eCommerce Foreign Currency & Banking
Did you realize Amazon currency converter for sellers charges 4% off of each payment?
You can save thousands by using services which enable you to open a collection bank account overseas , receive your payments in domestic currency, and send it back to your bank account for a fraction of the cost.
| Annual Turnover | Amazon Currency Exchange | Specialist Provider | Saving |
| $10,000 | $400 in currency fees | $150-$200 in currency fees | $200-$250 |
| $50,000 | $2,000 in currency fees | $500-$750 in currency fees | $1,250-$1,500 |
| $100,000 | $4,000 in currency fees | $500-$1,000 in currency fees | $3,000-$3,500 |
| $1,000,000 | $40,000 in currency fees | $5,000 in currency fees | $39,500 |
View our best solutions for Amazon or any other online selling marketplace banking and payments below:
Recommended Online Seller Service for 2018
Side by Side Comparison
World First
- Applicable with all marketplaces
- Foreign Exchange Markups: From 0.5% – 2% – Depending on volumes.
- Outbound payments to suppliers in 121 currencies
OFX
- Applicable with all marketplaces
- Outbound payments to suppliers in 155 currencies
Recommended by Amazon.com?
- Both WorldFirst and OFX are verified Amazon partners.
Safety and Regulation
Both companies recommended by us on this guide are authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority Of UK, as well as by The Australian Securities and Investments Commission, and FinCEN (USA).
Market Availability:
The solutions we cover are not market-specific. This is why our guide is addressed towards sellers from all around the globe, selling on all marketplaces. We know for sure that sellers have been using the following marketplaces, and received payments through similar Services.
Most Popular Markets That Online Sellers use a Specialized FX Provider in:
- Amazon (EU, US)
- Cdiscount (France)
- Rakuten (known as Priceminister in France, Play.com in UK)
- Game (UK)
- Lazda (Singapore)
- Lee also source his products from China in US dollars
- The business agreed to pay $25,000 to its Chinese supplier in February when the GBP/USD rate was at 1.55.
- When payment was due in April the GBP/ USD exchange rate had dropped by 5.8%
Using a forward contract to secure a rate of 1.55 for two months would have saved the business £994.
Additional eCommerce marketplaces to use: Ali Baba, TMall, Overstock, eBay, Ubid, Bonanza, Ebid, iOffer, Play, and Tradesy.
Top eSeller Benefits
“The investment we’re all looking for is actually saving labour… Look at what the internet is doing to retail.”
– James S. “Jim” Chanos is an American investment manager known for his keen tongue and high level of accuracy in predictions. Wikipedia: James Chanos.
Featured Online Seller Services
Read In-Depth Reviews
Out of 30+ Foreign Exchange firms we have reviewed on this website, only 2 offer and are recommended by us for the unique e-tailer foreign bank account services (and they started offering it recently).
There are several more firms offering these services now. Transferwise is rolling out their “Borderless account” but it is still unavailable in many regions of the world, and there is not enough feedback about it. Currencies Direct is also offering an eCommerce money transfer account but it is not among our top 2 recommended services for the time being.
These two companies are two of our highest-rated companies, and two of our greatest partners. When we send private clients and businesses clients to these companies, we can first-hand witness how easy the sign up is and how quickly everything is set up for a smooth transfer.
World First Review for Online Sellers
Bank accounts in UK, France, Germany, USA, and Canada, as well as China and Japan (recently added). Fees as follows:
Update August 2017 – World First Does not Charge Fees Anymore from Online Sellers!
USA |
UK |
France |
Germany |
Canada |
|
Transfer Below 1,000:
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Transfer Below 500:
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Transfer Below 500:
|
Transfer Below 500:
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Transfer Below 1,000:
|
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Transfer Above 1,000: Free |
Transfer Above 500: Free |
Transfer Above 500: Free |
Transfer Above 500: Free |
Transfer Above 1,000: Free |
Payments:
☑ Pay globally through an online platform or via telephone. Make multi-payments, regular payments, and get price alerts via telephone or SMS. You can also pay through an app.
