Hold USD, EUR and GBP and get paid by overseas clients like a local

When your clients are spread across countries, getting paid can quietly cost you twice: once when an overseas client struggles to send money to you, and again when their payment is converted into your home currency the moment it arrives, whether you wanted that or not.

This guide covers holding multiple currencies in one account, getting local account details so overseas clients can pay you as if you were down the road, deciding who carries the FX risk when you invoice, and converting on your own timing rather than at whatever moment a payment happens to arrive.

Holding multiple currencies in one account

A multi-currency account lets you keep balances in several currencies at once, for example USD, EUR and GBP, side by side. The key benefit is what it prevents: forced conversion.

When a USD payment lands and your account only works in one currency, it gets converted on arrival at whatever rate applies at that moment. If you can hold USD instead, the payment stays as USD until you decide to do something with it. You might use it to pay a US-based supplier or contractor directly, or convert it later when the rate suits you. Either way, you are no longer converting every incoming payment the moment it arrives.

Local account details so clients pay you like a local

Asking an overseas client to make an international payment introduces friction: extra fields, higher charges on their side, and sometimes a conversion they did not expect. Local account details remove most of that.

With local details in the relevant currencies, your client pays into what looks to them like a domestic account in their own country, using the same kind of transfer they would use to pay anyone local. A client in the US pays USD to US-style details; a client in the eurozone pays EUR locally. It is easier for them, which means you get paid faster and with fewer questions, and the funds arrive in the matching currency balance rather than being converted on the way in.

Invoicing in your currency or the client's, and who carries FX risk

Whenever an invoice and a payment are in different currencies, someone bears the movement in the exchange rate between the date you invoice and the date you are paid. Deciding who, in advance, avoids awkward conversations later.

• Invoice in your own currency. You always know the amount you will receive, and the client's currency cost varies with the rate. The FX movement sits with the client.
• Invoice in the client's currency. Easier for the client to approve and pay, but the amount you ultimately receive in your currency depends on the rate when you convert. The FX movement sits with you.

Neither is automatically right. The useful move is to choose deliberately, and if you invoice in the client's currency, to hold that currency so you are not forced to convert at a bad moment.

Converting when it suits you

The quiet advantage of holding currencies is timing. Instead of every incoming payment being converted the moment it lands, you choose when to convert.

That means you can hold a USD balance and convert in one deliberate move when the rate looks reasonable, rather than accepting many small conversions at whatever rate happened to apply each time a client paid. You can also keep a currency you spend in, for instance keeping EUR to pay European suppliers, so some money never needs converting at all. When you do convert, a clear provider shows the rate you are offered against the mid-market reference so you can judge the cost rather than guess at it.

How Altery fits

Altery is a multi-currency account that lets you hold balances in several currencies and gives you local account details so overseas clients can pay you like a local, with funds landing in the matching currency rather than being converted on arrival. You can invoice in your currency or the client's, hold what you receive, and convert when the timing suits you, with the rate shown clearly against the mid-market reference.

Frequently asked questions