Receiving international payments: a UK guide

The problem with receiving money from abroad

If you have ever been paid by an overseas customer and received noticeably less than the invoiced amount, you have experienced the most common complaint about cross-border receivables: deductions along the way. Correspondent banks in the payment chain can each take a handling fee, and if the customer pays into a GBP account via their own bank's default routing, an unfavourable conversion may already have happened before the funds reach you. None of this is unusual — it is simply what happens by default when nobody has set up a better route.

Give customers local collection details where possible

The most effective fix is often the simplest: provide your overseas customers with local account details in their own currency, rather than only a UK GBP account number. A US customer paying into a local-style USD account, or a Eurozone customer paying into a local-style EUR account, is typically making what looks to them like a domestic payment — fewer intermediary banks are involved, and the deduction risk drops accordingly. This is exactly what a multi-currency account is designed to solve: you collect in the currency your customer already uses, and choose when (and whether) to convert to GBP.

Decide when to convert, not just how

Once funds land in a foreign-currency balance, you have a choice most businesses don't realise they have: convert immediately, or hold the balance and convert later — for example, when you need GBP to cover a domestic cost, or when the rate looks more favourable. Holding multiple currency balances also lets you net internal flows, using the same USD balance to pay a US supplier that you used to receive a US customer payment, avoiding two unnecessary conversions.

Protecting your margin as an exporter

If your invoices are priced in a foreign currency and paid weeks or months after the order, exchange-rate movement between invoicing and collection is a real cost, not a theoretical one. A stronger GBP by the time you convert means fewer pounds for the same invoice. This is the mirror image of the risk an importer carries, and it is covered in detail in our guide to FX risk for exporters. Tools like forward contracts let exporters lock in a conversion rate for a known future receivable, which is particularly useful when pricing is fixed months in advance (for example, in tender or contract pricing).

Practical checklist for exporters and service businesses

1. Invoice in the currency that suits the relationship, not by default. Sometimes GBP is right; sometimes the customer's local currency reduces friction and improves your competitiveness.
2. Share complete remittance details, including your account name exactly as registered, IBAN/account number and SWIFT/BIC, to reduce the chance of a customer's bank misrouting the payment.
3. Reconcile against the amount received, not invoiced, and investigate discrepancies early — the earlier a shortfall is queried, the easier it usually is for the sending bank to explain or correct.
4. Track receivables by currency and due date so you can see your exposure at a glance, rather than discovering it only when converting.

Who this applies to

Exporters of physical goods, software and services businesses billing overseas clients, agencies with international customers, and any UK company that regularly receives payments in a currency other than GBP.

Where TimeFX helps

We help UK exporters and service businesses set up collection accounts in the currencies their customers already use, and talk through when a forward contract makes sense for a known future receivable. Learn more via our international payments service or apply to get started.