Solidgate and Airwallex Partner to Deliver Local Acquiring for Global Merchants

Solidgate and Airwallex have partnered to integrate local acquiring capabilities directly into Solidgate’s payment orchestration platform. For fintech professionals, this eliminates the need for separate integrations and KYB processes when entering new territories, allowing merchants to leverage Airwallex’s extensive global licensing to improve authorization rates and reduce the costs associated with cross-border transaction processing.

What was announced

The partnership brings Airwallex’s global financial infrastructure into the Solidgate orchestration layer. This allows merchants using Solidgate to access Airwallex’s local card acquiring and alternative payment methods (APMs) without additional technical overhead. The primary focus is on subscription-based and cross-border businesses that often suffer from lower authorization rates when routing transactions through infrastructure outside their target markets.

By utilizing Airwallex’s 85+ financial licenses and regulatory registrations across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, Solidgate users can transition from cross-border processing to "onshore" volume. This shift typically results in higher success rates for recurring billing and one-off payments. For many businesses, closing the gap between cross-border and local processing has historically required a separate contract and a new Know Your Business (KYB) process for every region; this partnership aims to remove those friction points.

Solidgate’s platform already connects merchants to over 100 acquirers, payment service providers, and alternative payment methods. The addition of the Airwallex connector provides a streamlined path for businesses to scale into new geographies through a single integration. The service is available immediately for merchants who hold an existing contract with Airwallex, who can enable the connector through their account managers. For new users, the partnership offers a unified setup for smart routing, chargeback management, and full subscription billing support across a global footprint.

"Airwallex holds 85+ financial licenses and regulatory registrations across the globe – that kind of comprehensive global footprint is exactly what lets merchants bring meaningful volume onshore in each market instead of processing cross-border. Through Solidgate's orchestration layer, our merchants get that coverage instantly, with no extra integration work on their side."

Max Botyk, VP, Strategic Partnerships & New Markets, Solidgate

The companies involved

Airwallex is a global financial operating system founded in Melbourne in 2015. Now co-headquartered in San Francisco and Singapore, the company has grown to employ over 2,300 people across 27 international offices. It positions itself as an AI-native platform designed for the modern real-time economy, serving more than 675,000 businesses globally. Its core infrastructure supports a wide range of financial products, including global accounts, corporate cards, spend management, and payment acceptance. The company holds one of the most comprehensive financial infrastructures in the world, serving both startups and large multinationals.

Solidgate operates as a payment orchestration platform designed to simplify the complexities of global payment processing. By providing a single integration point, Solidgate enables businesses to manage multiple acquirers and payment methods while utilizing built-in tools for intelligent routing and automated billing. The company focuses on reducing operational overhead for merchants as they scale, particularly in the subscription and e-commerce sectors. With a network of over 100 partners, Solidgate has established itself as a key player for businesses looking to optimize their payment stacks without building bespoke infrastructure for every new market they enter.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has closely followed the expansion of both companies as they solidify their positions in the global payments ecosystem. We recently reported on an Airwallex Study: Payment Friction Costs UK Economy £10.5bn and Stalls Global Expansion, highlighting the significant barriers merchants face when attempting to grow internationally. This was followed by news that Airwallex Secures $320M to Scale AI-Native Autonomous Finance Infrastructure, a move that bolstered its capacity to provide the regulated backbone seen in this latest partnership.

Solidgate has also been active in expanding its ecosystem, as seen when Solidgate and Klarna Partner to Scale Flexible Payments Across Europe. Additionally, Airwallex’s brand presence has reached beyond the tech sector, notably when Airwallex Teams Up with Arsenal FC for Major Global Payments Ad Campaign to increase its visibility among global enterprises.

What this means

This partnership underscores a critical shift in the payment orchestration market: the move from simple connectivity to deep, localized infrastructure. For too long, "global" payment solutions were often just wrappers for cross-border transactions that carried high fees and low authorization rates. By embedding Airwallex’s local licenses into an orchestration layer, the industry is seeing a commoditization of local presence. This puts significant pressure on traditional legacy banks and single-market acquirers who cannot match the speed or technical flexibility of an AI-native stack. The question now is whether merchants will continue to value individual banking relationships when orchestration platforms can offer instant global scale through a single API.