International Money Transfers for Business in the UK

Compare international business payment services

These services cover different business tasks, so my suggestion is to shortlist by the payments you need before comparing the monthly fee or exchange rate.

Occasional overseas invoices

9.2

Wise

Visit

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

Payments and spending together

8.8

Airwallex

Visit

"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."

Marketplace income and suppliers

8.7

WorldFirst

Visit

"WorldFirst helps growing businesses control cross-border costs with forward contracts and tailored FX solutions. Manage 40+ currencies and make international payments with specialist support on-hand."

Team cards and currency payments

8.6

Revolut

Visit

Invoice and payment workflows

8.7

OFX

Visit

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

Dealer support and forward contracts

8.6

TorFx

Visit

"Make business tranfers 24/7 on TorFX's mobile & web apps. Benefit from their FX consultancy and risk management insights."

Overseas payments with Bankline approvals

?

NatWest

Visit

Business payment services worth considering

Wise Business for occasional invoices and international client payments

Wise Business suits a freelancer or small company that wants to pay overseas invoices without adding a monthly account subscription.

I like the combination of local receiving details, team cards and batch payments, because you can add those functions without moving onto a monthly plan.

You still pay currency-dependent conversion and transfer fees, so a small headline percentage does not establish the cost of your particular invoice.

Accepting a customer’s card has a processing charge, separate from the fees for converting money or paying an overseas invoice.

For example, a UK design business can receive a US client's dollars and use that balance for dollar-denominated expenses instead of converting twice.

The batch limit is a file limit, not permission to send any amount to every destination, and payment approvals still apply to the batch.

I like Wise for this straightforward payment-and-collection setup, but suggest comparing a fuller spending platform if invoice approvals or checkout become the bigger job.

Airwallex for transfers, checkout and employee spending

Airwallex brings outgoing payments, online customer payments and employee expenses together, making it useful when your business needs more than an invoice transfer.

A UK online retailer can collect foreign-currency sales, pay overseas stock suppliers and manage staff cards through the same platform.

I'd say consider it for that connected workflow, but the plan fee is only part of the cost once card processing, extra users and settlement charges apply.

Explore covers the core payment tools, while Grow adds approval and automation features that can change how your finance team works.

These standard charges exclude VAT where applicable, and negotiated terms may change the cost of a larger business account.

From 17 October 2026, Explore adds destination-specific local international payment fees, while those fees are waived on Grow and Accelerate.

The £10,000 subscription waiver also does not remove conversion, customer processing or extra-user charges, so judge it against your whole payment flow.

WorldFirst for marketplace collections and overseas suppliers

WorldFirst is a strong fit if you sell through overseas marketplaces and want to reuse those collections for supplier payments.

You can keep money in its original currency rather than automatically bringing each payout back to pounds before buying stock abroad.

I'd say consider it particularly for an e-commerce business sourcing internationally, with payment fees checked against the destination rather than a blanket free-transfer claim.

Its account has no ongoing subscription, but currency conversion and the selected payment destination still determine what you pay.

SEPA is the euro payment network, so its lower fee does not automatically apply to a euro payment outside that network.

World Pay can simplify paying a 1688 supplier, but the specific sourcing service and its charges should be checked separately from an ordinary bank payout.

That collection-to-supplier flow is why I suggest shortlisting WorldFirst, rather than treating the introductory FX rate as a permanent price.

Revolut Business for team cards and regular currency payments

Revolut Business combines currency payments with employee cards and account controls, making it useful when several people spend or approve money.

Grow is more useful than Basic if you need bulk transfers or custom approvals, with the subscription and allowances assessed together.

Revolut Pro is a separate solo-business product, so its features and prices are outside the Business plans compared here.

I'd say compare the plan against your monthly activity, because a low subscription can become the expensive option once conversion and payment allowances run out.

Revolut’s plans include different currency-exchange and payment allowances, so the monthly subscription is only one part of the cost.

Enterprise pricing is negotiated, and additional payment methods or spending products have their own charges beyond those plan allowances.

Forward deposits are returned proportionately as you settle, but additional margin can be required and cancellation can produce a mark-to-market charge.

If your account has moved to Revolut Bank UK Ltd, eligible deposits have FSCS protection up to £120,000, unlike the safeguarding arrangement before migration.

I like this setup when several people need controlled spending and approvals, with the plan sized around your regular payments.

