Global FX payments in Payhawk

Global FX payments in Payhawk refer to cross-border transactions made from your company's GBP or EUR base currency account to recipients in over 60 currencies. Currency conversion is handled automatically within the platform, allowing you to pay international supplier invoices or reimburse employees abroad quickly, securely, and in full compliance with international regulations.

Each global FX payment will include both a transfer fee and a foreign exchange (FX) fee, which will be displayed for you to see before confirming the payment, as demonstrated in the following table.

While Global FX payments are typically executed via the SWIFT payment scheme infrastructure, local payment networks are a cost-efficient method of sending money through domestic payment systems in the recipient's country, bypassing the SWIFT network. They are best for low-value, high-count transfers in supported currencies when low fees matter more than the transfer speed.

By using local payment rails, the recipient receives the full amount without any deductions from intermediary bank fees, making it ideal for the most common destinations and currencies such as Polish zloty (PLN), Danish krone (DKK), Australian dollars (AUD), and more.

Transfer fees for global payments made through the local payment networks typically depend on the sender's bank executing the payment and range between EUR 1 to EUR 5 per transaction.

Imagine your company is based in Germany and has a EUR base currency account in Payhawk. If you need to pay a subcontractor in Poland (recipient country) in PLN (recipient currency), choose local rails over SWIFT because it’s cheaper for this currency pair.

In this case:

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 (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 own 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 destination, and range between EUR 1 to EUR 5 per transaction.

Imagine your company is based in the UK and has a GBP base currency account in Payhawk. If you need to pay an invoice to a supplier in Hong Kong in HKD, 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:

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 destination, and range between EUR 10 to EUR 20 per transaction.

Imagine your company is based in Spain and has a EUR base currency account in Payhawk. If you need to reimburse an employee located in Singapore in SGD, choose SWIFT OUR to make sure the full amount gets to the recipient.

In this case:

In Payhawk, you can view the FX and/or transfer fees in the following locations: