{"id":347687,"date":"2026-03-25T21:21:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T21:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/347687\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T21:21:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T21:21:08","slug":"payments-firm-airwallex-names-sir-bill-english-as-chairman-of-new-zealand-board","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/347687\/","title":{"rendered":"Payments firm Airwallex names Sir Bill English as chairman of New Zealand board"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"jcUtdRSv\" style=\"display:none\">It now supports more than 1000 New Zealand businesses and facilitates about $2.4 billion in annual payment flows for local firms, representing 240% year\u2011on\u2011year growth. <\/p>\n<p class=\"jcUtdRSv\" style=\"display:none\">The company says nearly 20% of New Zealand\u2019s digital and technology sector relies on its platform. Customers include high\u2011growth local companies such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/business\/halter-raises-377m-at-33-billion-valuation-reveals-customer-numbers\/premium\/TQQEMUA52RCFHHSJHZF4KDTLUI\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/business\/halter-raises-377m-at-33-billion-valuation-reveals-customer-numbers\/premium\/TQQEMUA52RCFHHSJHZF4KDTLUI\/\">Halter<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/business\/partly-founded-an-ex-rocket-lab-engineer-closes-largest-series-a-raise-in-nz-history\/KXWKLU3NLBFDHMW436L3FTMXDE\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/business\/partly-founded-an-ex-rocket-lab-engineer-closes-largest-series-a-raise-in-nz-history\/KXWKLU3NLBFDHMW436L3FTMXDE\/\">Partly<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/business\/deloitte-fast-50-tracksuit-named-fastest-growing-company-of-the-year\/J2CT26DVG5AVTIC6KCSW2HUK54\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/business\/deloitte-fast-50-tracksuit-named-fastest-growing-company-of-the-year\/J2CT26DVG5AVTIC6KCSW2HUK54\/\">Tracksuit<\/a>, alongside global businesses operating in New Zealand, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/nz\/from-labubus-to-robot-vacuums-afterpay-shares-new-zealands-quirkiest-buys-in-2025\/TSDE56G4ENCNTF57IQRYYAQGRA\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/nz\/from-labubus-to-robot-vacuums-afterpay-shares-new-zealands-quirkiest-buys-in-2025\/TSDE56G4ENCNTF57IQRYYAQGRA\/\">Afterpay<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/technology\/bolt-launches-in-auckland-against-uber-and-didi-promises-lower-fares-than-the-incumbent\/G7K5QS3WSZBXRAXFN43OK3JNKM\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/technology\/bolt-launches-in-auckland-against-uber-and-didi-promises-lower-fares-than-the-incumbent\/G7K5QS3WSZBXRAXFN43OK3JNKM\/\">Bolt<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"jcUtdRSv\" style=\"display:none\">Airwallex provides businesses with tools to operate globally, including the ability to open local bank accounts in more than 70 countries, manage multiple currencies, pay overseas suppliers and staff, and collect revenue in local markets. It positions itself as core financial infrastructure rather than simply a payments provider.<\/p>\n<p class=\"jcUtdRSv\" style=\"display:none\">The company is also investing in artificial intelligence, embedding AI across payments, treasury and spend management to automate routine financial processes and provide real\u2011time insights into global performance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"jcUtdRSv\" style=\"display:none\">Airwallex head of ANZ, James Teodorini, said English\u2019s appointment reflected the company\u2019s long\u2011term commitment to New Zealand. <\/p>\n<p class=\"jcUtdRSv\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cSir Bill brings an exceptional understanding of New Zealand\u2019s economy and public institutions, alongside deep experience in leadership, risk and long-term decision-making.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"jcUtdRSv\" style=\"display:none\">English said he was attracted by Airwallex\u2019s role in supporting high\u2011growth, exporting New Zealand firms and helping them compete more effectively in global markets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"jcUtdRSv\" style=\"display:none\">\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to supporting a business that is helping New Zealand companies participate more effectively in the global economy, and contributing to the long-term direction of Airwallex in New Zealand as it continues to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"jcUtdRSv\" style=\"display:none\">Globally, Airwallex serves more than 200,000 companies across North America, Europe and Asia\u2011Pacific.<\/p>\n<p>Stay ahead with the latest market moves, corporate updates, and economic insights by subscribing to our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/my-account\/profile\/newsletters\/?from=cmp\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nzherald.co.nz\/my-account\/profile\/newsletters\/?from=cmp\">Business newsletter<\/a> \u2013 your essential weekly round-up of all the business news you need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It now supports more than 1000 New Zealand businesses and facilitates about $2.4 billion in annual payment flows&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":347688,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[184846,17623,806,1135,16574,2372,37462,13982,2841,11908,246,1644,1138,2740,8559,1702,440,6722,21409,117,111,43,139,69,1118,1653,3545,415,1109,8485,74736,1961,80],"class_list":["post-347687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-airwallex","tag-appointed","tag-as","tag-australian","tag-bill","tag-board","tag-chairman","tag-continues","tag-country","tag-english","tag-finance","tag-financial","tag-firm","tag-former","tag-governance","tag-infrastructure","tag-local","tag-minister","tag-names","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-payments","tag-platform","tag-prime","tag-scale","tag-sir","tag-strengthening","tag-this","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=347687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/347687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/347688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=347687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=347687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=347687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}