Airwallex for an Estonian Company: How to Open and Use an Account

Airwallex is a payments platform, founded in Australia, for businesses that pay and get paid across borders. For an Estonian company with clients in the US or the UK, suppliers in Asia or an online shop that takes card payments, it is worth a look.

Below we go through what the account gives a private limited company (OÜ), how to apply and what Airwallex costs. We also cover its limits, including how the money fits into your company’s accounting.

Can an Estonian Company Open an Airwallex Account?

Airwallex accepts businesses by their country of registration, and Estonia is on its list of supported countries. It serves Estonian companies through AWX Lithuania, UAB, which holds an electronic money institution licence from the Bank of Lithuania that is valid across the European Economic Area (EEA).

Eligibility depends mainly on the company. It must be registered and active, work in a supported industry and pass sanctions screening. Airwallex’s eligibility page sets no residency requirement for owners or directors, so an e-resident living outside the EU can apply. Adult content, weapons, multi-level marketing and gambling or financial services offered without the required licence are among the unsupported industries. Meeting all of these conditions still does not guarantee approval, because every application also goes through a risk review.

What an Airwallex Business Account Gives Your OÜ

The core of the account is a set of Global Accounts, which are local account details in more than 20 currencies. The euro account comes with an IBAN for SEPA transfers, the standard way to send euros within Europe, but it does not receive SWIFT payments from abroad. Airwallex lists Estonia among the countries where it issues euro account details, and some e-residents have reported receiving an Estonian IBAN, though Airwallex does not promise a particular country code. You can add US dollar details, which let an American client pay your company by ACH, the ordinary domestic bank transfer in the US, rather than by an international wire. Pound details do the same for clients in the UK.

Money stays in the currency it arrived in until you convert it at a fixed margin above the interbank rate, the wholesale rate at which banks exchange currencies. Airwallex sends local transfers to more than 120 countries, so a supplier in Australia or Singapore receives a domestic payment rather than an international SWIFT transfer with fees deducted on the way.

The account includes virtual company cards and virtual or physical employee cards that work with Apple Pay and Google Pay. You can also accept card payments through payment links or online shop plugins, track expenses, pay supplier bills and connect the account to Xero or QuickBooks.

Airwallex is strongest where money crosses currencies and borders:

If Airwallex does not fit, our overview of payment accounts for Estonian companies and our guides to Wise Business and Revolut Business cover the alternatives.

How to Apply for an Airwallex Account

You apply online once the company is in the Estonian Commercial Register, whether it was formed with e-Residency or through a notary.

1. Sign up on the Airwallex website with a business email address and choose Estonia as your country of registration.
2. Enter the company details exactly as they appear in the Commercial Register: name, registry code, registered address and date of registration.
3. Describe what the company does, where its clients are and how much money you expect to move through the account, and make sure your website shows the same business.
4. Name the company’s beneficial owners, the people who own or control it, and the person who will manage the account, then complete the identity check with a live selfie.
5. Upload the company documents and answer any follow-up questions before the deadline Airwallex sets.

Documents Airwallex Asks For

Airwallex’s verification guide for Europe asks a private limited company for its articles of association and either a certificate of incorporation or a register extract. It also needs a photo ID and residential address for the applicant and every beneficial owner. An applicant who is not a director, called a board member in Estonia, must add an authorisation letter from the company.

An Estonian company has no certificate of incorporation to upload. Its equivalent is the registry card, which you can download free of charge and in English from the e-Business Register. If Airwallex also asks for a signed document in English listing the board members and shareholders, a certificate of incumbency issued by a licensed corporate service provider can serve that purpose. A newly registered company may be asked for invoices, contracts or a business plan as well.

How Long It Takes and Why Applications Are Declined

Applications are usually processed within 1 to 3 business days once Airwallex has everything it asked for. Missing the deadline for follow-up questions is one of the reasons Airwallex gives for declining an application.

A refusal can come without an explanation, since Airwallex may not disclose the details of a decision that follows an internal review. You can reapply once something about the company has changed, such as a new website, a clearer business model or a longer trading history.

Airwallex Fees for an Estonian Company

You pay a monthly plan fee plus fees on some transactions, and eligible customers get the first month of Explore or Grow free. These are the main figures from Airwallex’s EU pricing page, before VAT:

If you are paid in dollars or pounds and convert them to euros, the conversion margin is often your largest cost: converting $10,000 at a 0.5% margin costs about $50. Compare that with what your other providers charge.

Is Airwallex Safe, and Can It Be Your Only Account?

Airwallex is a regulated e-money institution, not a bank. Client money is safeguarded, meaning it is kept apart from Airwallex’s own funds, and if Airwallex fails, customers are repaid ahead of its other creditors. Because the balance is not a bank deposit, no deposit guarantee scheme covers it, which is the usual position for e-money institutions.

Estonian law does not require a company to bank in Estonia. From the euro account you can pay suppliers, salaries and Estonian taxes by SEPA transfer, so a company can technically run on Airwallex alone. We would still keep a second account elsewhere, because any provider can pause an account for a review and hold payments until it gets the documents it wants. A second account keeps salaries and taxes moving in the meantime. If an account is closed altogether, our guide on what to do when a bank closes your company’s account covers the next steps.

Accounting and Taking Money Out of Your OÜ

Whatever sits on the Airwallex account is the company’s money. Paying for something private with the company card or moving funds to your personal account takes money out of the OÜ. The proper routes are a board member fee, a salary or a dividend, each with its own tax rules, and anything else is taxed as a non-business expense or a fringe benefit. An OÜ may not lend money to its board members or to shareholders holding more than 5%, as our article on shareholder loans explains.

Your accountant will need the monthly Airwallex statements for every currency you hold, so that each conversion, card payment and fee goes into the books at the right exchange rate.

Setting Up an Estonian Company That Works Across Currencies

If you do not have an Estonian company yet, we handle company formation for e-residents and other founders abroad. We also issue the corporate documents that payment providers may request, certificates of incumbency among them. Once the company is trading, our accounting team can keep its books, even when it pays and gets paid in several currencies.

Whether you are planning an Estonian company or preparing an Airwallex application for one you already run, tell us briefly what your business does. We will let you know which documents to have ready.

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