If you own, manage, or manage the finances of a business at any size (from SMEs to larger multi-national corporations), then you should know that business FX management is crucial for you. If you have been wondering whether your business is paying too much on currency exchange or business payments, it’s almost certain that it does. Banks do service corporations using their corporate FX desks, but those services are reserved for businesses of a certain size; other sectors are oftetimes neglected.

Small businesses in the UK, USA, EU countries, Australia, HK, Singapore and many other countries are paying too much fees on inbound and outbound international business transactions, not protecting their business against fx movements, don’t optimise their business fx payments strategy, don’t have access to fully functional payment online systems but worse than all have nowhere friendly to go for guidance.

Our small business & corporate foreign exchange guide wishes to change that. We list the best business fx services and offer a market overview.

Best Business FX 🔓

#1

Moneycorp: Highest Level of Credibility, Best Business FX Overall

Moneycorp Review

Headquarters:

Zig Zag Building, 70 Victoria St, Westminster, London SW1E 6SQ

99.4% Editorial rating

7,000 Client Reviews

Minimum transfer:

£250 or equivalent

Why Them?

• Operating Since 1979 - First Commercial FX Firm
• Corporate FX Specialists
• Great Online Platform, Tailored for SMEs
• Many Consumer and Business Awards
• Widest Selection of FX Hedging Tools
• Best Credit Score by D&B

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#2

Currencies Direct: Excellent Service and Very Functional Online System

Currencies Direct Review

Headquarters:

1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5AA

97.8% Editorial rating

7,500 Client Reviews

Minimum transfer:

£100

Why Them?

• Large Transfers and Bespoke Business Transfer Specialists with 4.5/5 Rating on TrustPilot (5,000+ Reviews)
• Industry Leader with £10bn in Annual Turnover
• Batch Payments and Forward Contracts Online
• Risk Management including Rate Alerts and Forwards
• Most Global Offices in the Industry
• Easy On-Boarding Process
• No Transfer Fees and Great Rates
• Accepts Private Clients and Business Clients of Any Requirement
• Smooth Online and System

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#3

TorFX: Friendliest Business Currency Broker in the Industry

TorFX Review

Headquarters:

St Mary's Terrace, Penzance, Cornwall, TR18 4DZ

93.2% Editorial rating

5,500 Client Reviews

Minimum transfer:

£1,000

Why Them?

• Personal, Friendly Service
• High TrustPilot Rating
• Regular Market Updates
• Expert Guidance by Veteran Dealers
• Excellent Hedging Offering for Businesses
• Property Transaction Specialists

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#4

Global Reach Group: Excellent Client Feedback, Friendly & Professional

Global Reach Group Review

Headquarters:

Woolgate Exchange, 25 Basinghall St, London EC2V 5HA

90.6% Editorial rating

1,000 Client Reviews

Minimum transfer:

£1,000 or equivalent

Why Them?

• 99% Positive Customer Feedback
• Known for Great Currency Guidance
• Highly Usable and Friendly Website
• Operating for 15+ Years
• Result of a Merger of two Leading Companies in the Money Transfer Space, One was Fully Dedicated to Corporate Foreign Exchange

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#5

OFX: Best Online System for Business FX, Publicly Traded

OFX Review

Local UK Offices:

The White Chapel Building, 10 Whitechapel High St, London, E1 8QS

90.4% Editorial rating

1,500 Client Reviews

Minimum transfer:

£100 or equivalent

Why Them?

• Traded Publicly on the Australian Stock Exchange
• Massive Staff
• Spotless Reputation for 20 Years
• Ultra Professional System with High Level of Functionality
• Very Tight Margins
• Transparent Rates on the Online System

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#6

Halo Financial: Excellent Currency Predictions

Halo Financial Review

Headquarters:

Battersea Studios 2, 82 Silverthorne Rd, Nine Elms, London SW8 3HE

87.3% Editorial rating

100 Client Reviews

Minimum transfer:

£1,000

Why Them?

• Feefo 2020 Platinum Trusted Provider
• Excellent Website and Online Flow
• Highly Professional
• 15+ Years of Experience
• Spot-On Currency Predictions

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#7

Worldfirst: Best MultiCurrency Account, Fixed Rates

WorldFirst Money Transfer Review

Headquarters:

Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP, UK

95.4% Editorial rating

7,000 Client Reviews

Minimum transfer:

£1,000/€1,000 or equivilent

Why Them?

