fast coverage, making it the natural choice for most players.

But the problem is, it mainly optimizes the front end rather than rewriting the underlying infrastructure.

Jack Zhang's judgment on this point is very direct: the core issues remain unchanged—agent bank chains, bilateral cooperation relationships, compliance dependency risks—all still exist. He also believes: "A good-looking interface is already standard, but it cannot shake the fundamental operating logic of global payments."

Figure 5 Second Path: Aggregation gateways wrapping infrastructure

In fact, the fastest-growing global payment company, Stripe, was rejected when acquiring Airwallex in 2019, and there were rumors of acquiring PayPal in 2026 (which also was ultimately rejected).

At least it shows that even international payment giants relying on "technology + light assets" to grow quickly still need to revisit infrastructure.

Many times, a seemingly lighter route is not about avoiding infrastructure but delaying it.

2.3 Third Path: Building Own Global Financial Infrastructure

This is the route chosen by companies like Airwallex, Ant International, Pingpong, and Lianlian International: holding licenses in jurisdictions they cover, localizing operations, maintaining regular communication with regulators, and trying to keep compliance, technology, and underlying networks in their own hands.

This path is the most challenging because there are almost no shortcuts. It requires sustained high investment, a longer cycle, and greater responsibility.

But Airwallex is more resolute in this regard: developing full-stack infrastructure in-house, never relying on agents or intermediaries. This means they must spend heavily to hold licenses worldwide, communicate deeply with regulators as licensed entities, continuously connect with local compliance agencies, build local teams, and serve the last mile of customers.

Figure 6 Third Path: Building Global Infrastructure Independently

This heavy asset investment will obviously make many people think it is "not smart." Who doesn't want to take shortcuts? It depends on what value you want to deliver to customers. If the underlying capabilities are still in others' hands, the ultimate burden of uncertainty will fall on the customers.

03 The "Heavy" Platform, "Light" Customers

For outbound companies, the most expensive part is never the payment fee but the invisible, yet most critical, capital chain risks when problems occur.

For example, a market that has already been penetrated might suddenly have its bank accounts frozen; a customer might have paid for goods, but the funds are stuck with the agent bank and cannot be transferred; regulatory rule changes might require additional documentation, deposits, or procedures.

These issues may not occur daily, but once they happen, they are enough to disrupt a company's rhythm.

Figure 7 The platform's "heaviness" replaces the customer's "lightness"

Therefore, solid infrastructure essentially aims to keep the complexities that would fall on customers within its own system, digesting them internally, and using its "heaviness" to exchange for the customer's "lightness."

04 What Do Customers Truly Gain?

Enterprise clients are very pragmatic—they never buy concepts but the value they can obtain. In cross-border payments, this value boils down to three things: more stability, more savings, and more certainty.

Figure 8 The real value enterprise clients need

More stability because companies don’t need to adapt to a new cooperation model every time they enter a new market.

More savings, not just in fees, but also in reducing redundant system costs, communication costs, and compliance costs.

More certainty because, when market conditions change or regulations tighten, clients rely not on a temporarily stitched-together channel but on a more complete, durable, and cycle-resistant underlying capability.

This is also why Airwallex’s growth logic resembles compound interest rather than explosive growth.

Figure 9 Compound growth driven by infrastructure investment

According to public information, it took Airwallex nine years to reach an annualized revenue (ARR) of $500 million, and only one year to double from $500 million to $1 billion. The earlier "slowness" is not inefficiency but the accumulation of underlying momentum for future acceleration.

05 Final Words

Returning to the initial question: why does Airwallex build its own global financial infrastructure?

Because, the most difficult part is precisely the part that cannot be outsourced, is worth long-term investment, and can create the most value for customers.

Figure 10 Underlying capabilities are the true dividing line

For enterprise clients, choosing a global payment platform is essentially choosing a long-term partner—someone who can help digest complexity and provide a stable foundation for their business.

For the global payments industry, shortcuts can help you run faster, but only by making the most difficult parts into your own capabilities can you go further.

【References】

【1】Airwallex official WeChat article: The difficult road is the way out

【2】Airwallex official WeChat article: The last mile of global payments

【3】Sina: Reshaping the future of finance