Accounting · head to head
Airwallex vs SAP Concur

Airwallex
Accounting
Multi currency business accounts, international payments and card issuing from a licensed payments firm rather than a bank
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -

SAP Concur
Accounting
Enterprise travel booking, expense claims and supplier invoice processing sold as separate modules
- From
- $29/month
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Airwallex has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Airwallex airwallex is a licensed payments firm rather than a bank, so balances sit in safeguarding accounts at partner banks and are not covered by deposit guarantee schemes, which means a treasury policy that requires insured deposits cannot hold operating cash there.; SAP Concur implementation is done through SAP or a partner and commonly costs a substantial multiple of the first year subscription, because the value sits entirely in the configured policy, approval hierarchy and ledger mapping rather than in the software as shipped.
- They diverge on capability: Airwallex covers Multi currency balances, SAP Concur covers Expense capture.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Airwallex and SAP Concur actually diverge.
| Attribute | Airwallex | SAP Concur |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | $29/month |
| Pricing model | freemium | subscription |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Platforms | Web | Web, Ios, Android |
| Founded | Unknown | 1993 |
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Accounting).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Airwallex
- Multi currency balances
- Local receiving accounts
- Foreign exchange conversion
- International payouts
- Card issuing
- Expense management
- Bill pay
- Payments gateway
Only in SAP Concur
- Expense capture
- Corporate card feeds
- Policy engine
- Approval routing
- Travel booking
- Travel agency integration
- Duty of care
- Invoice capture
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Airwallex
- An exporter invoicing customers in United States dollars and euros who wants to be paid into local details rather than receive wires with correspondent deductionsnot SAP Concur
- An agency or software company paying contractors across several countries every month and losing money on bank foreign exchange spreadsnot SAP Concur
- An e-commerce seller collecting on multiple marketplaces in different currencies who wants to hold rather than convert on every settlementnot SAP Concur
- A startup that needs virtual cards with per subscription limits and cannot get a workable card programme from its local banknot SAP Concur
SAP Concur
- A multinational with thousands of travellers where an audit committee has asked for evidence that travel policy is actually enforcednot Airwallex
- An organisation replacing spreadsheet expense claims and email approvals that cannot survive an external auditnot Airwallex
- A finance team trying to eliminate duplicate claims by matching corporate card feeds against submitted receiptsnot Airwallex
- A shared service centre processing high volumes of supplier invoices that needs capture and approval routing before postingnot Airwallex
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Airwallex
- Airwallex is a licensed payments firm rather than a bank, so balances sit in safeguarding accounts at partner banks and are not covered by deposit guarantee schemes, which means a treasury policy that requires insured deposits cannot hold operating cash there.
- Available currencies, local account details, card programmes and product features differ by the entity you contract with, so a feature demonstrated to a customer in Australia or Singapore may simply not exist for the same company registered in another country.
- Onboarding is subject to compliance review and whole categories of business are declined or later offboarded, and because the account may hold operating cash, a compliance freeze during a review is a business interruption rather than an inconvenience.
- Foreign exchange is quoted as interbank plus a markup, which is cheaper than a high street bank but is still a spread that widens on less liquid pairs and on smaller amounts, so the saving assumed in the business case should be checked against the pairs you actually trade.
- Support is largely ticket and chat based with account management reserved for larger customers, so when a payment is stuck the resolution path is a queue rather than a named person, which is a poor fit for time critical settlement.
SAP Concur
- Implementation is done through SAP or a partner and commonly costs a substantial multiple of the first year subscription, because the value sits entirely in the configured policy, approval hierarchy and ledger mapping rather than in the software as shipped.
- Pricing is driven by transaction volume, expense reports and invoices processed, rather than by seats, so a business with seasonal travel or a growth year sees the bill move in ways headcount based budgeting does not predict.
- The configuration that makes it valuable is also what makes it rigid, and organisations frequently find that changing an approval chain or adding a cost centre dimension requires a partner change order rather than an administrator's afternoon.
- Contracts are typically multi year with limited exit, so an organisation that concludes after twelve months that a lighter expense tool would have been enough is still paying for the heavier one for the remainder of the term.
- The three modules are licensed separately and the strongest case for the product depends on having travel, expense and card feeds together, so buying expense alone gives you a costly receipt system without the control loop that justifies the price.
Pricing, plan by plan
Airwallex
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the Airwallex review.
