Airwallex business account for your Hong Kong LLC? Follow our guide to make sure you do not trap into simple mistakes.
Introduction
Airwallex is becoming one of the most popular fintech banks after the rise of Wise and Revolut.
Especially in Hong Kong as WIse and Revolut have not yet fully started operations yet, many business owners choose Airwallex as their main business account.
We want to give you a straightforward guide on how to prevent a bad start with Airwallex and have a smooth process.
1 – Airwallex business account for HK LLC: Requirements for opening a business account
There are two types of KYC-processes when opening a business account with AirWallex for Hong Kong company:
- Personal KYC: They check the founders and stakeholders of the company
- Company KYC: They check the business nature
AirWallex for Hong Kong LLC: Personal KYC
Just like when opening the Hong Kong company, the shareholder and founder have to send in:
- a scan of their passport and
- a proof of their resident address
If it has worked out for opening the Hong Kong company, the two documents will also work out for the banks.
But please note that if you live in a sanctioned country such as Russia, Ukraine, Afghanistan etc., your application for a business business account will be rejected.
You may under some circumstances be able to open a Hong Kong company, but a business account is nearly impossible.
Important note:
Many people think because they have the nationality of a sanctioned country (e.g. Russian), they cannot open a business account.
This is false.
It is not tied to your passport. It is tied to where you live and where you conduct business (who you sell and buy from).
For example, we have helped a Russian citizen who lives in Turkey (not a sanctioned country) to open a Hong Kong company and an Airwallex account. On the other hand, we could not help a German citizen who lives in Russia (a sanctioned country) to open a business account.
If you are unsure about your own case, schedule a call with us so we can tell you whether you will be approved or not.
Airwallex for Hong Kong LLC: Business KYC
Once the shareholder and founder have been verified, the next step will be verifying the nature of the business. AirWallex wants to make sure that the business account is not used for unprofessional transactions (gambling etc.).
You need four documents:
- Certificate of Incorporation
- Business Registration Certificate
- Company Constitution / Articles of Association
- Proof of business nature
The first three documents you have received upon opening a Hong Kong company.
The last one (proof of business nature) needs a bit more explanation. Here are two cases to note for this:
Case 1: Your business exists already.
If you have an existing company for this business in a different country, then Airwallex asks for the bank statements (transaction records) for the last 3 months.
Here, they will check the following points:
- Have you purchased products or services from a sanctioned country in the last 3 months
- Have you paid someone living in a sanctioned country in the last 3 months
- Does your records not show any adultery or gambling purchases
Please make sure that none of these apply to you!
If any of the above points are true, Airwallex will not proceed to open an account for you.
We will check all the requirements with you during our consultation session to guarantee that they open an account for you.
Case 2: Your business is new.
If your business is new, they expect a business plan.
This is simply a fancy term for a
- website or
- social media profile.
I recommend to all my clients to have a website (even if it is just for this purpose).
I will then check your websites to see that it does not contain any red flags for Airwallex to reject you during a consultation call.
Note:
We do not recommend lying to Airwallex. They regularly do checks and if they find out later, your account may be closed.
Source:
Read more about Airwallex KYC process for Hong Kong businesses on their official website.
Further reading:
Read more about how you can easily open a bank account with any bank from anywhere as a non-resident company owner in Hong Kong.
2 – Airwallex for Hong Kong LLC: The process
Opening a business account with Airwallex Hong Kong is
- remote: No need for you to come to Hong Kong in person
- fast: It takes 30 minutes with self-authentication via mobile app
- 24/7: No need to talk to anyone
Generally, after a few days, an Airwallex team member will then contact you for the approval of your bank opening.
As we have many clients, Airwallex has a dedicated account manager for all of our clients.
This means that if you come through our referral your account will be opened faster and with fewer questions as they trust us as CPAs having already done a good KYC-process.
In case you like to use our referral and network with Airwallex, book a consultation with our CEO to discuss further steps.
Further reading:
Read more about how to choose the right partner to open a business account in Hong Kong for you.
4 – Airwallex for Hong Kong LLC: Review
When talking to our customers, most are very happy with Airwallex.
They have listed the following advantages that they like:
- fast customer support
- a dedicated account manager who is in touch from business account opening and during operations
- a user-friendly mobile and desktop app
- ability to receive money in multiple currencies and also store the money there long-term
- receiving an account number from different countries such as Germany, Netherlands, US or Australia: Your client would not even know it is a Hong Kong-based company.
For example, this would mean you can receive an IBAN number such as “DExxxx” if you choose EURO as a currency based in Germany.
Other benefits compared to other business accounts is:
- the low-fee transaction costs
- providing a payment gateway in different currencies (PayPal only offers USD and HKD)
5 – Airwallex Hong Kong LLC: Security of funds
Just like other Fintech companies, Airwallex is backed up by other big traditional banks for each global account.
For example, for the HKD account, Airwallex is backed up by DBS Hong Kong and therefore also enjoys the same security funds.
This means the money itself is never held by Airwallex, but instead by DBS Hong Kong.
This also means an insolvency of Airwallex will not affect you as a business owner.
