Building a Global Payments Platform with Airwallex's Jack Zhang

Jan 16, 2026

Jack Zhang, Co-founder and CEO of Airwallex, shares insights from building a global payments platform valued at $5.5 billion. He discusses the persistent issues in cross-border payments, including high costs and slow transfers. Jack dives into the competitive landscape, highlighting how Airwallex positions itself against giants like Stripe. He reveals his strategy for navigating geopolitical tensions as a foreign founder in the U.S., and reflects on the importance of sustainable growth while managing public perception and recruitment challenges.

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ANECDOTE

Founding Sparked By Coffee Shop Payments Pain

Jack started Airwallex after friction sending international payments for a coffee business he ran while trading.
High SWIFT fees, slow transfers and wide FX spreads drove him to build modern cross-border infrastructure.

INSIGHT

A Global Financial Operating System

Airwallex scaled to 2,000 employees and processes close to $300B in transactions across 120+ countries.
The company built a vertically integrated financial OS combining infrastructure, software and AI to serve global businesses.

INSIGHT

Dollar Dominance Masks Global Cost Inefficiencies

U.S. businesses historically underutilize multi-currency operations because the dollar dominates.
As companies globalize, optimizing international financial operations becomes a major source of efficiency and growth.

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Jack Zhang is the co-founder and CEO of Airwallex, a global payments and financial platform valued at $5.5 billion. Founded in Melbourne, Airwallex processes billions in cross-border transactions and serves businesses expanding internationally. Jack shares his journey from starting the company to competing with giants like Stripe, navigating the complexities of global payments infrastructure, and building across multiple regulated markets.

What you'll learn:

Why cross-border payments remain broken despite decades of fintech innovation
How Airwallex competes against Stripe and other established payment platforms
The challenge of building financial infrastructure across multiple countries and regulations
Jack's perspective on fair competition versus FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) tactics in business
Why Airwallex is deploying $1 billion in the US market over the next three years
The reality of being a foreign founder building in America during geopolitical tensions
How payment infrastructure for global businesses differs from consumer fintech
The trade-offs between growth velocity and sustainable business building
Jack's philosophy on money, success, and what matters after achieving wealth at 30
Why he chose to stay in Melbourne instead of relocating to San Francisco

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Introduction to Jack Zhang and Airwallex

(02:34) Early days of Airwallex and the founding story

(05:12) The problem with cross-border payments

(08:45) Competing with Stripe and other payment platforms

(12:18) Building in regulated markets and compliance challenges

(16:23) FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) tactics in business competition

(19:13) Raj's experience with FUD at Lyft vs Uber

(22:47) Navigating geopolitical tensions as a Chinese-Australian founder

(25:36) The $1 billion US market investment commitment

(27:41) Product philosophy and fair competition

(31:15) Going upmarket vs staying with SMBs

(35:22) Life choices: Melbourne vs San Francisco

(37:49) Perspective on wealth - "not about the money"

(42:18) The future of payments infrastructure

(45:30) Advice for founders building in competitive markets