The Best International Payment Gateways in Australia in 2026
Table of Contents
Author: Artiom Pucinskij
Table of Contents
Airwallex lets you keep overseas sales income for expenses in the same currency, while Stripe gives subscription businesses more control over billing.
Shopify Payments suits a Shopify store, and Square connects Australian shop sales with an online store charging in Australian dollars.
An overseas card can cost more to process even when you charge in AUD, so your customer mix changes which option costs less.
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At a glance
Your business needs an eligible Australian merchant account to accept payments, even when customers live overseas.
A foreign card surcharge and a currency conversion fee pay for different services.
Keeping foreign revenue can help if you also have expenses in that currency.
Bank debit suits invoices and recurring services, but does not replace card acceptance for every customer.
Compare international payment gateways for Australian businesses
"Airwallex offers a comprehensive financial platform for businesses. Make global transfers to 150+ countries, receive funds in 20+ currencies. Connect with popular software for a seamless approach."
Airwallex for keeping and spending foreign sales income
Airwallex combines card checkout with currency balances and local bank details, so overseas sales can help fund expenses in the same currency.
Like-for-like settlement supports more than 20 currencies, avoiding an immediate conversion of eligible sales proceeds into Australian dollars.
Payment links, ecommerce plugins and an API give you ways to collect payments without building every checkout feature yourself.
Card processing costs 1.65% + A$0.30 for domestic cards and 3.45% + A$0.30 for international cards.
Explore costs A$29 monthly including GST, waived with A$5,000 in deposits or processing during the subscription month, or A$10,000 across Wallet and Yield at its end.
Subscription Management adds 0.50% per successful card transaction, and conversion costs 0.5% above interbank rates for major currencies or 1% for others.
I like Airwallex for exporters with overseas supplier bills, because holding revenue has a clear purpose beyond offering customers another checkout currency.
- Reusing overseas revenue for matching currency expenses
- Combining checkout with local receiving accounts
- Your small sales volume cannot justify the account subscription
- You need an established in-person payment system
Revolut Business for combining payments with business finances
Revolut Business brings payment acceptance together with currency balances and business spending, with merchant approval separate from opening the account.
Online card payments cost 1.6% + A$0.20 for Australian-issued cards and 2.9% + A$0.20 for international cards, before applicable taxes.
The domestic category includes business cards, so an Australian corporate customer does not automatically move you into the international rate.
Revolut Pay costs 1% + A$0.20 online and lets customers pay from their Revolut accounts alongside your card options.
Business plans start at A$15 monthly, and currency exchange outside your plan’s allowance can add costs to foreign sales income.
Payment links and checkout integrations suit online collection, while in-person acceptance also supports businesses selling away from their website.
Revolut makes sense if you will use the account for everyday business finances as well as collecting customer payments.
- Managing payments and business spending together
- Taking domestic business cards at the domestic card rate
- You only need occasional checkout without a paid business account
- You need extensive currency exchange on the smallest plan
Stripe for subscriptions and custom checkout
Stripe connects hosted checkout and payment links with tools for building payments into your own software.
Its subscription billing tools suit changing plans and renewals, with billing costs charged separately from ordinary payment processing.
Online payment | Australian fees, including GST |
|---|---|
Domestic card | 1.65% + A$0.30 |
International card | 3.5% + A$0.30 |
Required currency conversion | Additional 2% |
PayTo or Australian BECS debit | 1% + A$0.30, capped at A$3.50 |
PayTo and BECS give Australian customers bank payment options, while overseas bank methods have their own country and currency requirements.
Standard Payments has no monthly fee, making Stripe easier to justify if you are starting with irregular sales.
Stripe suits a software or subscription business that needs control over checkout, although repeated currency conversion can make overseas sales expensive.
- Software businesses and changing subscriptions
- Adding hosted checkout before building a custom integration
- Your main need is holding and spending foreign revenue
- The additional conversion fee would affect most sales
GoCardless for collecting overseas invoices by bank debit
GoCardless collects payments from customer bank accounts, which suits memberships and invoices when buyers can authorise bank debit.
International collection supports eight currencies across the UK, Eurozone, Sweden, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada.
Overseas collections can be converted into AUD through its Wise-powered FX service and paid into your domestic bank account.
Standard international collection costs 2% + A$0.40, while domestic bank debit costs 1% + A$0.40 with an A$4 cap.
