The collaboration, announced Thursday (July 23) is designed to modernize the way businesses in these sectors manage payments working capital and cross-border commerce.
“Freight and shipping are fundamental to the global economy, yet many businesses continue to operate with payment processes that are fragmented, manual and inefficient,” Alessandro Figueroa, head of new verticals and partnerships for Visa Commercial Solutions in Europe, said in a news release.
“As digital freight platforms continue to scale, there is a growing need for financial solutions that can be embedded seamlessly into existing workflows without creating additional complexity. By combining Visa’s commercial payments expertise with Airwallex’s technology platform, we’re helping bring new solutions to market quickly, enabling platforms to simplify payments, improve working capital and deliver greater value to the businesses they serve.”
According to the release, the partnership will focus on solutions built for the “realities of freight and shipping,” with the goal of letting platforms embed payment and financial capabilities into freight workflows, helping customers access working capital and move funds more efficiently.
“Cash sitting in limbo while payments clear across borders is capital that should be funding the next shipment, not stuck in transit,” said Christos Chamberlain, general manager for U.K. and Europe at Airwallex.
“Reputations are built on reliability – can you get the container there, on time, every time. Payments need to work the same way.”
The partnership is happening as many businesses are increasing their investment in embedded finance solutions, according to the recent PYMNTS Intelligence and Green Dot collaboration “The Embedded Finance Scale Factor: How Firm Size Shapes Strategy, Technology and Partnership Decisions.”
The decision to invest, however, is increasingly determined by size, with nearly 79% of companies with annual revenue between $250 million and $1 billion — middle market firms — saying they planned to upgrade their embedded finance capabilities in the next 12 months.
That’s compared to the 63% of businesses generating more than $1 billion in yearly revenue who expect to make similar upgrades.
“That enthusiasm reflects a broader reality,” PYMNTS wrote last month. “Many middle market firms have moved beyond experimenting with embedded payments and lending tools but have not yet reached the scale where operating models, governance structures and technology strategies are fully settled. As a result, they face difficult decisions about whether to continue building capabilities internally or consolidate around outside partners.”