• Best Rates: Fixed FX Spreads of 0.1% – 0.5%.
• Authorized by 6 Global Regulators
• Asian Currency Specialists
• Excellent Multi-Currency Offering for Online Sellers
• Operating for 15+ Years
• Owned by Ant Financial, a Global Payments Giant
• Courteous Staff
• Largest Selection of Currencies
• Does not Accept USA-Based Clients

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… Both of the above will be addressed below and will put a particular focus on how FX hedging works (and who can use it) and drill down into one particular hedging tool that is essential in a corporate/SME foreign exchange strategy: the currency (FX) forward, which enables businesses to lock current exchange rates for years to come and mitigate related fx risks. Don’t worry though; if you aren’t into understanding the technical bits of business FX strategy, our top-rated business payment specialists below also offer a fully managed fx treasury management service.

What Is Business FX? What Do Corporate FX Specialist Offer?

Business FX is an inclusive name for foreign exchange (foreign currency) management, payments and hedging. Corporate FX specialists, although their name might suggestion are reserved only for mega-corporations, are a sub-type of currency brokerages which offer such services (fx payments, hedging and management in the form of multi-currency accounts) to business of any size (at least the ones we have listed on our page and marked as the best business fx services).

Which Businesses Save Most Money By Using an FX Service??

Here are a few examples of the type of businesses which can benefit, and save money, by using a specialist for their foreign exchange business payments, management and hedging.

• Businesses which are making a big purchase abroad (or are being purchased in foreign currency)
• Businesses owned by multi-nationals with multiple bank accounts
• Businesses that have suppliers abroad
• Businesses that have employees aborad (to use for Global Payrolls)
• Businesses which get paid in foreign currency
• Businesses whose profits are impacted by foreign currency movements and wish to mitigate that
• Businesses that need to pay a commitment in foreign currency (instalments or one-off payment in the future)
• Business in property and especially property abroad / mortgages abroad
• Franchise stores with branches abroad
• Online stores and private sellers
• Sport clubs
• NGOs

Do I need to Use a Foreign Exchange Service?

Here are some of the more common usages business fx services can handle successfully:

• Make one-off business payments overseas, exchange your base currency to the currency you need, while being able to avoid a SWIFT (meaning it gets there quicker and easier).
• Make transfers to suppliers, providers, employees, affiliated companies or any other b2b overseas payment – online or via phone.
• Do payroll payments in an automated or non-automated manner.
• Hedge currency risks by offering sophisticated FX hedging derivatives (most importantly a Currency Forward Contract).
• Get guidance about the best timing to make large currency exchanges for your business.
• Make invoicing international clients smoother and cheaper.

In a post-COVID globalised village, there are many small and medium businesses who can use a business foreign exchange service, as well as corporations who can benefit from the rates and added values in corporate foreign foreign exchange. Even the smallest business, as long as it has suppliers, employees, or business partners abroad – can benefit from using the service, and avoid the cumbersomeness and archaism that banks still encompass within their international business payments experience.

In fact, the majority of the UK currency brokerage services businesses started off as strictly corporation-facing and have expanded over time into smaller businesses and private clients, understanding that the service gap and dissatisfaction with traditional high-street banking can appeal to more than just corporate customers.

For corporations, the value add versus traditional banks is easy to comprehend and convey. Some banks, even posh and trendy banks like Virgin Money, don’t even have international business payments enabled as a part of their online system. That means that corporations which are making constant international b2b payments in foreign currency are going to suffer through a lot of hassle. In addition to that, unless your corporation is big enough to meet the requirements to have direct access to the FX trading floor, you are likely to be serviced by a banker rather than an FX specialist or a corporate FX dealer, which means you are going to have far less guidance than with specialised business FX services, and not have access to FX hedging tools. In fact, the larger and more specialised brokerages offer a full on FX risk management service.

Corporations which are looking specifically at recruiting abroad and need more of a comprehensive solution like a global Employer of Record / PEO will not find that with any of the business foreign exchange specialists listed on this page – they deal (and are regulated to deal) only with payments.

For small businsses, the main thing is savings. Getting a much better exchange rate (in addition to all of the above i.e. great service and access to hedging) is pivotal and can have a serious impact on their foreign exchange. If you look at our best foreign exchange rate comparison you could see how Worldfirst rates moves between margins of 0.15% and 0.5% of each transaction without any transfer fee, whereas Natwest Bank or Lloyd’s or even challenger bank Monese would be significantly more expensive. Virgin Bank would take a 2.5% off each transaction below £25,000 for example.

