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How to pay international suppliers: 6 methods
Last update: 11 Jul 2025
If you’re looking for ways to pay international suppliers, you’ve probably already encountered the following challenges:
- You’re paying too much for your transactions, either in card fees, transaction fees, account fees, FX fees or all of the above, and you want a way to reduce your costs. Plus, your current bank, credit card, or alternative payment solution may not be very transparent about their fees at all.
- Your payments are taking too long, and it might be hurting your relationships with suppliers or delaying your inventory shipments. You may not be getting the best deals, or you may be at risk of restocking issues due to inability to pay for inventory fast enough.
- Exchange rates fluctuate, and it’s harder to keep cash flow steady or maintain margins when stock becomes too costly. Instead, you need ways to keep procurement cost effective regardless of what the market is up to.
- You want to find new, more affordable suppliers, especially in China, but you can’t do this without a local bank account or a way to pay in CNH. You might also need help with the complexities of finding and paying Chinese suppliers too.
In this article, we’ll share what you need to know about how to pay international suppliers, including:
- Six ways to pay international suppliers
- Why choose WorldFirst as a multi-currency account
- How WorldFirst helps you find suppliers too
- How to set up a World Account
- Case study: How Bantam Materials pays suppliers to recycle plastic with WorldFirst
Ready to start paying international suppliers the easy way? Open a WorldFirst Account now.
6 ways to pay international suppliers
There are a number of different ways to pay suppliers abroad. Here are six of the most common options, and how they compare:
| Payment Method | Typical Settlement Time | Average Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-currency account | Same-day to 1–2 business days | Low to moderate fees (often <£10 per transfer or 0.3–1%), favourable FX rates |
| Credit card | Instant to 1 business day | High fees: 1–3% foreign transaction + FX markup; interest if not paid in full |
| International wire transfer | 2–6 business days | High fees: £10–£40+ per transfer, plus FX markup (1–3%) and intermediary fees |
| Overseas bank account | Same-day to 1–2 business days | Low local transfer fees; high setup/maintenance costs (entity setup, tax, etc.) |
| PayPal | Instant to 1 business day | Very high: ~5% transaction + 3–4% FX + cross-border fees |
| Cryptocurrency | Seconds to minutes (24/7) | Low to moderate: network fees vary (~£0.01–£5), but Stablecoins often cheaper |
1. Multi-currency accounts (like WorldFirst)
Best for: international businesses that need a scalable solution with ways to hold, pay, receive, convert and manage multiple currencies.
Settlement time: Same-day to 1–2 business days, depending on currency and destination.
A multi-currency account enables businesses to collect, hold and transact in multiple currencies, all from the same platform. Many of these products also offer you local account details for each currency, without you needing to have a local address or business entity. Plus, multi-currency accounts may also offer other perks, like virtual payment cards, and faster ways to make cross-border payments.Typically, a multi-currency account is one of the easiest and most affordable ways to pay overseas suppliers.
Pros of using a multi-currency account:
- With local account details, you can take advantage of local payment rails – which allow you to make faster payments in your suppliers’ preferred currencies
- There are usually a variety of international payment and transfer methods, at different price points for different countries and speeds
- You can typically apply and manage your account entirely online, without waiting for long approval times or having to call and speak to representatives
- You only ever need to go through one account application process in order to receive, hold, pay and transfer between many different currencies
- Some multi-currency accounts don’t charge setup fees, monthly fees or fees just to hold currency and keep your account open
- You also often get access to more favourable exchange rates, usually with lower fees that traditional banks
- Many accounts also have flexible currency and risk management solutions, such as spot trades, firm orders and forward contracts, which can help you target the best exchange rates
- Many platforms easily integrate with finance and accounting software, and let you make batch payments to multiple suppliers at once
- Some also offer credit or debit cards and free payments to other account holders
Cons of using a multi-currency account
- Some accounts may charge monthly fees, setup fees or fees to hold funds
- Some accounts don’t support as many currencies as you would like, or won’t have the ones you intend to transact in
- Some accounts charge higher markups on currency conversions than others
2. Payment cards
Best for: smaller sellers who are more concerned about early-stage growth than cost optimisation, and aren’t worried about high transaction fees. Cards are convenient, and some can offer ways to increase cash flow if you don’t have a lot of startup capital.
Settlement time: Instant to one business day, depending on card network and merchant setup.
Credit cards are one of the fastest ways to pay internationally, since transactions are instant or near-instant. Unlike some other payment methods, you don’t need to worry as much about cash flow problems, since you don’t need funds on hand in order to transact.