FX Risk Reduction:
☑ Expert currency dealer assistance. Hedging possibilities that consist of Forward Contracts and Limit Orders.
eCommerce Service Expertise:
☑ Dedicated FX Currency dealers that specialise in eCommerce. Dedicated section on their website.
Our Partnership with them:
☑ As a referral partner we went ahead to meet their UK team in London, and we can attest for their credibility and ultra professional approach.
More about World First:
Best Rate Guarantee in the UK, One of the largest money transmitters in the UK, with 300 employees and offices across 5 continent. Best rating for personal money transfers on our World First review.
Testimonial:
The only drawback of World First accounts is that they only allow you to use them for channeling ecommerce payments through and into your own bank account. For most people that isn’t an issue but for me, as I have trade customers accounts abroad who like to pay in Euros or US dollars, and I have to pay tax bills in other countries in Euros and US dollars too, it is an issue but I found a way round that.
I have Barclays business accounts, including one in Euros and one in US dollars. I can’t take Amazon payments directly into those accounts because they are based in London (Amazon have a strict rule that, if you want them to transfer your funds in the native currency, they will only make the transfer to a bank account that’s based in the country where the Amazon is based or, in the case of euros, a bank in the eurozone) but this allows me to have funds transferred from Amazon – World First – Barclays without changing the currency. I can then pay my tax bills in the same currency without ever incurring any FX charges. World First do charge a fee for transferring funds to another account in the same currency but overall it does save me money. By way of example, I have to pay German VAT in Euros.
So, I have my Amazon.de money transferred into the World First account (which is actually a Barclays account in Paris), then it transfers into my London Barclays euro account, then I pay the German tax bill in euros from that account. It does make for more complicated banking but anything that reduces fees will do for me! if I don’t need all of my euros in the World First accounts for paying bills then I can choose to send them directly into my sterling business bank account instead.John Clark, Rapid Eyewear
OFX Review for Online Sellers
Bank accounts in USA, Canada, UK, Europe, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Australia.
Fees as follows:
USA |
UK |
Europe |
|
Wire Charges:
None |
Wire Charges:
None |
Wire Charges:
None |
|
Receiving fee on all credits: None |
Receiving fee on all credits: None |
Receiving fee on all credits: None |
Payments:
☑ Pay via OFX’s online payment system which has been recently relaunched.
FX Risk Reduction:
☑ Meet OFX’s specialists in their offices in Australia, New Zealand, UK, Europe, USA or Canada, to help you formulate a bespoke solution for your FX needs.
eCommerce Service Expertise:
☑ Although OFX has just recently launched their merchant service department, as a large, public, company it is certain that there would be plenty of resources devoted to that. Even now that it only just begun they are the only company to offer a no-fee policy on all Etailer transfer, and have NZD and AUD accounts available which other companies don’t.
In addition to that their low-tier clients get 1.5% exchange rate in comparison with the other companies that offer 2% for that tier.
Our Partnership with them:
☑ We have been working with OFX for a long while and they have been nothing but fair with us. They are a serious company with a transparent approach and demonstrate high professionalism to their partners.
More about OFX:
Arguably, OFX is the biggest foreign exchange company of its kind (geared towards small businesses and large-volume transfers). With more than AUD $20bn traded each year, and hundreds of thousands of active clients each year, one thing is certain – they can deliver.
OFX/ UKForex WebsiteLearn More About The Benefits of Merchant FX Services
Improving Profit Margins
As competition is globally increasing, profit margins for online sellers decrease. Being an e-tailer is all about profit margins, and slashing the costs of supplier payments. This is all in addition to getting better exchange rates on collecting accounts, which can make a substantial difference.
Saving Money via Smart Banking
1. Receiving Payments: Receiving funds from international retail sales is (usually) a costly and complex process. When customers are paying you with foreign currencies, there’s currency exchange involved before you receive funds to your bank accounts, which leaves you with a remarkably smaller profit than you have originally anticipated.
