Author: Gang Ge
After the last article was published, many people sent me private messages, with questions mainly falling into the following categories:
"A certain platform seems similar, is it reliable?"
"Isn't digital currency payment much less troublesome?"
"Is it really necessary for Airwallex to build such a heavy payment infrastructure?"
Figure 1: Jack Zhang's original tweet
This article not only explains why Airwallex chose the "heavy asset" path but also reveals a problem long kept secret in the global payments industry.
01 Surface Homogeneity, Core Differentiation
When choosing a payment platform, corporate clients are often confused by a problem: several payment companies seem to offer similar capabilities.
For example, almost all of the hundreds of global payment companies use a similar script to introduce their products: instant settlement, global coverage, serving modern enterprises. Even the features and interfaces are becoming more alike.
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Everyone has global acquiring: by connecting to a wrapped Visa/MasterCard channel, they can claim "support for 200+ countries and regions";
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Everyone has global accounts: by partnering with a few banks, they can claim "one account for global collection, covering 20+ major currencies".
Figure 2: Superficial homogeneity masks vast underlying differences
Users also cannot see the real differences between platforms from product descriptions, which is why they repeatedly scrutinize payment institutions on cost, background, licenses, and risks.
02 Three Paths in Global Payments
Since core capabilities are not apparent from the front end, we must return to the underlying layer and deconstruct the common paths in this industry.
If we break down the mainstream players in the industry, there are roughly three paths.
Figure 3: Three divergent paths in the evolution of global payments
2.1 The First Path: Bypassing Traditional Chains
The first path: Web3 digital currency payments.
This path typically tells the same story: stablecoins, on-chain settlement, programmable payments, peer-to-peer payments. Compared to traditional payments, it promises shorter paths, faster speeds, and lower costs; and it hopes to penetrate the consumer retail scene with a story of small, frequent transactions.
However, you'll find that very few digital currency payment players have survived on this path.
Figure 4: The first path: bypassing traditional chains with on-chain settlement
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Technical level: global payments settled instantly; merchant settlement to card with D1/D0 options;
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Service level: payment costs are not high under high competition, with mature local operational teams serving clients to the last mile;
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Compliance level: regulators in various jurisdictions have persistent doubts about its compliance, resulting in significant friction;
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Product level: mainstream payment platforms also focus on stablecoin payments; as soon as compliance policies are established, products can be integrated and replaced at any time.
This is also why many who started with dreams of Web3 payment entrepreneurship ultimately had to withdraw quietly.
2.2 The Second Path: Wrapping Traditional Infrastructure
This is the most traveled path in the industry: relying on partners and intermediaries to wrap a layer around the complex, outdated underlying architecture, then using better product experiences and faster marketing to drive market expansion.
The advantages of this path are also obvious: quick results, fast business expansion, rapid coverage growth, making it the natural choice for most players.
But the problem is that it primarily optimizes the front end, not rewrites the underlying layer.
Figure 5: The second path: aggregator gateways wrapping infrastructure
In fact, Stripe, the company with the fastest-growing global market value, had its acquisition of Airwallex rejected in 2019 and was rumored to acquire PayPal in 2026 (which was also reportedly rejected).
This at least illustrates one point: even an international payment giant that grew rapidly through "technology + light-asset connectivity" ultimately has to go back and learn the lesson of building infrastructure.
Often, the path that seems lighter doesn't avoid infrastructure; it merely delays it.
2.3 The Third Path: Building a Global Financial Infrastructure from Scratch
This path is the most difficult because there is almost no shortcut. It requires sustained high investment, longer cycles, and also implies heavier responsibility.
Figure 6: The third path: building global infrastructure from scratch
03 Platform's "Heaviness" for Client's "Lightness"
For example, a market that was already running smoothly might suddenly have its bank account frozen; customers who have already paid for goods may have their funds stuck halfway by a correspondent bank, unable to settle; when regulatory rules upgrade, they must submit additional materials, deposits, or processes.
These problems may not occur daily, but one occurrence is enough to disrupt a company's rhythm.
Figure 7: Platform's "heaviness" exchanged for client's "lightness"
04 What Do Clients Actually Get?
Figure 8: The real value enterprise clients need
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More stable, because businesses don't need to adapt to a new set of partnerships every time they enter a market.
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More cost-effective, not just saving on fees, but reducing a lot of duplicated system costs, communication costs, and compliance costs.
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More certain, because when market conditions change or regulatory rules tighten, clients rely not on a temporarily patched channel, but on a more complete, durable, and cycle-proof underlying capability.
This is also why Airwallex's growth logic resembles compound interest rather than explosive growth.
Figure 9: Compound interest growth brought by infrastructure investment
According to public information, Airwallex took 9 years to achieve $500 million in Annualized Recurring Revenue (ARR), but only one year to go from $500 million to $1 billion. The initial "slowness" was not inefficiency but rather accumulating underlying potential for future acceleration.
05 Final Words
Returning to the initial question, why does Airwallex build its own global financial infrastructure?
Figure 10: Underlying capability is the real watershed
For enterprise clients, choosing a global payment platform is essentially about choosing a long-term partner, a foundation that can digest complexity for you and help you operate your business more stably.
【References】
【1】Original article on Airwallex official WeChat: The Path of Maximum Resistance Is the Way Out
https://www.airwallex.com/cn/blog/the-path-of-max-resistance-the-spectrum-of-global-payments-infrastructure
【2】Original article on Airwallex official WeChat: The Last Mile of Global Payments
https://www.airwallex.com/cn/blog/the-last-mile-of-global-payments
【3】Sina Finance: Reshaping the Future of Finance
https://finance.sina.com.cn/cj/2025-10-11/doc-inftnpwr8889861.shtml