Fees exclude GST where applicable, and payments over A$3,000 attract an additional 0.3%, so the domestic cap is not an absolute maximum.
International conversion adds two to four business days to payout, making this less suitable when you need immediate access to sales income.
GoCardless fits recurring services and invoice collection, alongside a card gateway if customers also want cards or wallets.
- Collecting invoices and memberships through bank debit
- Converting supported overseas collections into AUD
- Card and wallet checkout in the same product
- Fast access to international collections
Shopify Payments for Shopify stores selling internationally
Shopify Payments connects customer payments with your Shopify orders and refunds, reducing the need to manage separate systems.
It also supports local-currency checkout, letting an overseas customer complete the purchase in the currency shown by your store.
Shopify Basic cost | Australian fees |
|---|---|
Store subscription, billed annually | A$42 monthly |
Standard online card | 1.7% + A$0.30 |
International online card | 3.5% + A$0.30 |
Currency conversion | Additional 2% |
External gateway | Additional 2% platform transaction fee |
Basic costs A$56 on monthly billing, so the lower subscription price requires an annual commitment.
A separate gateway can add Shopify’s transaction fee to that gateway’s own charges, reducing the benefit of cheaper processing.
Shopify POS also connects physical sales with your store, with hardware and optional POS Pro adding to the cost.
Choose Shopify Payments when Shopify already runs your shop, especially if local-currency checkout and shared online and physical orders will simplify operations.
- Shopify stores offering local-currency checkout
- Retailers connecting website and physical sales
- Your store uses another ecommerce platform
- You need checkout without a store subscription
Square for Australian retail and an AUD online store
Square connects POS, invoices and online payments, making it useful when your physical shop also takes orders from overseas customers.
Australian Square accounts charge in AUD, so international card acceptance does not give your store foreign-currency checkout or balances.
Online processing costs 2.2%, with an additional 1.5% for internationally issued cards, bringing their processing rate to 3.7%.
New sellers pay 1.6% for in-person card payments, plus the same international surcharge where applicable, with hardware purchased separately.
Some older accounts have different in-person rates, so the new-seller rate does not describe every existing reader setup.
Square suits a mainly Australian retailer who wants one system for shop and online sales, rather than a business prioritising foreign-currency collection.
- Connecting Australian shop sales and online orders
- Taking overseas cards without changing an AUD price list
- Customers to pay in their own currencies
- Foreign-currency balances for overseas expenses
Where does PayPal fit?
PayPal can be a direct checkout option if customers want to use PayPal, and it also supports card payments.
On Shopify, adding PayPal avoids Shopify’s third-party transaction fee when Shopify Payments is your primary payment service, although PayPal’s own fees still apply.
What can an international payment gateway do for your business?
Collect sales through checkout or a payment link
A gateway handles payment authorisation at checkout, with processing and settlement moving the collected money into your eligible account.
Hosted checkout serves an online store, while a payment link lets you request payment by email without building an ecommerce website.
Collect repeat payments
Subscription software sets the amount and schedule, while the payment method determines whether customers pay by card or from a bank account.
Stripe suits subscriptions with changing plans, and GoCardless suits recurring invoices where bank debit works for your customers.
Keep overseas revenue for overseas expenses
Charging in USD, holding USD and paying USD into a bank account are separate capabilities, even when a product accepts international cards.
Airwallex’s eligible foreign-currency settlement can help when dollar sales will fund dollar expenses, avoiding an unnecessary conversion into AUD first.
If customers already pay by bank transfer, Australian business multi-currency accounts may give you receiving details without adding card checkout.
Is Wise Business a payment gateway?
Wise Business provides account details for receiving bank transfers, but its card payment request feature is unavailable to new customers.
Some eligible existing customers retain card requests, so opening a new Wise account does not provide a general ecommerce checkout replacement.
How much will you receive after payment fees?
For an A$100 purchase charged and settled in AUD, these calculations subtract the stated processing fee without converting the sale.
Company | A$100 domestic card | A$100 overseas card | Tax basis |
|---|---|---|---|
Airwallex | A$98.05 | A$96.25 | GST included |
Revolut Business | A$98.20 | A$96.90 | Before applicable GST |
Stripe | A$98.05 | A$96.20 | GST included |
Square | A$97.80 | A$96.30 | Stated processing rates |
Revolut’s figures are before applicable GST, so its smaller stated fee does not establish a like-for-like after-tax winner.
