Making payments and making them on time is critical to strong business relationships, especially international ones. You need this for managing smooth operations, for keeping solid records and for building your business reputation. Here are some best suggestions for sending payments overseas to your suppliers.
Why You Want to Take This Seriously
You have to have reliable, fast and affordable means in order to maintain good relations with your business partners. This is especially true for your international suppliers. Distance can’t interfere with contract agreements, standardized order processing and meeting expectations.
The right way to sustain B2B and maintain profitability will always be with communication and trust. But if your payments are off center, you risk everything. Your international payments ensure you meet your financial obligations and define your creditworthiness.
Types of Payments for Oversea Suppliers
It’s important to ensure your payments are safe and quick. Choose a pay service with competitive transaction rates. You want great rates. Also consider how these rates impact payments if you pay in installments.
Bank Wire
Before the internet, this was pretty much the only way to make overseas payments. Unfortunately, there’s a high degree of risk with these transactions. They offer little protection or recourse if something goes wrong. Wire transfers, depending on the provider, can also take several business days to go through. There can also be high margins and fees.
PayPal
PayPal provides dispute resolution. It offers purchase and fraud protection in a secure tech platform. It’s becoming the go-to for many B2B financial agreements.
PayPal does have fairly high fees and percentages. This is in addition to fees that might apply to a foreign transaction. PayPal may determine the transfer’s high risk and refuse to release the funds. Unfortunately, you may not hear about this quickly.
Credit Cards
Credit cards can promise short-term assurances on most small transactions. Like PayPal, there’s secure tech, fraud and purchase protections and dispute resolution. Credit card companies do attach high fees for foreign transactions. They may use additional accounts to make payments, which adds to charges.
Money Transfer Providers
There are companies like Western Union that offer reliable overseas payments. They have a licensed network and support compliance with local regulations to protect its customers. Western Union has created a global money mover with mechanisms that manage locations, currency conversions, tracking and risk assessments. This is through both retail and digital account payouts. You can also use services like MoneyTransfers.com, which will find you the best exchange rates and help you save money.
Peer-to-Peer Transactions
Small businesses are more likely to use P2P foreign transfers. This is because businesses can use peer-to-peer for as little as $30. The transaction uses individual credit cards or financial accounts through mobile or online solutions. But this is a limited resource. It may not offer full protection or will offer spot rates and fewer currencies. There can also be waiting times for payments to go through.
For global money transfer, you want providers with low risk and seamless transactions. So regardless of what country you’re sending money to, get peace of mind with speedy and safe payments.
