McLaren Racing enters payments fast lane with Airwallex partnership

McLaren Racing has partnered with global financial platform Airwallex to enhance its payment operations throughout the 2024 Formula 1 season. Airwallex revealed today how its global financial technology has helped McLaren Racing streamline the team’s international transactions, offering greater efficiency and cost savings.

Previously, McLaren’s finance team manually processed 30 individual international payments, a time-consuming and inefficient approach. With Airwallex’s platform, McLaren now manages payments through a batch system, using a customised approval process. This has reduced the time required for payment runs to under an hour, saving the finance team half a day of work each month.

In addition to simplifying the payment process, McLaren has also addressed delays and fees associated with cross-border transactions. Previously, the team faced transfer times of up to five business days when paying international suppliers in US dollars, alongside high transfer fees. By leveraging Airwallex’s local payout network, 90% of transactions are now completed within hours, and 65% are processed instantly. The platform also allows McLaren to pay vendors in their local currencies, benefiting from competitive foreign exchange rates.

“At McLaren, speed and innovation are essential to our success both on and off the track,” said Laura Bowden, CFO of McLaren Racing. “Like all departments at McLaren, the finance team is mandated to look for marginal gains by consistently reviewing processes and using technology to optimise our business. By constantly monitoring spend and reporting back to the business, we can find new ways to free up funds to re-invest in our on-track efforts. We’re grateful to be partnering with Airwallex to supercharge our global financial operations.”

Jon Stona, VP and Head of Global Marketing at Airwallex, added, “We are used to seeing McLaren Racing perform on the track with speed and precision. But less visible is that off the track, it takes team effort and world-class operational efficiency to put the drivers on the podium. We’re delighted to be playing a crucial part in this as we help streamline McLaren’s financial operations globally.”

The partnership, announced in February 2024, focuses on optimising McLaren’s treasury management, cross-border payouts, and settlements. Airwallex, founded in Melbourne in 2015 and now headquartered in Singapore, continues to expand globally, having surpassed $100 billion in annual processing volume.

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