Pros of using cards:
- You don’t need your supplier’s banking details in order to make payments, so it can be a little easier to earn their trust
- With some cards, you can earn cashback, points or miles on your purchases.
- You may be able to take advantage of B2B buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) options (eg. Resolve, TreviPay, Mondu), where you pay for inventory in installments, if your suppliers offer it
- Built-in fraud protection can prevent you from falling victim to scams and get funds back if goods aren’t delivered
- When paying with a card, you don’t have to handle currency conversion, because the card network does it for you
Cons of using cards:
- Transaction fees for international payments and currency conversion can be a lot higher than other options, averaging around 1–3%
- With credit cards specifically, you have to pay interest, plus penalties if you don’t pay your balance on time
- Vendors don’t always accept cards, or might not accept the card scheme you use
3. International wire transfers
Best for: Businesses that need to pay in minor currencies or work with suppliers who don’t have another way to receive funds. They can also be a good choice for businesses who deal in high-value, low-volume supplier transactions (where security is more important than cost).
Settlement time: Typically, 2–6 business days, depending on number of intermediaries and destination.
Also called bank wires, international wire transfers are arranged through your bank, and sent to the recipient’s bank account. They’re performed using networks like SWIFT or SEPA that pass information about the transaction across borders.
Pros of international wire transfers:
- International wire transfers are considered a secure and reliable option
- Almost all banks offer international wire transfers
- You may be able to make payments online or on a mobile app
- Major currencies can settle relatively quickly
Cons of international wire transfers:
- Wire transfers often pass through several intermediaries in order to get to the receiving bank, which means it take up to six days for international transfers to clear (e.g. with SWIFT)
- International wire transfers are expensive, and can involve lots of of different fees, like a transfer charge, exchange rate, currency conversion fees and possible third party fees
- Larger payments may require you to visit a bank branch in-person
4. Overseas bank account
Best for: Large, multinational enterprises with the time, capital and legal infrastructure to establish local entities abroad. Small businesses that transact frequently with just one or two other countries.
Settlement time: Same-day to 1–2 business days, using local payment rails.
Some businesses may wish to set up overseas bank accounts with traditional banks abroad. These businesses may benefit from the stability, compliance support, and full-service offerings of traditional banking systems in each region.
If you’re a small business that transacts frequently with a particular country, or have employees there, one overseas account may make sense for your business. Or, if you’re a very large enterprise, you may need to set up entities in multiple countries.
Pros of overseas bank accounts:
- Local presence, address and local account details in the regions where you need to do business
- Take advantage of local payrails to make faster payments
- Lower or no transaction fees, since you’re often paying/receiving in local currency
- Substantial support for complex business needs and regulatory compliance
- Built-in fraud prevention measures and customer support
Cons of overseas bank accounts:
- You usually need to establish a local business entity or register your business with local authorities in order to open an account
- In most cases, you need to make an in-person appointment to open the account. Plus, applying for an account can require a lot of documentation and long waiting periods for verification
- Language barriers and cultural differences can sometimes lead to miscommunication or confusion
- You may encounter additional tax complications and reporting requirements
- For rapidly-scaling global businesses with lean margins, like e-commerce sellers, establishing a local presence in each country you do business with isn’t feasible
Find out more: How to open a USD business account as a non-US resident
- Open 20+ 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
- Save with competitive exchange rates on currency conversions and transfers
- Lock in exchange rates for up to 24 months for cash flow certainty
5. PayPal
Best for: Small businesses, dropshippers and sole proprietors with modest transaction volumes (a few dozen a month), or those who are making small MOQ orders with new suppliers.
Settlement time: Instant to one business day, if no compliance or fraud flags.
PayPal can be one of the simplest payment methods to set up, and payments are generally instant. If you and your suppliers have (or create) PayPal accounts, you can pay them directly through the platform. Unfortunately, high fees – especially for larger transactions – can make PayPal unsustainable for long-term business use.