For online sellers, the key thing would have to be multi-currency accounts supplied by the best business FX providers, such USD accounts, EUR accounts, JPY accounts or AUD accounts (there are more options!) will made available to qualified businesses and sole-traders who sell online and they could send and RECEIVE payments into them. That means that they won’t have to receive payments from partners like Amazon or eBay through their own highly expensive currency exchange payment programme (Amazon can charge 4% on currency exchanges, PayPal can charge close to 5%).

Best Business FX Service

Snapshot of the top 3 services for business fx payments; Updated for June 2023

• Supported Currencies: 120.
• Clients From: Globally with offices in UK, USA, France, Spain, Ireland, Australia, HK, UAE, Brazil, Gibraltar and Romania.
• Authorised? Yes, by the FCA.
• Guidance / Dedicated Dealer: Yes.
• Online System: Yes, including an app.
• Strong Point: Credibility, Reputation, Liquidity, Level of Service, Best Credit Rating among Peers.
• Operating Since 1979 and Maintaining Excellent Reputation Since. An Industry Leader.
• Rating:
  4.6 /5 on Feefo

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  Editorial (Corporate): 99.4%
• MoneyCorp Review

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• Supported Currencies: 59.
• Clients From: Globally , with the exception of certain U.S states. Offices in UK, EU, USA, Canada, China, South Africa and India.
• Authorised? Yes, by the FCA.
• Guidance / Dedicated Dealer: Yes.
• Online System: Yes, including an app.
• Strong Point: Superb Service, Experienced Dealers, Batch payments, Forward contracts, Multi-Currency Wallets and Rate Alerts.
• One of the leading currency brokerages turning over £7.5bn annually.
• Rating:
  4.8 / 5 on TrustPilot

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  Editorial: 97.8%
• Currencies Direct Review

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• Supported Currencies: 121.
• Clients From: Only accepts corporate clients & does not accept U.S businesses.
• Authorised? Yes, by the FCA.
• Guidance / Dedicated Dealer: Yes.
• Online System: Yes, including an app.
• Strong Point: Exchange Rate Margins of 0.25%-0.15% for Large Turnovers.
• Trading more than $7bn each year.
• Rating:
  9.8 /10 on Feefo

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  Editorial: 91.4%
• World First Review

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How to Choose a Business Foreign Exchange Specialist?

How to Analyse a Corporate FX Offering?📋

All Inclusive List of All Currency Services with Foreign Exchange Functionalities

This is a list updated for 2023 of all the providers we have reviewed who which offer a business foreign exchange service.

 Please note: foreign exchange companies are not online payment processing gateways. They can be used to send and receive bank payments: b2b payments abroad, or receiving money from a business abroad. They cannot be used as a direct mean to accept payments from customers.

Small Business Foreign Exchange Survey

Key findings from a UK-facing survey conducted in 2016 by WorldFirst, one of UK’s best rated foreign exchange companies for business, dealing with FX are available below. A lot has changed in the world over this time span, but it is difficult to find additional credible sources. We believe there’s a reason to believe there are more UK corporations and small businesses which are using specialist business fx providers than in 2016.

The survey found that:

🔥 6 Tips to Maximise your Business Foreign Exchange & International Business Payments 🔥

Here are 6 absolutely critical factors to consider before making a contractual commitment to exchange one currency for another, based on the experience of George Tchetvertakov, a 10-year veteran in the foreign exchange space. His diverse experience includes editorial and writing roles in publications such as Finance Magnets, alongside roles in FX firms like Head of Market Research at Alpari UK and Business Development Executive at Moneycorp UK.

Know who you are dealing with

Before getting overexcited about the ultra-competitive currency transaction rate you are being offered, you may want to ask the question, ‘With whom am I doing business?’.

In the corporate foreign exchange world, this question carries a lot more traction and will take you a lot further in search of a reliable corporate FX broker. The not-so-often-spoken truth about foreign exchange at all levels is that entities often do business under the financial authorisation of another entity, under so-called ‘affiliate’ or ‘white-label’ agreements, depending on the FX niche in question.
To ensure that you know the full story of the company to whom you will be potentially transferring millions of dollars with the expectation of a currency exchange, make sure you carry out a full due diligence check on the company you have earmarked and check its financial market status through our website.

Each business money transfer provider will also have their own banking partners whom they hold their accounts with, purchase currency and use for business payment delivery. It’s important to understand which bank partners your FX provider works with and if these are reliable too, before making a call on the best business FX service.

