Australia’s
financial intelligence agency has ordered Airwallex to hire an external auditor
to examine its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing
compliance, citing concerns that the payment platform’s transaction monitoring
systems haven’t kept pace with its risk profile.

Airwallex Faces Regulatory
Audit as AUSTRAC Raises Compliance Concerns

AUSTRAC,
the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, instructed the company today
(Thursday) to appoint an auditor who will investigate whether Airwallex has
violated multiple sections of the country’s AML/CTF Act.

The agency
suspects the company failed to properly monitor transactions, identify
customers, report suspicious activity, and maintain adequate compliance
oversight from January 2024 through this month.

Bradley
Brown, AUSTRAC’s National Manager of Regulatory Operations, signed the
enforcement notice requiring Airwallex to engage an auditor within 14 days and
submit findings within 180 days. The company will pay for the audit.

Transaction Monitoring
Under Scrutiny

AUSTRAC’s
notice questions whether Airwallex’s transaction monitoring program has been
properly calibrated to detect the range of financial crimes that could flow
through its platform. The audit will examine the company’s ability to identify
activity linked to fraud, scams, illicit tobacco, drug trafficking, and child
sexual exploitation payments.

“As a
global payment platform that facilitates the transfer of funds to multiple
jurisdictions, AUSTRAC is concerned with Airwallex’s transaction monitoring
program has not been attuned to the full range of risks it faces and that the
company hasn’t demonstrated an acceptable understanding of who its customers
are and what reporting may be required,” AUSTRAC Chief Executive Officer
Brendan Thomas said.

The agency
also raised questions about how effectively Airwallex identifies and reports
suspicious matters, and whether senior management provides adequate oversight
of these obligations.

Airwallex
has faced
regulatory scrutiny before, though the company has continued its expansion into new markets and
product lines.

Timing Raises Questions

The
enforcement action lands awkwardly for Airwallex. Just one day before AUSTRAC’s
announcement, the company revealed it had acquired Paynuri, a South Korean
entity holding payment gateway, prepaid electronic payment, and foreign
exchange licenses. The deal positions Airwallex to serve Korean businesses
expanding internationally while helping global companies operate in Korea’s
market.

Arnold
Chan, Airwallex’s General Manager for APAC, called the Korean acquisition
“a pivotal milestone” in a statement on Tuesday. The company said it
plans to hire 20 employees in Korea by year-end and launch global business
accounts and payment acquiring services there in 2026.

Airwallex
recently closed a Series G funding round that valued the company at $8 billion,
about 30% higher than its previous valuation. The company reported $1.2 billion
in annualized revenue and $266 billion in annualized transaction volume as of
December 2025. In the Asia-Pacific region, revenue grew 85% year-on-year while
transaction volume increased 71% in 2025.

Broader Enforcement
Pattern

The
Airwallex audit follows other enforcement actions in Australia’s fintech
sector. AUSTRAC fined Revolut
Australia $123,000 in
September 2025 for delayed compliance reporting, though the agency noted
Revolut had self-reported the violations and cooperated with regulators.

The audit
results will help AUSTRAC determine whether additional regulatory action
against Airwallex is warranted.

The company
has been expanding aggressively, recently acquiring San
Francisco-based billing startup OpenPay to compete with Stripe Billing and
Recurly, and securing a Dutch MiFID
license to
launch money market investments in Europe.

The company
also signed a
sponsorship deal with Arsenal FC following its latest funding round.

This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.

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