Pros:
- Strong buyer protections and dispute resolution make PayPal a good choice for first-time purchases. For example, it might make sense when you’re making a small sample order with a prospective supplier and need to ensure that they’re trustworthy
- Just about anyone can get an account and start sending or receiving payments, with little more than an email address and some basic business information
- Built-in integrations make it easy to sync with software like QuickBooks for simplified accounting
Cons:
- It can get very expensive. PayPal charges a percentage-based fee (typically 5%+), plus a fee for currency conversion (typically 3%+ above the base exchange rate), and a cross-border fee. The higher your transaction volume, or the larger your transactions are, the more you end up paying
- PayPal sets its own conversion rates, which can be much higher than market rates and much less favourable than other alternatives – and that’s before you add on any fees. For example, on June 13, 2025, the mid-market rate (MMR) was 0.74 GBP to 1.00 USD, but PayPal was showing .77 GBP to 1.00 USD
- Transfer limits – per-transaction, per day, and per month – can make it impractical or impossible to make larger payments
- Some suppliers may be hesitant to use PayPal because chargeback processes occasionally favour the buyer, which can temporarily restrict access to their funds
- Transactions can be flagged due to compliance issues or if they seem suspicious. When this happens, PayPal holds the funds until review is complete, which can be disastrous for time-sensitive payments
- Some countries have high withdrawal fees or limited support for PayPal
6. Cryptocurrency
Best for: Tech-forward, on-trend startups with good risk tolerance – especially those who can earn clout with followers for adopting crypto. Also, companies who trade in high-risk regions or industries where many suppliers are unbanked.
Settlement time: Seconds to minutes, for most networks.
Cryptocurrency is increasingly being seen as a viable alternative for paying international suppliers. Established global players like Visa and Meta, for example, are exploring the use of stablecoins for cross-border payments.
Pros of cryptocurrency
- Payments are instant or near-instant and transactions can be processed 24/7
- Since there can be fewer intermediaries involved, fees are often lower
- Some people feel that cryptocurrency offers more privacy because transactions are stored pseudonymously on the blockchain
- Complex encryption and decryption algorithms, passwords, multi-factor authentication and a decentralized network can make it much more difficult for anyone to hack or manipulate transaction records
Cons of cryptocurrency
- There’s a high learning curve. You have to compare different currencies, set up a crypto wallet, figure out how to add funds, understand how to safely store your keys, and more
- Payments are generally irreversible, with no fraud or dispute resolution systems
- Mistakes can mean disaster. If you send a payment to the wrong crypto wallet, you can’t reverse the transaction, and those funds might be gone forever
- Crypto can be volatile, though some currencies are pegged to steadier currencies like USD
- There’s still a lot of regulatory uncertainty, and crypto is a legal gray area in many countries. As regulations increase, prices and fees have the potential to increase as well (due to increased demand and more involvement from intermediaries)
Why choose WorldFirst as a multi-currency account
One of the simplest and most versatile ways to pay international suppliers is with a multi-currency account provider like WorldFirst.
Since 2004, we’ve been developing simple, secure global payment solutions to fuel business growth worldwide, supporting over a million customers and handling over USD300 billion in transaction volume.
When you open a WorldFirst account, you can:
- Make fast, secure payments in 100+ currencies to 210+ countries and pay suppliers in their preferred currencies
- Transfer funds, with 80% of transfers arriving on the same day
- Get local account details in 20+ currencies, so you can take advantage of domestic payment networks for faster transfers
Here are some more ways a World Account makes it easier to pay international suppliers:
Save money on fees and conversion rates when paying suppliers
A multi-currency World Account is one of the most affordable ways to pay suppliers.
Unlike other multi-currency accounts and traditional bank accounts, we don’t charge monthly fees just to keep your account open. It’s also completely free to open your account and hold the funds you use to pay suppliers.
When it’s time to make a payment, withdrawal or transfer, we’re clear and transparent about our pricing and fees. For international payments, we charge a low rate, making it more affordable to pay at scale.
WorldFirst uses the mid-market rate to calculate currency conversions, plus a small, transparent markup. Our fees are at or below 0.50% for major currencies like GBP, USD, AUD, NZD, EUR and JPY.
Send funds faster with international transfers, local payment rails and spot contracts
WorldFirst helps you build trust with your suppliers by offering faster ways to pay internationally. Reliable, on-time payments mean more leverage to negotiate better deals, and help you keep your cash flow and inventory steady.
Most of our international payments take fewer than three working days to settle, with a large percentage arriving on the same day. For even faster payments, you can use your World Card (see below), or make free instant payments between World Accounts in the same currency.
If you need to make a payment immediately in a foreign currency, you can also take advantage of spot contracts. With a spot contract, you agree to a live market rate and make your payment “on the spot”.
WorldFirst also helps you speed up your payments with mass payment functionality, enabling you to send up to 200 payments at once. This helps avoid administrative delays that can further slow down your supplier payments. And with real-time notifications, you can let your suppliers track payments, so they never have to wonder when their funds will arrive.
Target and lock-in the exchange rates you want with forward contracts
With WorldFirst, a forward contract lets you lock in a specific exchange rate for up to 24 months, to give you long term resilience against currency fluctuations and help you keep supplier payments consistent.
- There are three types of forward contract:
- Fixed forward: Lock in a rate today for a fixed amount, payable on a specific future date
- Flexible forward: Lock in a rate with the flexibility to use it at any point before the contract ends
- Window forward: Use a locked-in rate within a range of dates, helpful for unpredictable cash flows
You can use forward contracts to secure rates for future invoices, making it easier to calculate inventory expenses. Forward contracts can also protect you from currency fluctuations when you commit to ongoing supplier payments, and help you maintain profit margins when you can’t change your pricing.
Simplify payments and save more with your World Card
A World Card is one of the easiest ways to pay suppliers faster and save more. You can use this multi-currency virtual card to make instant payments anywhere Mastercard is accepted, to save on foreign exchange fees and get cashback.
World Cards are free for all World Account holders – simply apply from your account dashboard in a few clicks for instant access to virtual card details. You can use your World Card to pay suppliers directly in 150+ major currencies across 200+ countries, with zero FX fees in 15 major currencies (including GBP, USD, EUR and CNH) from your World Account balance.
Your World Card is ideal for supplier and vendor payments, as well as operational expenses, software and SaaS subscriptions, travel and logistics, seller fees, ads and marketing. You can get multiple cards (up to 20) for multiple expense categories, or assign different cards to different suppliers, to help track spending and simplify accounting.
You’ll also be able to issue additional team cards to your employees soon, so you can track and manage their spending from your World Account login.
With 3D Secure (3DS), Address Verification System (AVS), and other security features, your World Card is one of the safest ways to pay. Your World Account dashboard lets you instantly freeze or cancel cards at any time, in case of fraud, theft, or unauthorised transactions.
How World First helps you find international suppliers too
Finding suppliers in China can be challenging without contacts on the ground, language fluency, or ways to pay in local currency. But WorldFirst opens access to a treasure trove of suppliers, via our direct integration with 1688.com, China’s leading online wholesale and manufacturing marketplace.
Previously available to international businesses only via complex workarounds, direct integration with 1688.com is now available exclusively through WorldFirst. The platform boasts 10 million registered suppliers in 1,700 categories, with prices up to 40% lower than other online marketplaces. With 1688.com, you can take advantage of smaller MOQs to test suppliers, or use bulk purchases to save more money and scale your business rapidly.
Plus, 1688.com lets you pay suppliers instantly, in CNH, directly from your World Account dashboard. Our secure, compliant system lets you pay suppliers in seconds, and get your inventory faster.
Find out more: How to source wholesale using 1688.com outside China
How to set up a World Account
It couldn’t be simpler to set up a World Account and start paying international suppliers.
To get started:
- Visit our Sign up page
- Share some information about yourself and your business, such as your company name, director names and registered offices
- Submit all of the necessary verification documents
- Start paying international suppliers online
Note: You can use our official Help Centre guide if you need additional information.
How Bantam Materials pays suppliers to recycle plastic with WorldFirst
For 20 years, Bantam Materials, a recycled materials supply business, has been keeping plastic out of the world’s oceans and waterways. They’ve recycled over 10 billion bottles, and spent over a decade working closely with coastal communities in developing countries.
Bantam Materials partners with bottle collectors, collection centres and local recyclers, using a social entrepreneurship model. Operating in countries that lack a strong banking structure, they need a strong alternative way to make payment. And because their business relies so heavily on local community partners, their payments need to be fast and reliable.
Using WorldFirst, Bantam is able to send more than USD100,000 a day into developing countries, paying suppliers and communities easily and at speed, at competitive rates.
Read the full case study here: Bantam Materials and the fight against ocean plastics pollution
Get flexible, reliable international supplier payments with WorldFirst
A WorldFirst multi-currency account gives you more ways to pay international suppliers in their preferred currencies. With a World Account, virtual World Card, and direct access to 1688.com, you can choose the supplier payment methods that work best for you.
Your World Account gives you the secure, reliable cross-border transactions you need to scale your business globally. With WorldFirst, you can count on fast payments that lead to stronger relationships and a steady flow of inventory.
Create a WorldFirst account for free today.
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