Both PayPal and Airwallex offer hosted payment links without requiring your own checkout website. Choose by the ways customers can pay, where your business is eligible, and what happens to the currency after collection. A checkout that accepts a currency does not necessarily let you retain that currency without conversion.
This guide is for international sellers choosing a collection workflow. Airwallex's wider multi-currency business account can matter if you also pay suppliers abroad; a seller who only needs a paid offer and delivery may need less infrastructure.
Separate checkout from the destination of the money
PayPal Payment Links and Buttons provide hosted merchant checkout with product information. Available methods depend on the merchant account, buyer and market. This is more than a personal PayPal.Me transfer link.
Airwallex payment links sit within its payments and business-account platform. Its commercial page describes multi-currency collection and like-for-like settlement. Confirm the currencies and methods available to your legal entity and account; general global coverage is not your account's approval.
| Decision | Ask PayPal | Ask Airwallex |
|---|---|---|
| Customer payment | Which methods appear for this buyer and purchase? | Which activated methods appear on this link? |
| Currency retention | Can this receipt remain in the required currency? | Is like-for-like settlement enabled for this currency and method? |
| Payout and supplier payment | What conversion and withdrawal route applies? | Can funds be retained and used for the actual supplier payment? |
| Seller operations | What owns the order and fulfillment? | What owns the order and fulfillment? |
Airwallex also documents PayPal as a payment method. Do not assume “PayPal or Airwallex” always means mutually exclusive checkout methods. Confirm support for the specific link integration and commercial agreement.
Build a three-currency exposure worksheet
Suppose a business receives €2,000, US$1,500 and £800 in a month. It expects US$900 and £500 of supplier costs. Ignore processing fees initially to isolate the currency decision.
| Currency | Assumed receipts | Same-currency supplier costs | Balance before fees |
|---|---|---|---|
| EUR | €2,000 | €0 | €2,000 |
| USD | US$1,500 | US$900 | US$600 |
| GBP | £800 | £500 | £300 |
If the provider and account permit retaining and spending those receipts, the US$900 and £500 supplier amounts may avoid an unnecessary conversion out and back. That is a conditional workflow advantage, not a measured saving or a promise of free conversion. Never add the three currency balances without a stated exchange rate.
For each supplier quote, calculate: acceptance charges + any cross-border surcharge + required FX cost + withdrawal or transfer charges + subscription + fulfillment workload. Use the same order mix, merchant country and date. A percentage-point difference in FX cost on US$900 equals US$9 on that amount; it says nothing about the quote you will actually receive.
Use Airwallex's local pricing and PayPal's applicable local merchant agreement. Do not apply US card rates to a European wallet payment or treat an advertised starting rate as an all-in cost.
Decide who delivers the order
For a paid service, record the buyer, purchased scope, currency, payment status and delivery owner. For a file, verify that confirmed payment leads to the intended download and that a failed payment does not. These are purchase acceptance checks, not claims of a live checkout test.
Native provider links may be enough. If you need a selling layer for payment links or digital delivery, evaluate PayRequest with supported Stripe, Mollie or PayPal accounts. Airwallex is not a supported PayRequest provider; you cannot connect an Airwallex account as though it were one.
PayRequest pricing is separate from processing: Free has a 2% standard platform fee; Premium is €5/month and Business €20/month with 0% standard platform fees while active. Provider charges and commission-payment exceptions remain separate. It is a collection and selling layer, not a substitute for an international treasury account.
Create an account, connect an eligible provider and prepare one representative international offer before sharing it.
Editorial note: AI assisted this article. Primary sources were reviewed on 22 October 2026. The currency worksheet is hypothetical; no conversion savings, provider approval or checkout performance was tested or promised.
