Moolenaar: Airwallex “Presents Significant National Security Risk”
Chairman John Moolenaar of the Select Committee on China has sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent about financial technology company Airwallex, and its ties to China-based entities handling sensitive U.S. financial data. The letter details Airwallex’s significant China-based employee count, links to the Chinese government, susceptibility to Chinese national security laws, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, data handling, and other concerns. The letter requests Treasury assess the risks and provide a briefing to the committee.
In the letter, Chairman Moolenaar writes:
"I write to detail information…regarding Airwallex, a cross-border payments company processing an estimated $130 billion in annualized transaction volume for thousands of American firms. Notably, Airwallex’s corporate structure creates a pathway by which sensitive U.S. financial data may be accessible to entities operating under the jurisdiction of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). I respectfully request that the Department review the information and assess whether existing regulatory authorities are triggered by Airwallex’s operations.
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The company provides cross-border payment processing, foreign exchange, and treasury management services to businesses worldwide. Its U.S. customers include firms in sectors of acute national security sensitivity—artificial intelligence, semiconductors, defense technology, cybersecurity, and financial services—many of which access Airwallex’s services indirectly through intermediary platforms such as Brex, Rippling, Deel, Navan, and Zip. U.S. customer data transiting Airwallex’s services, a company with substantial PRC-based personnel and ownership, presents significant national security risk exposure.
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The Committee wishes to emphasize that this letter is intended to be informational; it has not reached the conclusion that Airwallex has engaged in unlawful conduct. Rather, the structural concerns identified here, a payment processor with deep ties to PRC-jurisdiction entities handling sensitive U.S. financial data for companies in critical sectors, warrant the Department’s independent assessment."