Amazon’s Currency Converter for Sellers (ACCS) is notorious for its fees. The markup is often as high as 4% of the total trading volume. Other payment gateways with embedded currency exchange functionalities are no better.
The solution? A dedicated international bank account opened for you in the USA, Canada, Europe or the UK. That account would be registered in the name of the company that opened it for you, but it will be segregated from other clients accounts. Additionally,you will have full access to it at any time. It’ll be a domestic-currency cost-efficient account with excellent terms, and you’d pay 1%-2% on currency exchanges (which is negotiable if you’ have large volumes).
* Opens on Currencies Direct Website. a Rough Estimate.
Paying your suppliers’ international bank accounts with their domestic currency has never been so cheap, or so easy to execute, as it is today.
Pay via telephone order, or through a sophisticated online business FX platform. Pay no fixed fees per transfer, and possess far better exchange rates than you do with banks . Please note that the exact rate depends on usage frequency, volume currencies involved, and it negotiable.
Improving Marketplace Reach
Global retail is brimming with promise, and missing out on key-markets means giving up on a lot of potential revenue. Online marketplaces are still limited, and even Amazon and Alibaba have severe limitations on participating in their international markets*.
With international e-tailer bank accounts abroad, you will be able to sell on the markets you like, without worrying about receiving funds, and transferring them to your local account in your local currency.
Sell on Additional Marketplaces
RetailResearch tells us the ecommerce market is the largest growing one in Europe, and in the UK in particular. Online sellers from the UK alone are selling in over £50 bn in 2015 (£185 bn in total for Europe).
Asian and Australian sellers who want to capitalize on that wonderful opportunity are unable to. In fact, Amazon requires sellers who want to sell in either of its market to have a bank account in the USA, Canada, UK, or the EU in order to receive payments.
If you open up additional local-currency merchant bank accounts through the following services, bank accounts will no longer be an issue. Instead, they will be opened where you need them in order to penetrate additional markets.
Open Bank Account with World First
Bank Accounts available in: USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany, and New! Japan
Contact Company: Click Here | More Details: Click Here
Open Bank Account with Currencies Direct
Bank Accounts available in: USA, UK, EU.
Contact Company: Click Here | More Details: Click Here
Open Bank Account with OFX
Bank Accounts available in: USA, Canada (unique), UK, Europe, New Zealand (unique) , Hong Kong (unique) and Australia (unique).
Contact Company: Click Here | More Details: Click Here
Open Bank Account with Payoneer
Bank Accounts available in: USA, UK, Europe, and Japan.
Contact Company: Click Here | More Details: Click Here
Recommended by Amazon
Both World First, Payoneer and Currencies Direct listed on this page are official Amazon payment partners which are specifically mentioned by name on their website.
Reducing Foreign Currency Volatility
As currency exchange rates fluctuate, your international business is immediately affected. When you’re spending in one currency, and selling in multiple currencies, pricing is extremely tricky, and invoicing becomes a nuisance.
There are ways to lock foreign exchange rates and mitigate the exposure, ensuring steady pre-planned cash-flow as opposed to the volatility involved with online selling.
There are ways to tackle that risk. Forward contracts are agreements with FX firms that lock a current rate for 12, and even 24 months. If you want to gain from these fluctuations and willing to take more risks, you can ask your dedicated currency dealer to watch for prices, and exchange currencies at the most favorable time.
Solutions are highly individualized. It’s a question of how you business operates, pays its suppliers, receives payments, profit margins, amount and nature of currencies you deal with, and your ability to pay an upfront down-payment on forward contracts. Luckily, reputable foreign exchange firms such as Currencies Direct or World First that are highly involved with the online selling business can provide you with free guidance on this topic.