SAP Concur
$29/month- Professional$8/month
- Expense reporting
- Receipt capture
- Approvals
- Premium$12/month
- Travel booking
- Invoice management
- Analytics
Which should you pick?
Choose Airwallex if
- You need multi currency balances.
- You want to start without paying.
- You also want local receiving accounts.
Choose SAP Concur if
- You need expense capture.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want corporate card feeds.
Questions people ask
- Is Airwallex or SAP Concur better?
- Neither clearly leads. Airwallex starts at Free and SAP Concur at $29/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Airwallex or SAP Concur?
- Airwallex has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Airwallex and $29/month for SAP Concur.
- Does Airwallex or SAP Concur run on more platforms?
- Airwallex runs on Web. SAP Concur runs on Web, Ios, Android.
- Can I use Airwallex for free?
- Yes. Airwallex has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. SAP Concur starts at $29/month.
- What is Airwallex best used for?
- Airwallex is most often used for an exporter invoicing customers in united states dollars and euros who wants to be paid into local details rather than receive wires with correspondent deductions, an agency or software company paying contractors across several countries every month and losing money on bank foreign exchange spreads, an e-commerce seller collecting on multiple marketplaces in different currencies who wants to hold rather than convert on every settlement, a startup that needs virtual cards with per subscription limits and cannot get a workable card programme from its local bank. Of those, an exporter invoicing customers in united states dollars and euros who wants to be paid into local details rather than receive wires with correspondent deductions and an agency or software company paying contractors across several countries every month and losing money on bank foreign exchange spreads are not what SAP Concur is typically brought in for.
- What can Airwallex do that SAP Concur cannot?
- Airwallex covers Multi currency balances, Local receiving accounts, Foreign exchange conversion, International payouts. SAP Concur covers Expense capture, Corporate card feeds, Policy engine, Approval routing.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Airwallex: Is Airwallex a bank?
No. It holds payment institution, electronic money or equivalent licences in the markets it serves. Funds are safeguarded at partner banks rather than being deposits, and deposit insurance schemes do not apply.
SAP Concur: Do we need SAP ERP to use Concur?
No. It integrates with SAP systems particularly well but it is regularly deployed alongside Oracle, NetSuite, Workday and other ledgers. The integration work is a line item in the implementation either way.
Airwallex: Can it replace my business bank account?
For many operating flows it can, but consider what you lose: no deposit protection, no lending relationship, no cash or cheque handling, and some counterparties and government bodies still expect a conventional bank account. Most users run it alongside a bank rather than instead of one.
SAP Concur: Is it worth it for a company of a hundred people?
Usually not. Below a few hundred travellers the implementation cost and the contract commitment are hard to justify against lighter expense tools. The case turns on policy enforcement and audit, not on receipt scanning.
Airwallex: Which countries can open an account?
It serves entities registered in a defined list of markets across Asia Pacific, Europe, the United Kingdom, the Middle East and North America, and the list changes. Check for your specific country of incorporation, because the answer determines both eligibility and feature set.
SAP Concur: How is it priced?
Broadly on the volume of expense reports and invoices processed, with the modules licensed separately. Because pricing is quoted rather than published, get the volume assumptions written into the contract and check what happens when you exceed them.
Airwallex: Does it connect to my accounting software?
It integrates with the mainstream cloud ledgers so transactions feed through rather than being imported by hand. Confirm the integration covers all the currencies you hold, since multi currency handling in the ledger is a separate question.
SAP Concur: Can it handle multiple countries and currencies?
Yes, that is one of its stronger areas, including per country tax treatment and VAT reclaim identification. Confirm coverage for your specific countries during the sales process rather than assuming global means every jurisdiction.
Airwallex: How does the foreign exchange rate compare with a bank?
Materially better than a typical business bank's retail rate on major pairs, because it is quoted as interbank plus a stated markup. The gap narrows on thin currency pairs and small amounts, so test with your real volumes.
SAP Concur: How long does implementation take?
Plan in months, not weeks, for anything beyond a single entity with simple approvals. Multi entity rollouts with travel and invoice modules commonly run across a year in phases.
Airwallex: Are the cards accepted everywhere?
They are issued on the major networks and behave like ordinary company cards for most spend. Some merchants, particularly for deposits and car hire, treat prepaid style issuance differently, so do not assume parity with a bank credit card.
SAP Concur: What does the audit service actually do?
It has a team review a sample or all of your submitted claims against receipts and policy before approval, which some organisations use in place of internal reviewers. It is priced separately from the expense subscription.
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