OFX for international payments linked to invoice management

OFX now has a Global Business Account with a choice between a free Standard plan and a paid Full Suite for finance workflows.

Full Suite adds invoice automation, approval policies and two-way accounting connections, which can reduce the handoffs between preparing a bill and paying it.

That makes OFX worth considering for a growing finance team, with human support and currency tools alongside the software.

Use the plan and payment charges together, because the free account subscription does not remove the margin in your currency conversion.

The SWIFT allowance needs confirmation for your agreement, so my suggestion is to allow for international payment charges on either plan.

A scheduled payment also does not automatically fix its exchange rate, while an agreed forward contract creates a separate settlement obligation.

I'd say consider Full Suite when approvals and invoice handling replace real manual work, and Standard when you mainly need payments with accounting feeds.

TorFX for an account manager and future invoice planning

TorFX gives you a dedicated account manager for business payments, which is useful when you want to discuss funding, deadlines or a future currency commitment.

It also supports spot transfers, forward contracts and market orders, so it can suit recurring payments as well as a single substantial invoice.

The limitation is that its quoted exchange rate carries the commercial cost, despite there being no TorFX transfer fee.

You must fund and settle a booked currency contract on its agreed terms, even if your supplier later changes the invoice or the market moves favourably.

Forward deposits are excluded from safeguarding until settlement or release into the wallet, so they should not be treated like a protected business-bank deposit.

I like TorFX for that managed payment relationship, with the actual quote and contract deciding whether it suits the invoice.

NatWest if you already bank there and use payment approvals

Your existing NatWest business account can be the simplest funding route, particularly if your team already uses its payee records and approval process.

Bankline supports payment files and dual authorisation, letting your team prepare payments and obtain approval within the existing banking workflow.

The transfer fee depends on the payment channel, and any conversion margin belongs in the same invoice comparison.

For a euro invoice, compare the actual euro payment route rather than applying the non-euro £15 fee to every destination.

For a foreign-currency invoice funded from pounds, ask for the total debit and recipient amount before deciding whether account convenience outweighs the conversion cost.

What can you do with an international business payment service?

International payment tools can simplify how you pay, collect money and manage spending, depending on the tasks your business needs.

Pay overseas suppliers in the currency they invoice

If you import stock or book overseas accommodation for clients, the supplier may need an exact euro or dollar amount rather than whatever your sterling budget buys.

A currency payment service lets you specify that invoice amount, fund it from pounds or an existing balance, and keep the payment reference with the bill.

For example, a UK wholesaler paying a German supplier can use a euro bank payout and attach the invoice number for reconciliation.

Local payment networks can avoid some intermediary-bank steps, although the supplier's account, destination and currency determine whether that route is available.

On SWIFT, the international bank messaging network, establish who pays the charges so a deduction does not leave the invoice partly unpaid.

Pay contractors and distributed teams in batches

A UK software business paying several overseas contractors can prepare one payment file rather than entering every transfer separately.

Wise supports up to 1,000 payments per uploaded file, while WorldFirst supports batches of up to 200 payments.

Approvals let one person prepare the payments and another authorise them, reducing dependence on a shared login or informal email sign-off.

Your batch still needs valid recipient details, enough funding and time for each destination's processing, so one upload does not mean every payment arrives together.

Paying employee salaries also leaves payroll, withholding and employment obligations to solve separately, even when the payment platform can send the amounts.

Collect overseas client and marketplace income with local details

A UK consultant invoicing a US client can provide dollar receiving details, while an online seller can direct eligible marketplace settlements into a currency account.

The client or marketplace can then use the account details available for that currency, instead of automatically converting every receipt into pounds.

An IBAN identifies a bank or payment account, but having one euro IBAN does not give you local receiving details for every currency you hold.

Wise and WorldFirst both provide receiving details alongside currency balances, with the receiving method determining whether extra fees apply.

Matching a dollar receipt to a later dollar supplier payment can avoid two conversions, provided both the collection and outgoing payment are allowed.

Accept international checkout and subscription payments

If you run an online shop, customers need a checkout or payment link, rather than bank details designed only for business invoice payments.

Airwallex offers payment acceptance, website integrations and subscription management, allowing a UK software business to collect recurring customer payments through an actual billing product.

