How to receive international payments: 3 top methods
Last updated: 9 March 2026
Getting paid globally shouldn’t affect your profit margins. Here are the 3 best ways to receive international payments.
Key takeaways
- Global sellers face challenges like hidden FX markups, bank fees, slow transfers and messy reconciliation
- Bank transfers are secure but costly, slow and not always scalable for online sellers
- Payment gateways like PayPal and Stripe enable quick setup and customer trust, but may come with high transaction fees and withdrawal delays
- Multi-currency accounts like the World Account let you get paid like a local, hold funds in 15+ currencies and convert only when rates are favourable
Selling globally through platforms like Amazon, eBay, or Shopify opens up growth opportunities, but getting paid from international customers isn’t always simple. Online sellers in Australia and New Zealand often face high fees, slow transfers and forced currency conversions that eat into profits. This blog explores the top 3 ways to receive international payments and why multi-currency accounts are often the top fit for global sellers.
Table of Contents
The challenges of receiving international payments
Here are the most common challenges faced by sellers when receiving international payments
- Marketplace disbursements with hidden conversion markups
When platforms like Amazon, eBay, or Tmall Global pay out your earnings, they often apply their own exchange rates. These rates could include hidden markups higher than mid-market rates, meaning you lose a chunk of your revenue every time funds are converted into your local currency. - Bank transfer fees that reduce profit margins
Traditional banks often charge flat fees or percentage-based charges for incoming international transfers. If you’re dealing with high transaction volumes or smaller payouts, these costs can quickly add up and impact the already thin margins. - Delays in accessing funds impacts cash flow
It’s not uncommon for international payments to take 3-7 business days to clear. For sellers who need to restock inventory, pay suppliers, or reinvest in ad campaigns, such delays can put serious strain on cash flow. - Complications in reconciling payments from multiple platforms
If you’re selling on multiple marketplaces across different regions, you might be receiving payments in various currencies and through different systems. Reconciling all of this with your local accounts can become time-consuming and even prone to errors.
Top methods to receive international payments
1. Bank wire transfers
Bank wire transfers involve sending money electronically from one bank account to another, often using networks like SWIFT for international payments. To receive funds, sellers provide their bank account number, SWIFT/BIC code and sometimes an IBAN, depending on the country. While this is a trusted and established method, it can be a slow and expensive way to move money across borders. You also don’t have any visibility into when you will actually receive the payment after it has been cleared from the sender’s side.
If your business is registered in Australia and you are trying to sell on Amazon US, you would need a USD bank account–which requires a local US address. Moreover, most banks also charge a flat fee for receiving international payments, over the currency conversion fee. These fees can quickly add up as your business grows.
All in all, direct bank transfers make more sense for businesses that rarely receive international payments.
| Pros | Cons |
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2. Payment gateways
Payment gateways like PayPal, Stripe and Square act as intermediaries between customers and sellers. When a buyer makes a purchase, the gateway securely processes the payment (via credit card, debit card, or local wallets) and holds the funds in the seller’s merchant account. Sellers can then withdraw earnings to their linked bank account.
These platforms are popular with e-commerce sellers, freelancers and businesses using Shopify, WooCommerce, or direct-to-consumer websites, because they provide instant integration, global reach and customer trust.
While payment gateways make it easier to offer more payment options to your customers, you will still need a linked bank account or multi-currency account to transfer your collected funds.
The benefit of using a multi-currency account for payment gateways is that you can link different currency accounts for different countries. So you can receive USD sales into a USD account, EUR sales into a EUR account and GBP sales into a GBP account, without being forced into instant conversions at poor rates.
| Pros | Cons |
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3. Multi-currency accounts
A multi-currency account lets you hold, send and receive money in multiple currencies without being forced into automatic conversions. For each currency account, you get a unique bank account number and code which you can use to accept payments like a local. All of these accounts are linked together and accessible through a single login.
Multi-currency accounts are especially beneficial for:
- Sellers who receive payments from multiple global marketplaces (Amazon, eBay, Etsy)
- Businesses that want to pay suppliers directly in their local currency without incurring double conversion costs
- Companies that prefer to repatriate profits back in their base currency strategically instead of being locked into the platform’s conversion timing
The World Account is designed specifically for online sellers scaling into global markets. It allows you to open and manage 15+ local currency accounts in minutes, all from a single dashboard.
With World Account, you can:
- Get paid like a local by customers and marketplaces in the U.S, UK, EU and China
- Hold balances in 15+ currencies, including CNH (Chinese yuan), without forced conversion
- Send free, instant payments to other World Account users
- Pay international suppliers directly in their local currency at competitive exchange rates
- Repatriate funds strategically back to AUD/NZD whenever it suits your business
- Benefit from zero setup fees, no monthly charges and free incoming payments, keeping costs lean.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
- Open 15+ local currency accounts and get paid like a local
- Pay suppliers, partners and staff worldwide in 100+ currencies
- Collect payments for free from 130+ marketplaces and payment gateways, including Amazon, Etsy, PayPal and Shopify
- Take control of spending with the World Card, a business expense card that saves you more with 1% cashback. Learn more
- Save with competitive exchange rates on currency conversions and transfers
- Lock in exchange rates for up to 24 months for cash flow certainty
Choose the best way to receive international payments
When it comes to receiving international payments, you don’t need to choose just one method and stick to it. Many growing businesses use a mix of all three: bank transfers for occasional large payments, payment gateways for quick online sales and multi-currency accounts to manage and optimise global earnings.
By combining them, you can keep your costs lean, maintain flexibility and ensure customers always have a convenient way to pay.
Disclaimer: The information contained is general only and largely our views. Before acting on the information you should consider whether it is appropriate for you, in light of your objectives, financial situation or needs. Although information has been obtained from and is based upon multiple sources the author believes to be reliable, we do not guarantee its accuracy and it may be incomplete or condensed. All opinions, estimates, mentioned products/services and referenced material constitute the author’s own judgement as of the date of the briefing and are subject to change without notice. WorldFirst shall not be responsible for any losses or damages arising from your reliance of such information.
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