October 2025

Weelhouse Wire - October 2025

OCTOBER 2025

Weelhouse Wire

Your monthly roundup from Weel HQ

Abstract illustration of two hands holding credit cards

Welcome to the October edition of the Weelhouse Wire, your monthly download from the Weel HQ!

Lately, we've noticed something across the businesses we work with: international spend is showing up everywhere. What used to be the occasional invoice to a global supplier is now recurring payments for SaaS, cloud infrastructure, and overseas teams quietly becoming part of day-to-day finance.

In this edition, we're sharing what we've learned about how finance teams are adapting to the pace of global operations and what tools they're using to stay in control.

Here's what's inside:

Media Watch: 10 ANZ headlines making the buzz at Weel HQ
Finance Benchmarks: Cross-border payments hit USD $190T, what does that mean for your finance stack
New in Weel: Smarter controls to help your team close faster and stay compliant
The Finance Fix: Practical ways to clean up messy data, powered by AI

Found this newsletter helpful? Forward it to a teammate and share the insights.

Weel media watch: What we're reading right now

Layered illustration of man reading on laptop

These stories sparked conversation at Weel HQ, so we're passing them on to you.

Australia

AWS outage hits critical services: Banking, payments, and logistics systems were disrupted during the global downtime. (Yahoo Finance)
AI tipped to boost GDP by $142B: A new report highlights the potential for AI to supercharge economic growth in Australia. (IT Brief)
Unemployment rises to 4.5%: A four-year high that's increasing pressure on the RBA to cut rates in November. (Reuters)
Job losses shift to private sector: Economists say the transition from public to private hiring is behind recent "messy" job data. (The Guardian)
Low-income super changes proposed: LISTO eligibility would expand, with refunds rising for workers earning under $45K.(The Guardian)

New Zealand

Inflation at 3.0% (Q3): CPI sits at the top of the RBNZ's target band, keeping rate decisions in focus. (Reuters)
Business confidence softens: NZIER's Q3 survey shows demand easing and expectations declining. (Reuters)
New Financial Policy Committee launched: The RBNZ introduces a new group to oversee macro-prudential settings. (RBNZ)
Deficit narrows to 3.7% of GDP: After revisions, NZ's current account gap has tightened. (New Zealand Parliament)
Tax system overhaul begins: IRD rolls out new processes for individuals and offshore taxpayers ahead of October reform deadlines. (Deloitte)

Finance Benchmark: The quiet rise of global payables

Layered illustration of invoice details sent for approval

International spend isn't rare anymore, it's structural.

According to Grand View Research, the global cross-border payments market now tops USD $190 trillion, with B2B transactions making up more than 70% of that total. But the shift isn't just in scale, it's in rhythm.

Recurring software, cloud platforms, and offshore partners have become part of the day-to-day finance workflow. And yet, most systems weren't built to manage this kind of recurring, cross-border activity.

According to an internal analysis of anonymised spend data from over 3,000+ businesses using Weel, we found that:

34% of international spend comes from recurring SaaS and cloud subscriptions.
One in ten business transactions are now international.
Technology, Finance, and Manufacturing lead the way in international payments; Education and NFPs trail behind.

And as the volume of global payments rises, so do the hidden costs, especially FX fees, which often sit bundled in legacy bank rates or masked by reward card perks.

We recently ran a side-by-side comparison between a popular rewards card and Weel's own platform. The cost difference? Let's just say one saved more than 3x on fees and still gained full visibility, automated approvals, and better controls.

Want to see the data for yourself?

Read now

New in Weel: Designed to make your job easier

We're not into flashy features for the sake of it. These updates came from customer requests, so if they save you time, you can give some kudos to your peers!

AI-powered descriptions (Beta)

Weel now auto-fills expense descriptions to speed up month-end and improve reporting quality. No more blank fields or vague notes.

Learn more

Illustration representing out of office approvals

Illustration representing handling of reimbursements

Smarter card blocking*

Set a start date for card rules so they only apply to recent spend, and keep teams moving without compromising compliance.

Learn more

No more false flags*

Exclude uncleared transactions from card blocking rules to avoid unnecessary pauses caused by pending charges.

Learn more

*Currently only available for Australian customers on Premium and Enterprise plans.