Timing is everything

This is an obvious one that’s often forgotten. Many corporations jump into conducting a currency transaction  with a spot transfer when needs demand it, rather than when it’s most advantageous to do so and utilising a forward contract.

This usually comes down to an oversight or simply being faced with unforeseen circumstances, or merely being ignorant that better rates even exist. This can be simply removed from the equation by having a reliable and proactive fx provider already waiting, having completed the account-opening process beforehand.

The Ins and Outs

Knowing exactly what has been (or is about to be) contractually agreed is important, as is knowing exactly what the expected currency transaction will look like. Keeping a close eye on the specifics of the deal, such as currency exchange rate, due date, country where nominated bank account is held, and associated bank fees is essential to the deal maintaining legal integrity and for costly clerical mistakes to be avoided.

In modern times, recommended business foreign exchange operators routinely offer online portal functionality, allowing corporate users to log in and track all the details of their transactions. Being able to use and understand these tools can be more difficult than first believed, however, especially if the corporate entity does not routinely engage in financial market transactions. Have an explore through your providers online portal and set-up (but don’t complete!) test payments of varying amounts to better understand the fees involved for say a £10k international business payment vs a £1m payment.

It is easy to forget that currency transactions with some brokers are filled with jargon that may not be easily understood by firms outside of the financial services industry. For this exact reason, we have established MoneyTransferComparison.com, which does all the hard work for its readers.

Mitigating risk, reducing the cost

What a corporate FX B2B payment can cost is not solely limited to the commission fees that have been agreed upon. There are also tangible and intangible costs that all businesses, regardless of size, should consider when conducting a currency transaction.

Of the tangible variety, there is a transaction cost in the form of commissions or flat fees, including as-yet-unseen bank charges. There is also the possibility of interest-bearing charges upon late delivery (particularly in the case of regular international business payments).

In the intangible corner, there is an outside chance of a international currency brokers not being able to carry out the transaction, despite the agreement made. This could well mean legal expenses and delays in obtaining the expected funds, or any funds at all.

It cannot be emphasized enough how important due diligence is when opening a currency account — especially corporate accounts where many of the protections afforded to private individuals are not forthcoming. Meanwhile, operators of start-ups and small-sized businesses often make the mistake of acting as a corporate entity, believing they have the commercial rights of an individual.

The larger the expected volume of trading, the larger the risk mitigation should be in the form of professional due diligence.

Relative or absolute

The best business currency rates do not always come from the same fx company. Very often, one provider will have the best rate one day, and another will have it the day after. Therefore, one consideration worth making is asking just how competitive your current rates actually are. This may be routine for financial sector firms, but for real-estate agents, import/export companies and shipping agents, as just a few examples, currency exchange rates are often a late afterthought without forward-planning and taking into account alternative means of obtaining the right currency at the right time.

Banks aren’t always so bad, sometimes

One of the prime reasons many businesses switch their corporate currency exchange solution from their bank to an alternative provider is cost. However, using third parties for currencies carries unforeseen risks, deep considerations and potentially additional steps to obtain the same peace of mind that banks arguably provide. Therefore, to finish this list of things to consider, one consideration may simply be that your existing banking service may not be so bad after all.

It all depends on the type of business you have, transaction size, frequency and currencies required. However, determining which option is best can only be done after some mindful thinking and careful consideration of all the factors surrounding foreign exchange dealings that specifically apply to your business. The rule of thumb will dictate that if your business is large enough, you could potentially get the same rates and fees directly from your bank, and get direct access to the trading room. If you are an SME, a corporate foreign exchange solution is likely to be your best choice especially if you can leverage the technology for payment automation.

How Does Hedging Work in Corporate Foreign Exchange?

A main task for a firm  is to minimize (hedge) risks that are not necessary for the performance of the business. Among the different types of risk lies a very important one that can jeopardize the financial health of any global company: Foreign Exchange Risk. As currencies fluctuate and as markets increase in volatility, it becomes very difficult to predict the future and gain stability in terms of inflows and outflows. For this reason, more and more companies are hedging their future cash flows and stabilizing the rate at which they will exchange currencies in the future.

ThisThis short write-up about currency hedging and our full FX hedging guide was composed by Badre Bouarich, a former Trader and Multi Asset Structurer (Forex, Interest Rates) at HSBC bank in London & an expert Financial Writer.

As the derivatives market has developed and as counterparty risk became mitigated through clearinghouses, hedging possibilities have widened, making it possible to reasonably hedge cash flows due in the next 1-3 years horizon. Now, there are different instruments that will enable you to achieve your desired objectives – although a thorough understanding of the products involved is necessary.

