Global FX payments in Payhawk refer to cross-border transactions made from your company's GBP or EUR currency account to recipients in over 60 currencies. Currency conversion (FX markup) is handled automatically within the Payhawk platform, allowing you to pay international supplier invoices or reimburse employees abroad quickly, securely, and in full compliance with international regulations.
Global FX payments in Payhawk are powered by a direct partnership with J.P. Morgan and offer a robust, enterprise-grade solution with improved infrastructure, reliability, and global reach.
Understanding Payhawk's FX markup for global payments
Payhawk helps businesses save on international transfers by offering highly competitive foreign exchange (FX) rates, slightly above the mid-market rate.
What is the mid-market rate?
The mid-market rate is the real-time, "fair" exchange rate shown on platforms like Google or XE.com. It represents the midpoint between the buy and sell rates used by banks, with no hidden fees or markups. Payhawk uses this rate as a transparent benchmark, making it easy for users to compare and verify pricing. You can view the current mid-market rate in real-time via trusted sources like Google Finance.
How Payhawk FX markup works
Payhawk offers competitive and transparent exchange rates:
For the top 9 currencies (EUR, GBP, USD, AUD, CAD, CHF, JPY, NOK, NZD, and SEK), Payhawk applies a fixed 0.30% markup above the mid-market rate, which is significantly lower than the typical 1–3% charged by banks.
For less common currencies, exchange rates remain competitive, although markups may be higher due to market liquidity.
The exact exchange rate is always shown in the system before you confirm a payment. The mid-market rate and any markup are not displayed separately - only the final rate used for the transfer is shown.
Example
When transferring EUR 1,000 to the US, the costs depend on the exchange rate and markup applied. The following explains how it works:
Mid-market rate - Let's say, the baseline exchange rate is EUR 1 = USD 1.10. This means for EUR 1,000 you'd get USD 1,100 without any markup.
Payhawk's rate - Payhawk applies a 0.30% markup above the mid-market rate. This results in an FX rate of approximately EUR 1 = USD 1.0967, resulting in USD 1,096.70 for your EUR 1,000.
Typical bank rate - Banks often apply a 2% markup above the mid-market rate. This gives an effective rate of approximately EUR 1 = USD 1.078, resulting in USD 1,078 for your EUR 1,000.
Savings with Payhawk - By using Payhawk’s lower markup, you save approximately USD 18.70 compared to a typical bank’s rate.
Payhawk's transfer fees and FX markup
Each global FX payment through Payhawk will include both a transfer fee and a foreign exchange (FX) markup, which will be displayed for your review before you confirm the payment.
Transfer fees
The following table outlines the transfer fees applied to global payments for the supported currencies:
Sending currency | Destination | Transfer fee |
EUR, GBP | Local rails | EUR 1 / GBP 0.9 |
EUR, GBP | SWIFT SHA globally, all destination currencies | EUR 3 / GBP 2.5 |
EUR, GBP | SWIFT OUR | Starting from EUR 11 / GBP 9.5 |
FX markup
Payhawk FX rates start at 0.3% markup above the mid-market rate, depending on the currency. For the top 10 most traded currencies, the markup is 0.30%, offering highly competitive rates for the majority of international business payments.
To illustrate how Payhawk global FX payments compares to other providers, consider the following real-world example: paying a USD 3,000 supplier bill from a Payhawk currency account in EUR using SWIFT SHA.
Provider | FX markup (Cost) | Transfer fee (EUR) | Total cost (EUR) |
Payhawk | 0.30% (EUR 8.33) | EUR 3.00 | EUR 11.33 (✅ lowest) |
Wise | 0.53% (EUR 14.72) | EUR 0.00 | EUR 14.72 |
Revolut | 0.60% (EUR 16.67) | EUR 4.17 (0.15%) | EUR 20.84 |
Spendesk | 1.20% (EUR 33.33) | EUR 2.50 | EUR 35.83 |
Global FX payments via local rails
Instead of using the SWIFT network, you can send money through local payment systems in the recipient’s country. This method is cheaper and ideal for low-value, frequent transfers in supported currencies.
With local payment rails, the recipient gets the full amount, there are no intermediary bank fees, which makes such payments a great option for common currencies like SEK, MXN, AUD, SGD, PLN, BGN, HUF, DKK, and RON.
Example
Imagine your company is based in Sweden and has a EUR base currency account in Payhawk. If you need to pay a subcontractor in Sweden (recipient country) in SEK (recipient currency), choose local rails over SWIFT because it’s cheaper for this currency pair.
In this case:
The sender currency will be EUR
The recipient country will be Sweden
The recipient currency will be SEK
The transfer fee will be EUR 1
The FX markup will be 0.30% of the transferred amount
Global FX payments via SWIFT
Global FX payments are typically executed via the SWIFT network, where you can choose the type of bank transfer fee disbursement between SWIFT SHA and SWIFT OUR.
SWIFT SHA
SWIFT SHA (Shared fees; Fees split between sender and recipient) is a global wire transfer where the sender pays their bank’s fees, while the recipient covers any fees charged by their bank. Additional fees from intermediary banks may apply and are usually deducted from the transfer amount.
SWIFT SHA is useful when you're sending to a country or currency that is not covered by local rails, and the recipient expects to cover the charges by their own bank (recipient bank). SWIFT SHA is available globally for all destination currencies.
Transfer fees for global payments made through the SWIFT SHA payment network typically depend on the sender's bank, the intermediary bank, the recipient's bank, the transfer speed, and the destination.
SWIFT OUR
SWIFT OUR (Sender pays all fees) is a global wire transfer where the sender covers all associated fees, including those from intermediary and recipient banks. This ensures the recipient receives the full transfer amount. The total fee is added to the transfer amount at the time of sending.
SWIFT OUR is ideal for contractual payments when the supplier expects to receive the full amount and reimbursements such as high-value transactions, payroll, legal settlements, or supplier terms requiring full delivery.
Transfer fees for global payments made through the SWIFT OUR payment network typically depend on the sender's bank, the intermediary bank, the recipient's bank, the transfer speed, and the destination.
Example
Imagine your company is based in the UK and has a GBP currency account in Payhawk. If you need to pay an invoice to a supplier in Japan in JPY, knowing that the supplier accepts minor deductions from the recipient and intermediary banks, choose SWIFT SHA over SWIFT OUR to save on fees.
In this case:
The sender currency will be GBP
The recipient country will be Japan
The recipient currency will be JPY
The transfer fee will be EUR 3
The FX markup will be 0.30% of the transferred amount
Viewing transfer fees and FX markup
In Payhawk, you can view the FX markup and/or the transfer fees in the following locations:
While confirming the payment details or authorizing the payment, you can view the FX markup and transfer fees in the Payment details > Details section of the expense:
After the payment has been executed, you can view the FX markup and transfer fees for the payment in its Payment section:
