Best Ways For UK Firms To Take US Dollar Payments

Selling to US customers? Getting paid in dollars can boost your sales — but the route you choose can eat into your profits. Here’s a clear guide to six providers and what they really cost. GoCardless makes recurring billing straightforward and plugs into more than 350 platforms such as Xero, Salesforce and Sage. Charges are 2 per cent plus 20p per transaction, and the Standard account has no monthly fee. It’s a good fit for subscriptions and repeat invoices, and it uses Wise for currency conversion. Airwallex offers a Global Account that lets you collect funds using local clearing systems, then hold and convert in a multi-currency wallet. There are no collection fees and conversion is about 0.5 per cent — handy for firms handling many different currencies. Braintree (part of PayPal) supports payments via Venmo, Google Pay and Apple Pay, not just PayPal. Its headline cost is 1.9 per cent plus 20p, with an extra 1.5 per cent for multi-currency transactions; conversion follows your bank’s rate if you only have a single-currency setup. You can present or settle in several currencies and add merchant accounts to experiment in test environments. Wise for Business pitches significant savings versus PayPal — an example in their materials shows receiving $2,000 to GBP costing nothing with Wise while PayPal would charge about £66.88. There’s a £50 account opening fee and incoming USD wires carry a $6.11 fee; dollars can be received without conversion charges, though holding limits apply. Wise suits freelancers and very small firms. Stripe displays prices in your customer’s preferred currency and supports 135+ currencies. UK card charges are 1.4 per cent plus 20p (1.1 per cent for EEA cards) and international cards 3.25 per cent plus 20p; conversion adds around 2 per cent. It offers separate balances per currency, so dollars can sit in a USD balance rather than being auto-converted. Payoneer gives you local receiving accounts so clients pay you as if you had a local bank; transfers between balances incur a flat 0.5 per cent. Receiving from other Payoneer users and some receiving accounts can be free, but direct USD card payments typically cost 3 per cent (1 per cent via ACH). It’s often chosen by freelancers, marketplace sellers and holiday-let hosts. Bottom line: match your choice to how you’re paid. If you run subscriptions, pick recurring-focused tools; if you sell on marketplaces, favour platforms that work with those networks; if you want minimal conversion pain, use multi-currency balances and shop rates closely. --- Managing your business finances? TaxAce provides smart online accountancy services for UK businesses with flexible monthly plans. Image and reporting: https://smallbusiness.co.uk | Read original article