International Money Transfers for Business in Canada

Compare Canadian business payment services

The right service depends on whether you need an overseas payment, an account for foreign revenue or a workflow your whole finance team can use.

Client receipts and contractor payments

9.2

Wise

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"Wise Business is used by 300,000+ businesses each year. Easy integrations with Xero, QuickBooks, FreeAgent and more are available."

Payments and expense administration

8.8

Airwallex

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"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."

Currency accounts and dealer support

8.7

OFX

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"OFX Business offers multi-currency account to hold balances in up to 7 currencies. Make global payments to over 170 countries."

Bank-funded payments and currency contracts

8.6

Xe

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"Xe handles $115 billion of international payments per year. Their business product is designed to support entrepreneurs, growing companies and enterprise clients."

Overseas invoices from your business bank

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CIBC

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Business payment services and their costs

Wise Business for foreign receipts and contractor payments

Wise can suit a consultancy receiving overseas client payments and paying contractors in the same currency, without adding a monthly account subscription.

You can retain foreign-currency receipts, issue team cards and connect accounting software, while paying separately for conversion and the transfer methods you use.

I'd say consider that flexibility for recurring work, although Canada's same-currency cross-border fee means reusing a foreign balance is not automatically free.

For a larger invoice, the funding limit can determine whether direct debit works, even when the destination itself accepts the full payment.

The cross-border fee does not apply to batch payments, Wise-to-Wise payments or matched transfers from your own business bank account.

SWIFT has its own fee structure, so choose the receiving details and transfer method that match how your customer intends to pay you.

CAD direct debit can take several business days to reach Wise, making early funding more useful than relying on a provider-wide speed claim.

Airwallex for expense administration and customer billing

Airwallex's Canadian Explore plan includes currency accounts, payment batches and expense tools without a monthly subscription or qualifying balance requirement.

That makes it relevant if you want overseas invoices and employee spending managed together, rather than maintaining separate transfer and expense systems.

I suggest considering Grow when its additional approvals and automation solve a regular administration problem, after obtaining the full platform charge for your team.

The local-payout tariff changes on 12 October 2026, so the free Explore subscription should be assessed alongside the upcoming per-payment charges.

These account transaction fees exclude GST where applicable, and the platform fee means C$12 multiplied by your team size is not Grow's complete subscription cost.

A spend user includes people handling expenses or bills as well as cardholders, so count your finance staff when estimating the plan cost.

In my opinion, the reason to consider Airwallex is the connected payment workflow, with customer processing costs assessed separately from what you pay suppliers.

OFX Business for currency accounts and dealer help

OFX combines foreign-currency accounts with phone support and business payment tools, which can suit recurring imports alongside customer receipts from abroad.

You can receive local payments in CAD, USD, GBP and EUR, retain the money and use it for later commercial payments.

I suggest choosing the free Standard plan for the account and basic payment work, then consider Full Suite when approvals or invoice processing justify the subscription.

The prices here cover new applications from April 2026, while an existing account can remain under a different platform agreement and tariff.

A scheduled payment uses the exchange rate available when it runs, while a forward is a separate approved contract fixing a future exchange.

Forwards can require a deposit and further funding, with the remaining balance due at maturity and cancellation losses determined by the contract.

That distinction is useful for an importer planning payments, because selecting a future payment date does not itself protect the invoice's CAD cost.

Xe Business for bank-funded payments and currency commitments

Xe gives you Canadian EFT funding for business payments, with wire funding available when the amount exceeds the direct-debit allowance.

Its currency tools can also suit a wholesale or travel business that has agreed foreign expenses before collecting all the money needed to settle them.

I'd say consider it for that payment and currency-management role, rather than expect a complete employee-card or customer-checkout account from the transfer service.

Most business international payments have no Xe transfer fee, but the exchange rate and same-currency exceptions still need to be included in your cost.

A longer forward term depends on credit approval, so do not plan around the maximum term before Xe confirms the facility your business can use.

A target-rate order may not execute before the invoice deadline, while an accepted trade creates funding obligations that differ from an unfilled order.

I suggest settling the payment date and available funding first, then using the currency tool that fits that commitment.

CIBC Global Money Transfer for Business from your bank account

CIBC's business service lets you pay abroad from an eligible business operating account, with no separate CIBC Global Money Transfer sending fee.

You can send from CAD to local currency or eligible USD payouts, and from your US-dollar business account to the recipient's local currency.

I'd say consider it if your bank account and signing arrangements already fit the payment, avoiding another account purely for the overseas invoice.

The signing rule is a real limitation if your company requires two approvals, rather than a minor account setting to overlook when choosing the service.

A GMT and a separate FX transaction count towards your account's transaction allowance, so the transfer-fee waiver does not remove account charges.

Most payments complete by the next business day, but some take two–three business days and the contract does not guarantee an arrival time.

What can you do with an international business payment service?