There are additional tools to the vanilla 4 orders presented here, such as a Time Option, which is fully hedged.  And participating forwards, which allow some upside vs your standard forward contract. Again, commercial corporate FX companies will make tremendous efforts in order to inform you about market developments, along with the most adapted instruments to use. Moreover, they will give you access to a set of hedging instruments that banks will provide only for the largest corporations. It’s very important to understand each hedging tool so you are completely aware of any potential downside risk and why you are required to pay a premium when agreeing to an option, if indeed it incurs a fee.

Few SMEs are Using Currency Forwards and Options Contracts

Research from East & Partners demonstrates the link between the size of the business and their tendency to utilise FX forwards and currency options. Micro businesses are less likely to use options than SMEs, who, in turn, are less likely to use options that small corporations.

Source: www.eastandpartners.com/research/research-programs/global-business-foreign-exchange

One of the big advantages of working with a dedicated business FX broker is that they make a range of foreign exchange instruments available to SMEs. The type of instruments that banks only make available to large corporations. Just because a business is smaller in size, it shouldn’t mean they’re unable to access hedging instruments that can help to protect against exchange rate risk. As always, caution should be taken ahead of agreeing to a foreign exchange option and customers should be 100% aware of the legally binding contract they sign.

Should You Go for Large or Boutique?

Here on MoneyTransferComparison, we have tested and rated a variety of business FX solutions. Some of these had a significant amount of customer complaints (like Western Union), some aren’t specifically geared for businesses (like Azimo, which has been bought and repurposed in 2022), and some offer some strong offering for for businesses, including diverse multi-currency accounts, but don’t offer the type of service we recommend services to get (like Transferwise which more of an online service than a currency brokerage).

Even so, there are more than 10 other companies that provide corporate foreign exchange management services that we do recommend. The main differentiation between them is their size.

Larger, Better Known, Foreign Exchagne Companies

Higher trading volumes, more employees (both sales, marketing and dealers), and more offices across the globe. These typically are headquartered in London.

Advantages:

• They offer better rates than smaller companies, reducing the need for negotiation.
• They have extensive experience dealing with businesses of various sizes across different markets.
• They usually have a broader global reach and a local presence in various countries, which enables them to handle complex transactions more effectively.
• There are plenty of testimonials from fellow business owners attesting to their quality of service​

Disadvantages: Though the staff is professional, as a small business you are not likely to be dealing with the head dealer.

“Boutique” Business FX

Lower trading volumes, fewer employees, and usually fewer than 5 offices (where oftentimes there’s only a single UK office).

Advantages: Often provides a higher level of expertise from currency dealers. Extremely service oriented. They need your business to work with them, and are therefore willing to offer tighter spreads.

Disadvantages: Usually don’t accept US-based businesses. Have fewer corporate clients, so some scenarios could be unprecedented. Lower global reach (dealing with fewer currencies, less likely to circumvent SWIFT). Less testimonials to their services than with larger firms – less reputable even if they have a clean history and properly regulated.

Why do we prefer the major competitors in the business FX space?

We suggest that larger multinational corporations stick to the larger business fx companies (preferably, one from the 10 best money transfer for businesses list). After all, they need a company that can handle these large transactions efficiently and have been doing so for a long while. The risk with large transactions does exist – as currency transfers are not insured – and if a company goes bankrupt, you could be getting hurt (although client accounts are separated from the company’s accounts by FCA instruction).

For smaller businesses, if you prefer to manage FX yourself and just require a good online platform than a larger broker could also be suitable for you. However if you prefer to receive dedicated dealer guidance and further understand your hedging strategies we suggest trying one of the smaller firms. They could be more willing to give you  better rates and more tailored services than larger firms. Smaller businesses can also get dir

The Conclusion – Business FX and Payments Overview 2023

Within a global macro-economic conjuncture that is characterized by transition and instability, businesses have been facing a growing number of risk-bearing factors. Most recently, a banking crises looms over both Europe and the USA. In spite of that, this climate has also created a tremendous number of opportunities for businesses willing to open up, take the extra step and explore global marketplaces.

As a consequence, business fx payment flows have sky-rocketed and it has become critical for business owners and managers to optimise their cross-border transactions, while turning potential risks into value-adding elements. An international business to business payment conducted via one of the best business fx providers,  which specialises in business clients, is a superb choice that a small business owner or a company’s money manager, can make.