These processing-only calculations exclude account subscriptions, paid software, refunds and disputes, so they do not establish the final payout.
The overseas card premium applies without currency conversion, while Stripe adds another 2% if conversion is required.
Account subscriptions and Shopify’s external gateway fee can outweigh a small processing saving, particularly if you only collect occasional overseas orders.
Software platforms may also add their own charges to the underlying processor’s fee, so direct Stripe pricing may differ from an integrated platform’s total.
Refunds or disputes can create additional costs, and a reserve temporarily holds sales proceeds rather than permanently deducting them as a fee.
Choose a gateway for your business needs
Payment methods your customers use
Cards, wallets and bank debit are different ways to pay, and offering familiar options can make checkout easier for your customers.
Airwallex, Revolut Business, Stripe, Shopify Payments and Square accept cards, while GoCardless focuses on collecting from bank accounts.
Stripe also offers PayTo and BECS for Australian bank payments, which serve a different purpose from overseas card checkout.
Checkout currency and the money you keep
A customer’s checkout currency controls what they pay, while settlement currency controls which balance receives your proceeds.
Airwallex suits foreign-currency revenue you will spend again, and Revolut combines supported currency balances with broader business account functions.
Square suits an AUD price list, with the customer’s card issuer handling any conversion needed on their side.
Store integrations and custom software
A store integration connects payment results with orders and refunds, while an API lets developers build that connection into your own software.
Shopify Payments keeps checkout inside your existing Shopify store, and Stripe gives developers more control over a custom payment experience.
Airwallex’s plugins and payment links provide simpler routes to collecting foreign revenue without building every feature yourself.
Subscriptions and cash flow
GoCardless international collections with conversion take an extra two to four business days, which can affect when you can pay suppliers.
Stripe’s card billing suits changing subscriptions, while its Australian PayTo and BECS options give domestic customers ways to pay from their banks.
Payments at the counter
Point of sale (POS) means collecting payments in person, usually using a card reader or another payment device.
Square suits an Australian shop adding online orders, and Shopify POS suits a retailer whose store already runs on Shopify.
What do you need to get started?
Your business and identity details
You need business information and details identifying those responsible for the account, with supporting documents depending on your business structure.
Your products and sales channel
The application needs to explain what you sell and how you collect payment, with website requirements depending on the checkout product.
A suitable payout account
Your bank account must support the service’s payout currency and transfer requirements, so accepting a foreign card does not establish foreign-currency withdrawal support.
Merchant country and business eligibility
Australian merchant eligibility depends on your business structure and industry, and approval for a business account can be separate from payment acceptance.
An overseas customer does not automatically require an overseas company, although expanding into local acquiring can introduce additional account requirements.
After collecting customer payments, international business transfers from Australia can help you convert funds or pay overseas suppliers.
Compare business money transfers from Australia
Enter your destination and amount to compare exchange rates and fees for sending business funds overseas from Australia.Our methodology & why trust us
We assessed Australian merchant eligibility, checkout features and local costs using official product pages, pricing and support documents.
Our selection separates customer payment acceptance from receiving bank transfers, and gives each company a reason to suit a particular business.
The A$100 examples use the card’s issuing country and keep the charge and settlement currency in AUD, without assuming that every overseas payment needs conversion.
We also considered subscription costs, foreign-currency handling and access to collected funds where they change the decision.
This is research-based analysis, and we do not claim to have tested every checkout or completed merchant onboarding.
Our review methodology explains how we assess companies and distinguish product evidence from opinion.
Commercial relationships can earn MoneyTransfers a commission, but do not replace our assessment of product fit.
Sources
Business money transfers
Start with the work you need to do regularly, because a low-cost invoice transfer and a complete payment administration system are different purchases.
Best multi-currency business accounts
The biggest benefit is being able to keep revenue in the currency you receive, then use it for expenses in that currency.
Best currency brokers
These companies offer the highest receive amounts in our comparison for A$100,000 transfers.
Receiving money from abroad
The sender can pay in pounds, US dollars or another supported currency while a transfer company delivers AUD into your bank account.
Mobile money transfers
When you send abroad, the transfer company quotes the AUD cost, converts the payment and arranges delivery to the chosen wallet.
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