Alright, so I dove deep into comparing Airwallex and Brex, specifically looking at their rewards programs and those annoying ad limits. I figured a lot of folks in the startup and small business scene are wrestling with which one to pick, especially when managing online ad spend.
The Starting Line: Why I Bothered
I’ve been running my small consulting gig for a while now, and credit card rewards have always felt like free money, especially when I’m dumping a significant amount into Google and Meta ads every month. My old bank’s card was pathetic, giving me 1% back on everything. I knew there had to be something better tailored for modern businesses.
I started with Brex because they were the big name everyone talked about a couple of years ago. Signing up was smooth, really fast approval. They sold themselves hard on the whole “credit limit based on your cash flow, not your personal credit score” thing, which sounded fantastic for a growing business.
Diving into Brex: The Reality Check
Initially, Brex felt great. Their rewards structure was a bit complex, but you could get boosted points on specific categories like software, travel, and, crucially, recurring payments. For ad spending, they offered different tiers. If you used their Brex Cash account, you got better points. I started seeing decent returns, maybe around 2x points on certain ad spend, if I jumped through the right hoops.
The Ad Limit Snag: This is where I started to get annoyed. While the credit limit was high, managing multiple ad accounts became a pain. They didn’t explicitly limit how many cards you could issue, which was good, but the control and integration into my accounting software felt clunky. And their rewards structure kept shifting. What was 2x points one month felt like 1x the next because the categories changed or my monthly spending habits shifted the multiplier.
I ran Brex for about six months, stacking up points and redeeming them for travel mostly. It was fine, but I kept hearing about Airwallex offering better benefits for international spending and digital platforms.
The Airwallex Shift: A Focused Approach
I decided to open an Airwallex account primarily because I occasionally deal with international suppliers and run ads targeting other regions, paying in local currency. The promise of better FX rates and zero foreign transaction fees was a big draw. Setting up the account was slightly more involved than Brex, but still quick.
Comparing Rewards: Ad Spend Focus
This is where Airwallex started winning for me. Their rewards structure, while maybe less broad than Brex’s extensive list of perks (like software discounts), was intensely focused on core business operational expenses. For ad spend on platforms like Meta and Google, I consistently saw better rewards—often flat 3% cashback on eligible spend for the first few months, which was unbeatable compared to Brex’s fluctuating point system.
I didn’t have to chase specific point multipliers or worry about linking it to a separate cash account to get the premium rate. It was a straightforward cashback offer, which is exactly what I wanted—simplicity and high returns on my largest expense category.
Solving the Ad Limits Problem
Airwallex was also superior in managing virtual cards for ad accounts. I could spin up new virtual cards instantly, assign specific spending limits to each one, and link them directly to individual ad campaigns or agencies. This granular control was way better for risk management and budgeting.
- I set one card for my main Google search account, capped at $5,000/month.
- Another card went to a new agency running some test Meta ads, capped aggressively at $1,000.
Brex could do this too, but Airwallex’s interface for managing these virtual cards, and crucially, integrating the spending data back into QuickBooks, felt much cleaner. I wasn’t fighting the system to figure out which card was linked to which campaign.
The Verdict After Testing Both
I ran both concurrently for about three months, putting my digital ad spend almost exclusively on Airwallex and keeping secondary business expenses (like utilities and recurring software) on Brex to drain the remaining credit and test the final rewards.
If your primary goal is maximizing cashback on substantial, consistent ad spend (Google/Meta/etc.) and gaining extremely easy control over numerous virtual cards for different ad campaigns, Airwallex is the clear winner. The simple, high cashback percentage on those categories beats Brex’s complicated points system, especially if you spend internationally.
Brex still holds value, especially if your business is heavily focused on software subscriptions or if you highly value their extensive partner perks library. But for me, someone who just wants the best return on my ad dollars with minimal fuss and better card management, I’ve shifted 90% of my operations to Airwallex. It simply gave me more cash back, less headache, and superior virtual card controls for managing my many, many ad accounts.