Paying Suppliers Abroad

The growth of ecommerce and remote working over the past two decades has seen a significant rise in the number of businesses that need to make regular payments to foreign companies and individuals. However, while SMEs and organisations have changed with the times, adapting to a global economy that values international staff and suppliers, it is clear that most banks have remained firmly stuck in the last century.

In fact, when it comes to paying suppliers abroad, businesses face a number of hurdles to efficient and cost-effective service. Today’s existing systems, whether through your existing bank or a third-party transfer service, are expensive, unreliable, slow, and often clouded in mystery—with small to medium businesses struggling to make sense of the offers on the table and little chance of objective comparison between the various services.

Multi-currency payments are in need of a shake up, and as more companies “go global”, reducing the costs and complexities associated with paying foreign invoices is a priority for many businesses. But what is the current status quo and how is the landscape changing for the better? Here, we look at how payments to foreign companies and individuals are adapting to our ever-expanding need for global commerce.

Payments to Foreign Companies – The Status Quo

While banks advertise best “FX rates”, and third-party platforms such as PayPal often claim to be well suited to making transfers in foreign currencies, the bottom line is that solutions such as these hinder true global commerce. The existing status quo creates something of a perfect storm—conversion rates are subject to market rates, however, long transfer times mean that what you are quoted may not be the final conversion. This makes payments to foreign companies both expensive and unpredictable, while additional fees on top of your exchange rate only exacerbate the problem. 

The current issues facing businesses making payments to foreign companies can be broken down into the following:

·   Conversion Rates – Conversion rates offered by banks and third-party transfer services are often defined by the entity you use rather than the market. This means that they may not represent the best value exchange rates around.

·   Additional Fees – Additional fees may be charged by your bank or service provider to actually make the transfer.

·   Speed & Reliability – Bank transfers can be slow, meaning the initial exchange rate you were offered may have changed by the time the transfer is processed. It also means your suppliers wait longer for payment than they should have to.

·   User Friendliness – Particularly with third-party service providers, transferring money into a separate “account” before making your transfer can be cumbersome and time consuming.

For small businesses that may struggle to manage the various fees, poor exchange rates, and long transfer times, relying on today’s existing framework simply adds another level of complexity and expense to multi-currency payments. The good news, however, is that there are better options for making payments to foreign companies and individuals—and Intergiro is ushering in the future of banking for multi-currency payments.

Intergiro - A Global Solution for a Global Economy

Intergiro makes payments simple and transparent, with our services underpinned by forward thinking features designed to facilitate multi-currency payments. Our accounts include free transfers or transparent fee structures with the following: 

• Live mid-market FX rates
• The ability to pay like a local in a range of currencies
• No fees charged for conversions, unlike conventional banks

Designed to work with your existing structure, our business accounts are tailored to your needs, with packages suitable for firms of any size while also meeting the size and frequency of your multi-currency requirements.

Whether paying invoices in the UK and EU, or further afield in Australia or Canada, you’ll get the latest exchange rates calculated on-the-spot, with no hidden fees. We also connect you directly to local payment networks in the country of your supplier, keeping costs low and helping you to build trust through recognisable payment methods.

Through our intuitive and user-friendly platform, our business accounts make paying foreign invoices quick and simple. This means you can reduce operating costs using a versatile toolkit that allows you to pay only for the services you need, while also keeping a comprehensive overview of your payments and costs.

Opening an account with Intergiro to make payments to foreign companies is also simple and takes just a few minutes. Sign up here and answer a few questions to get started and we’ll begin setting up your account. Additionally, for more information on our accounts and news on upcoming functionality, stay tuned to the Intergiro blog here.