Another thing offered exclusively Currencies Direct is their auto withdrawal service: Customer can setup Auto Withdrawal rules transfer the sales proceed back to their home account straight away or once reached certain amount. Or keep the currencies in their account for as long as they like to take advantage of exchange rate movements, available also by rate alert or with updates from dedicated account manager.
Look At Lee, The Online Seller:
(Real Case Study)
Lee is paying Amazon 4% exchange rate markup for each Euro he earns on Amazon.de. Currencies Direct offer him a 1% markup, which results in him saving 75% of all currency exchange costs without any hassle at all, as Currencies Direct are official payment partners of Amazon.
Mitigating Foreign Currency Exposure:
Forward contracts allow you to fix an exchange rate for up to two years in the future. This way, you can be certain of the cost of your imported stock and protect your business.
John’s Business Case
Not based on real data. Just built to convey how the process works.
Meet John. John is an online seller/etailer from the UK. He buys tin containers from China on wholesale for $0.5 (or approx. 3.19 Chinese Yuan, depending on current exchange rate). He pays his supplier via bank wire in USD exchanged from his UK GBP account, half of it is on a a net 30 basis, and half is paid as soon as the items are delivered.
John buys 50,000 units a month, for an estimated $25,000.
He sells on eBay for a nice 50% profit margin per unit, at $0.75 (or equivalent in local currency) each. 80% of John’s sales are outside of the UK.
In theory, John should be earning $12,500 or approx. £8,250. That, when you take shipping, manpower, infrastructure and accounting costs into consideration, turns into a standard 35% margin, which means net profit of $8,750 or £5,760.25
Banking and Currency Exchange Costs
John’s profit margin is slashed after taking payment and receiving costs into account.
Payments: 2 Payments a month costing an outrageous £35 per transfer with his bank. Currency exchanges cost him a flat 3.5%. In relation to US Dollars, that reflects about $1,000 in payment fees and markups.
Receiving Payments: Since 80% of John’s sales are outside the UK, they get automatically processed by Amazon and exchanged at their rates, before entering John’s account in Pounds. Amazon charges a 4% markup on currency exchanges, so that’s another $1,200 in fees.
New Overall Profit: $6,550 or £4,3/250000
New Profit Margin: 0.262%
Conclusion: John pays almost a third of his profit in Banking Fees.
Switching to Specialised Services
When switching from banks and Amazon’s Currency service, into our top recommend services, saving is immense.
Payments: John will be paying absolutely no fixed fees on money transfers abroad, and using a standard 1% margin (which could be negotiated at these volumes) for the currency exchanges, spending would be potentially reduced by 75%. From $1,000 to $250.
Receiving Payments: Instead of using Amazon’s currency services, John will have bank accounts in the USA and Europe. He will receive income to his domestic bank account, and will get it exchanged and transferred to him for %1 (plus ~25 Dollars on both wires, depending on which company he decides to use, and 0.1% in bank fees).
That means that instead of $1,200, he would only pay $355 to receive payments.
New Overall Profit: $8,145 or £5,37/2500
New Profit Margin: 0.325%
Conclusion: John’s banking costs were slashed by 75%.
Additional companies with seller-specific value propositions. Not necessarily recommended:
Bank accounts in UK, USA, Europe, Japan :
| Client Type | Loading Fee (Receiving) | Withdrawal Fee (Wiring to Bank) |
| Normal (under 100,00 in annual trading volume) | 1% (USD Only) | None |
| VIP (above 100,000 in annual trading volume) | None | None |
Easy Withdrawal:
☑ You can withdraw funds for free (besides the FX margin costs) to your local bank account, or use a Payoneer MasterCard debit to withdraw funds at an ATM.
Paying Suppliers:
☑ VIP clients are able to pay their suppliers directly through the Payoneer system for free, in the same fashion as an “eWallet”.
eCommerce Service Expertise:
☑ Payoneer literally opened the eCommerce payment market in 2005, long before any of the other companies were involved with the online seller section.