An insolvency of DBS can only impact you, but in the history of Hong Kong no bank has ever filed for bankruptcy.
6 – Airwallex Hong Kong LLC: Reasons for Rejection
It does not happen often that Airwallex rejects an application, but we have seen rare cases when it happened.
Here are the most common cases why it can happen:
Reason 1: Information mismatch
Your business description does not match your business certificate or website description.
For example, you have answered the online form of Airwallex that you have a SaaS business and then when looking at your business license or website, they find out you are selling consultations.
This would be regarded as not the same business model and would probably be rejected by the staff.
Reason 2: Unfavorable business models
If you are in a niche that is not well-regarded by banks such as gambling, the banks may declare this as not a professional business model.
This does not mean that it will not get through 100%. It simply means that it may have a harder time to do so.
In case you want to be sure whether it goes through, book a call with us and we can tell you in advance as we are in touch with partners at different banks.
Reason 3: Over-complication
Some business owners are very deep into their own business model and they write a very long description about their business.
Remember: The bank staff does not understand all business models and such details are also not required.
For example, you do not need to go into depth saying SEO or Google Ads Marketing Consultation. Simply say consultation or service and no need to be specific.
But: Make sure that your website has a good description of your business model and what you are doing. Write it the same way as you would be selling to your customer. That is more than enough.
Pro Tip:
It goes a long way if you have a referral from a trusted partner when applying to a bank such as Airwallex, and even more so when applying for traditional banks such as HSBC.
A trusted partner is usually in the more conservative branches such as insurance companies, banks, tax accountants, and lawyers.
We, as a CPA and tax accountant firm, have strong ties to many banks in Hong Kong and we always send our customers a dedicated staff member of the bank who knows us personally.
If you want to know how this works in detail, book a call with us and we explain the process in more detail to you.
Reason 4: Business with sanctioned countries
If they find out that you do business with sanctioned countries (Russia, Ukraine, Afghanistan etc.), they will also reject your application.
They will look at your former transaction history (if your business existed) or look at your website or social media profile.
If you work with us, we will do those checks prior to them for you so you can change things accordingly and don’t have to worry about a rejection. Book a call with our legal experts to understand how we make sure about it.
7 – Airwallex for Hong Kong LLC: Payment processor
Airwallex is not just bank where your clients can send you money through bank transfer, but you can also use them as a payment processor for:
- an online or e-commerce store
- a payment link for your customer to pay
It is very similar to Stripe and you can integrate different payment options (Credit Cards etc.) into it.
But:
Airwallex does not provide the payment processor by default.
This means that you first apply for a business account with Airwallex.
Once this has been approved, you then further apply for using the payment processor. It is a second application within the app.
Obviously, the second one is easier, but for some reason Airwallex does not want to make it available by default.
The advantages versus Stripe and PayPal:
In case you are not forced to use Stripe or PayPal, using Airwallex in Hong Kong has a very strong advantage against the other two platforms.
When you receive money from PayPal Hong Kong in different currencies, then for receiving that money into your business account PayPal forces you to convert the money into Hong Kong Dollars with the PayPal currency exchange.
This could be a potential loss for you with currency exchange rates.
Stripe is a little bit better by also allowing US Dollars, but it would be the same problem if you receive Euros or Singaporean dollars.
On the other hand:
Airwallex allows you to receive and keep money in the business account with any currency they offer.
As you can open new business accounts with currencies.
This comes free of charge.
Most foreign Hong Kong business owners still use Stripe, but that happens mostly due to lack of knowledge.
PayPal is being used due to the high demand in e-commerce shops as a way of payment, but through Airwallex you can also access PayPal.
8 – Can we also have IBAN numbers from Europe when opening a business account with Airwallex?
Yes.
You can even have IBAN numbers from multiple countries such as the Netherlands or Germany.
Airwallex works with local banks in those countries in order to provide those numbers to you.
FAQ – What other customers have asked
1 – Can I receive money from different currencies with Airwallex?
Yes, you can receive in all common currencies from around the world. Here are some examples that our customers use:
- USD
- Euro
- Singaporean Dollars
- Australian Dollars
- Hong Kong Dollars
- etc.
The best part is that for every currency you will get a national account number.
This means for USD you will have an American account number for your clients to send money to.
For your Euro account you will have an IBAN from either Germany or the Netherlands.
2 – Can I have an IBAN with Airwallex Hong Kong for my European clients?
Yes, you can even choose from which European country the IBAN should be from such as the Netherlands or Germany.
3 – Can I have a digital credit or debit card for my business account?
You can have a digital credit card for online purchases – that is no problem at all.
4 – Does Airwallex have a mobile application?
Yes, both a mobile and a desktop application which has a very similar interface to other fintech banks such as WIse or Revolut.
5 – What documents do I need to open an Airwallex account?
You need the following documents:
- Company information
- Certificate of Incorporation
- Business Registration Certificate
- Company Constitution / Articles of Association
- Personal Shareholder information:
- Passport/ID scan
- Proof of address (utility bill, bank statement – last 3 months)
- Business details and nature:
- Transaction records (of another business account from former company)
- Website (if new business)