Revolut also offers merchant checkout and payment links, while Wise can accept cards through approved payment links, invoices and QR codes.

A receiving account alone does not establish card acceptance, and scheduling an outgoing transfer does not create a recurring charge to your customer.

Processing, currency settlement, refunds and chargebacks need their own cost check, because the account's ordinary transfer fee does not cover those services.

For example, keeping US card revenue in dollars can avoid a conversion, but Airwallex's non-GBP card-settlement charge can still apply.

Control employee expenses with physical and virtual cards

A sales team travelling to European trade fairs can use individual cards with spending limits instead of sharing one company card or waiting for expense reimbursement.

Wise offers team cards and permissions, while Airwallex and Revolut add wider spending and approval tools across their business plans.

Virtual cards can also separate online business spending, giving you a clearer record of which employee or purchase used the money.

The cost may be per card, per active spend user or per expense-management user, so five team logins do not necessarily mean five free spending accounts.

Check whether card payments use an existing currency balance or trigger automatic conversion, because that setting can change the charge on a foreign purchase.

Hold and reuse currencies to manage cash flow

If your travel business receives dollars and pays overseas partners in dollars, holding the receipts can avoid an unnecessary conversion into pounds and back again.

That can also separate a business payment deadline from the day you choose to convert currency, subject to enough cleared money being available.

Keep the balance aligned with expected payments, because foreign currency can lose sterling value and an ordinary payment wallet is not automatically an interest-bearing deposit.

A multi-currency business account is worth examining more closely if holding and receiving money become more important than the transfer itself.

For money you keep between payments, check the actual contracting entity and protection, rather than treating every account as a bank deposit.

Plan future invoice payments with currency tools

A UK importer with a confirmed dollar invoice due in three months can use a forward contract to agree the exchange rate for that future payment.

The benefit is knowing the contractual sterling cost, but you may miss a better later spot rate and still have to complete the agreed exchange.

TorFX offers dealer-arranged forwards, while Revolut offers eligible corporate forwards with specified deposits and fees, and OFX requires approval under its contract terms.

A deposit ties up working capital, additional margin can be required, and changing or cancelling the contract can create costs beyond an ordinary transfer fee.

A limit order targets a rate before booking the exchange, whereas a rate alert only tells you that a level has been reached.

An order may not execute if the required market conditions or liquidity are absent, so it cannot replace a firm plan for a payment deadline.

I'd say compare currency brokers when these contractual tools become the main decision, with the invoice, settlement dates and cancellation terms considered together.

Connect approvals, reconciliation and payment systems

A finance team can connect payment records to accounting software, reducing manual exports and matching the same invoice repeatedly across different systems.

Wise connects to Xero, QuickBooks and FreeAgent, while OFX Full Suite adds two-way accounting synchronisation and invoice automation to its payment account.

The distinction is useful because a bank feed imports transactions, while a fuller invoice integration can also help prepare, approve and reconcile the payment.

API access, which lets software communicate directly with the payment service, can automate payouts when the standard dashboard or file upload becomes insufficient.

An ordinary business account API does not automatically let a marketplace hold or move its customers' money, so embedded payments need a separate approved product and arrangement.

For that model, Airwallex offers platform and connected-account products with custom pricing, rather than treating the business account subscription as the complete solution.

How much do international business payments cost?

Compare the amount your business pays with the amount the recipient can use, including conversion, transfer charges and any account or payment-processing costs.

For an exact invoice, ask what sterling amount delivers the required foreign currency, rather than comparing transfers that leave the supplier with different receipts.

For recurring activity, calculate a normal month's conversions, payment count and paid users, because the cheapest account subscription may not produce the lowest total.

For example, consider a business exchanging £10,000 equivalent during market hours and making three ordinary international transfers in one monthly billing cycle.

This is an illustration using the stated plan charges, excluding other activity, specific payment-rail fees and receiving-bank deductions, rather than a tested transfer result.

It explains why I suggest assessing the complete month before choosing Basic, without establishing Revolut as cheaper than another service for your invoice.

For customer collections, repeat that calculation using the customer's card type, settlement currency and any billing, refund or dispute services you use.

A UK card payment, an overseas card payment and a bank transfer into local receiving details can have different costs within the same business account.

How to make international business payments

Compare the complete payment cost before choosing a service for your next overseas supplier invoice or contractor payment.

Questions about international business payments