After obtaining an electronic money institution (EMI) licence from the Bank of Lithuania, the company set up an EMEA service hub Airwallex Lithuania in Vilnius in 2022. Today, Airwallex is looking to expand its local team to support future growth in Lithuania and across the region.

Global fintech Airwallex provides financial infrastructure for businesses to accept payments and move money internationally. The company’s platform offers a streamlined and cost-efficient way to manage everything from treasury and spend to embedded finance. In Lithuania, Airwallex’s team supports small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with their global payment infrastructure needs.

“Our Lithuanian entity provides clients with best-in-class FX, ultra-fast payments across the globe, and global accounts,” says Virgilijus Mirkės, General Manager at Airwallex Lithuania.

Seeking to better support SME clients across the region, Airwallex also established a service centre for the company’s EMEA business in Lithuania in January 2022.

In Europe, SMEs can benefit from Airwallex’s five core product offerings: Payment gateways, Wallet services, FX Engine, GTPN (Global Treasury Payment Network) and Issuing. The company’s SME clients vary across a number of industries, including e-commerce, travel, logistics and others. Airwallex also has plans to further expand into the middle east later this year.

“As we continue to expand our presence in Lithuania, we will continue to announce new services and products to enable businesses of all sizes to accept, hold and convert money,” says Mr. Mirkės.

Airwallex saw impressive growth numbers over the last year, raising an additional US$100 million in 2022 and maintaining a US$5.5 billion valuation amid challenging market conditions, more than doubling its customer base globally and processing close to US$50 billion in annualized transactions. Airwallex’s EMEA businesses also recorded double-digit growth as it strengthened its position in Lithuania, the Netherlands, and the UK - markets in Europe where Airwallex currently has a presence in.

“Lithuania’s regulators are forward-thinking and have adapted legislation that encourages innovation and supports the need to further develop the Fintech sector. The Bank of Lithuania also played a huge role to support our continued growth by granting our EMI licence back in October 2021, we’ve been able to build out our service centre to support our growth ambitions in Lithuania and regionally,” Virgilijus Mirkės explains.

“As we continue to provide global payments across the world, our presence across EMEA will continue to grow, and we see Lithuania as a great place for us to build foundations that support our regional operations and is a source for motivated talent,” says Mr. Mirkės.

Airwallex will continue to strengthen its operational hub in Lithuania to ensure quality services for the company’s growing EMEA business and is looking for highly skilled, driven and knowledgeable individuals to join the company’s services-operations and customer support functions. Looking ahead, Airwallex plans to continue to expand the team in Lithuania to over 20 in the near future.

Elijus Čivilis, General Manager at Invest Lithuania, sees Airwallex as a great addition to Lithuania’s mature yet dynamic fintech scene. “Lithuania’s tech talent has helped multiple Fintechs scale up and support their operations across Europe. I am sure that Airwallex will find fertile ground for sustainable EMEA growth in Lithuania.”