Keep US-dollar revenue available for US-dollar expenses

If a US client pays your consulting business in USD, a currency account can let you keep those receipts for a USD contractor invoice.

That avoids converting the same money into CAD and back, although it does not remove every receipt or payment charge.

With Wise, an eligible USD domestic-network receipt can incur the equivalent of C$1, unless you meet the balance waiver or another exemption.

The relevant comparison is therefore the combined receiving, holding and payout cost, rather than only the rate for a CAD-to-USD transfer.

If retaining several currencies becomes the main task, compare the business multi-currency account features as well as the payment service.

Pay overseas suppliers from CAD or foreign currency you already hold

A Canadian-dollar invoice budget needs conversion before you pay a foreign supplier, while a matching foreign-currency balance can fund the payment directly.

For an imported shipment, agree whether the supplier needs the full invoice amount after intermediary deductions and which bank account should receive it.

Keep an invoice reference with the transfer confirmation, particularly when the same supplier expects separate deposit and balance payments.

When sending money to the United States, choose the requested bank-payment method rather than assuming every USD account accepts the same type of transfer.

Fund a larger payment without hitting a direct-debit cap

Direct debit can be convenient for repeated payments, but its limit is different from the amount a service can send by wire funding.

Wise's CAD debit allowance is C$9,500 daily, compared with Xe's C$33,000 daily allowance for its Canadian business EFT funding.

A larger equipment invoice may therefore require the provider's bank-payment instructions, with your bank's wire charge added to the transfer quote.

Leave time for cleared funding before settlement, rather than using the recipient delivery estimate as the deadline for initiating your bank debit.

Pay a distributed team and keep the payment records

A recurring contractor batch can combine separate payees and currencies, reducing the need to re-enter every bank payment each month.

Wise supports file-based batches, while Airwallex combines payment batches with bill administration and OFX offers approval and invoice tools on its business platform.

Those features can help a software company paying overseas developers, but employment status, payroll deductions and contractor documentation remain separate responsibilities.

Decide who prepares the payment and who approves it, then retain both actions with the invoice or contractor record.

Accept customer cards and recurring subscriptions

A business account that receives a bank transfer does not automatically provide the checkout needed to charge your overseas customers by card.

Airwallex offers checkout integrations and recurring billing, so a Canadian software business can connect customer payments with the currency account receiving its proceeds.

Card processing, subscription management and currency settlement have separate charges, which need to be measured against the revenue from the sale.

For a C$100 international card payment, the listed 3.5% processing and C$0.30 gateway charges total C$3.80 before billing, settlement or conversion costs.

I suggest choosing this product when it solves collection and billing work, rather than adding it solely because the outgoing transfer account looks inexpensive.

Give employees controlled access to business spending

Individual cards and spending permissions let employees pay for travel or online services without sharing your business's main card details.

Wise provides team cards, and Airwallex's Canadian Explore plan combines card controls with expense and reimbursement tools for up to ten spend users.

That user count includes people handling expenses or bills, so a finance administrator can count even without making card purchases.

OFX's paid controls can also suit a larger team, with the subscription assessed against the approval and reconciliation work it removes.

Choose the spending currency and conversion settings carefully, because no separate foreign-transaction fee does not mean a card conversion has no cost.

Arrange the currency cost of future commitments

An agreed import invoice can expose your business to a changing CAD exchange rate between ordering the goods and settling the balance.

A forward fixes the agreed currency exchange for a future date, while a scheduled payment can still use the future spot rate.

Xe and OFX offer approved currency contracts, but their deposits, security calls and settlement obligations depend on your business agreement.

If you want to wait for a target rate, a limit order can help, provided you also plan for the rate never being reached.

In my opinion, you should discuss the invoice deadline and available security funds before using either tool, rather than treat it as a freely cancellable payment instruction.

Connect payments with accounting and approval work

A growing wholesale business may need one person to prepare invoices and another to approve payment, with records returned to the accounting system.

Airwallex Grow adds more conditional approvals, while OFX Full Suite provides paid invoice and accounting workflows alongside its currency account.

A bank feed records account activity, whereas a bill integration can also handle invoice preparation and reconciliation, so identify which work you want to remove.

If you need an API connecting your platform to the payment service, obtain the applicable technical and business agreement rather than assuming ordinary account access authorizes customer payments.

How to compare Canadian business transfer costs

Compare the CAD cost of delivering the same foreign invoice amount on the same date, using the same funding and recipient-bank method.

Then add account subscriptions, payment counts, receiving fees and the employees who will use the expense or approval tools.

For example, CIBC's free GMT still counts towards your business account's transactions, while OFX's SWIFT fee differs from its Canadian EFT allowance.

For a paid account, obtain the full subscription quote before calculating whether its included features and payment allowances justify the plan.

Check the currency already available in your account, because a conversion quote answers a different cost question from paying directly from that balance.

How to make international business payments

I suggest comparing the total transfer cost for your next business payment before agreeing the exchange rate and sending instructions.

Questions about Canadian business payments