Their Partners:
☑ Payoneer is one of the default payment methods in almost any of the world’s largest marketplaces. In fact, in many markets, mainly in Asia, the only way to accept fund abroad is via Payoneer!
More about Payoneer:
Payoneer is all about online sellers! It employees more than 660 employees, and trades more than 5 billion dollars every years, all of it is by freelancers or sellers who receive payments from marketplaces abroad! They are a specialist company who understand the needs and requirements of eSellers and perform superbly, netting them a 70% rating on our review section.
Bank accounts in UK, Europe and the USA. Fees as follows:
USA |
UK |
Europe |
|
Wire Charges:
Free for 60 Day Using Our Link |
Wire Charges:
Free for 60 Day Using Our Link |
Wire Charges:
Free for 60 Day Using Our Link |
|
Receiving fee on all credits: 0.1% |
Receiving fee on all credits: 0.1% |
Receiving fee on all credits: 0.1% |
Payments:
☑ Pay globally through the i-Payfx business payment system that can handle multiple payments, regular payments and does so promptly and efficiently.
FX Risk Reduction:
☑ Meet Currencies Direct’s ultra-friendly team through telephone, email or in person. Get expert guidance on where market is heading and how to prevent cash-flow risks. .Market orders, Rate Watch, Limit Orders, and of course, Forward Contracts are all available.
eCommerce Service Expertise:
☑ Dedicated department dealing with eCommerce. Dealing with 2,000 eCommerce clients already. They offer segregated accounts for each seller to reduce money laundering and create higher security. So if one seller has negative experience with Amazon and cause the account to be shut down, it will not affect other sellers.
Our Partnership with them:
☑ As a referral partner we went ahead to meet their UK team in London. We are able to say that we have seen all the accreditation papers with our own eyes.
More about Currencies Direct:
One of the most recognizable foreign exchange firms in the world, that has 18 offices worldwide. Property specialists who are working closely with many overseas property agencies. No charges on international payments to any location, and any transfer size! Read more on our Currencies Direct full review.
Learn more on our Business Magazine
… and currency Learning Centre!
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Pasted from the World First Review page
I got a business global account with them believing what what stated here. Unfortunately It’s a plain lie. they do not even try to match transferwise or currencyfair or even my bank (starling) let alone revolut. 1.5% markup for anything under 10k. for a simple ACH/USD tsame currency transfer they charge more than twice what transferwise charges for a SWIFT OUR. And to make it worse they don’t allow you to pay people with accounts on competitor e-money institutions.
to make it worse they can’t even provide you with a decent monthly statement, only a custom csv export
– Alejandro
Hi Alejandro, we are sorry to hear about your experience with World First. We thought this page covering their specific Etailer services would be more fit.
1.5% per transfer under $10,000 sounds like a lot, a lot more than the margin we know World First uses, we will ask them about that. You cannot compare them to revolut which is a completely different thing and business model and also Transferwise and Currencyfair don’t give you an overseas collection accounts like World First does, so it’s hard to compare apples to oranges.
We will definitely do some research based on your comment but in all honesty it doesn’t match the data we have at all. Refusing to pay competitor accounts? We know for a fact this is not something they enforce.
And official response from World First team:
Thank you for your feedback. WorldFirst’s World Account allows you to save by not having to unnecessarily exchange funds between different currencies. For example, if you’re receiving funds in dollars and you wish to pay suppliers in dollars, the virtual accounts WorldFirst provides allow you to do this without having to convert the funds back into another currency first. If you take this into account and consider the bigger picture of the World Account, we feel it is a very competitive offering. If you do wish to discuss rates, though, please contact your account manager – in terms of the best rate guarantee, we have asked WorldFIrst to look into this. Regarding transferring funds to other e-money institutions, there may be occasions where for various reasons WorldFirst may not be able to help with a transfer you wish to make. Finally, in respect of statements, if there is any particular information that you would like to see, please contact your account manager and they will be able to pass on this feedback to the relevant departments.