International Supplier Payments, Priced Clearly

An international supplier payment is simply paying an invoice raised in a foreign currency: your UK business owes a supplier abroad, and the money has to reach them in euros, dollars, dirhams, or whatever they bill in. The complication isn't the payment itself, it's the exchange rate sitting inside it. Pay through a typical business bank account and the transfer often carries a per-payment charge plus a margin built into the rate, and on a five-figure invoice that margin is worth far more than the fee.

We do this differently. You tell us the invoice amount and the currency, we quote you a fixed, transparent margin on the rate with no payment transfer fees, and we send the funds straight to your supplier's account. You see the exact rate for your payment before you confirm, so there's no margin to work out afterwards. Every business gets a named account manager who knows your account, rather than a general support line, which matters when a payment is time-sensitive or a supplier is chasing. Your funds are held in safeguarded accounts through our FCA-authorised payment institution partner, Sciopay Ltd, kept separate from day-to-day operating money. Whether you pay one supplier a quarter or fifty a month, the mechanics stay the same.

This is built for UK businesses that buy from abroad and are tired of guessing what a payment will actually cost. A furniture retailer importing finished pieces from a workshop in Italy, settling each order in euros. An electronics assembler buying boards and components from suppliers in Shenzhen, paying in US dollars because that's how the invoices come. A marketing agency that outsources production to a studio in Dubai and pays in dirhams every month. A food importer bringing olive oil in from Spain and coffee from suppliers who invoice in dollars, juggling two currencies at once.

What they share is a real exposure to the rate: the invoices are big enough, or frequent enough, that a wide margin genuinely eats into their costs. If you're paying suppliers in one or more foreign currencies and the amounts matter to your margins, this is for you. If you want the fuller situational picture, from payment terms to keeping supplier relationships smooth, our guide to paying overseas suppliers walks through it. If you're also selling abroad and taking money in, our page on managing FX for import and export businesses covers both sides of that flow. You'll find every page in our business FX hub, and when you're paying a supplier in a specific country, our corridor guides go route by route, from the UK to Italy to the UK to the UAE.