Business Payments
Business payments, matched to the job.
Every job here has different providers behind it. Get the match right and you save real money on margin and fees. Get it wrong and you overpay, blow a pay run, or stall a deal. We route you to the right one.
Start here
Which type of business payment support do you need?
Find the row that matches your situation, then read the guide in the last column. If two rows fit your deal, read both; the guides cross-link where the problems overlap.
| Your situation | What you likely need | Guide to read |
|---|---|---|
| Paying overseas suppliers and protecting your margin from rate moves | Corporate FX and hedging | Corporate FX · Currency Hedging |
| Selling or buying a company with many shareholders to pay | M&A paying agent | M&A Paying Agent Services |
| A neutral party to receive one payment and distribute it to many payees | Paying agent | Paying Agent Services |
| Money held until contractual conditions are met, then released | Escrow | UK Escrow Services |
| Paying employees or contractors abroad every month | International payroll payments | International Payroll Payments |
| Sending many international payments at once | Bulk payments | Bulk International Payments |
| Receiving and holding several currencies without many bank accounts | Multi-currency account and IBAN | Multi-Currency IBANs |
What these solutions cover
Four kinds of work. Know which one you are in.
Corporate FX & treasury
Converting and moving money, and fixing future rates so a known payment has a known cost. Where importers, exporters and anyone with a foreign bill lives.
Bulk payouts & payroll
Getting many payments out reliably, on time, to validated accounts. The pain is operational: failed payments and cut-offs, not just the rate.
Multi-currency & integration
Receiving and holding currencies, named IBANs, and wiring payments into your accounting or ERP so you stop rekeying.
High-value transactions
Paying agent, escrow and third-party managed accounts for company sales, settlements and probate, where neutrality and an audit trail matter more than price.
Corporate FX and currency hedging
If your exposure is a foreign payment or receipt, this is your lane. A specialist gives you a tighter rate than a bank and the tools to manage timing risk.
The cost mostly hides in the exchange-rate margin, so the number that matters is the provider’s rate against the mid-market rate on your pairing.
Our corporate FX guide explains how providers price it. When a payment is months away, a forward contract fixes today’s rate: it buys certainty and gives up any favourable move, and it carries a deposit and possible margin calls. The hedging guide works a real example both ways.
Bulk payments, payroll and managed payouts
Here the enemy is not the rate, it is a payment that fails: a wrong account number, a missed local cut-off, a returned salary on payday.
If you pay staff or contractors abroad, the international payroll guide covers pay-run reliability. If you send many one-off payments, the bulk payments guide compares file upload, API and managed routes.
Multi-currency accounts and IBANs
If you receive money in several currencies, a multi-currency account with local details lets you hold rather than convert on arrival, and a named IBAN makes incoming payments easy to identify. Our multi-currency IBAN guide explains named and virtual IBANs and what protection actually applies.
Paying agent, escrow and high-value services
When a large sum has to reach many people, or wait on a condition, you need a neutral regulated party, not a bank transfer. These three get blurred and they are not the same.
A paying agent receives one payment and distributes it to verified payees. Escrow holds funds until conditions are met. A third-party managed account is the structure law firms use instead of a client account.
Our partner Caxton runs a paying agent and TPMA service, and does not offer escrow. Start with the paying agent guide, the M&A version, or the escrow guide.
A note on protection
Safeguarding is real, but it is not FSCS cover.
Nearly every provider in this section is a payment or e-money institution, not a bank. Your money is safeguarded, held separately so it can be returned if the firm fails, but it is not FSCS-protected.
The FSCS £120,000 deposit guarantee covers bank and building society deposits, not a balance at an FX or payments provider. The protection is real and different, and the FCA is tightening the safeguarding rules from May 2026.
Any provider that implies FSCS cover on a non-bank product is one to question.
FAQs
Common questions
Is Currency Expert a provider or a comparison service?
A comparison and introduction service. We do not hold funds, convert currency, run payroll or provide escrow or legal services. We compare specialist providers and introduce you to ones that fit your need, and may receive a fee if you become their client.
How much can a specialist save a business versus its bank?
It depends on your volumes and pairings, and most saving comes from a tighter exchange-rate margin rather than a lower fee. Comparison sites cite figures up to several per cent against banks; treat those as estimates and get live quotes for your own transfers.
Is my money protected with these providers?
It is safeguarded in segregated accounts under FCA rules, and those rules tighten from May 2026. It is not FSCS-protected the way a bank deposit is. Check each provider’s FCA authorisation and read its safeguarding wording before moving funds.
Which page should I start with?
Use the table near the top of this page. Match your situation to a row and read the guide in the last column. If two rows fit your deal, read both; the guides cross-link where the problems overlap.
Do you work with Caxton?
Yes. Caxton is our launch partner for paying-agent and high-value transaction work, and we may receive a fee on introductions. That does not stop us naming where Caxton is not the right tool, such as conditional escrow, which it does not offer.
Talk to a specialist
Tell us what you need to pay.
Tell us what you need to pay, where, and how often, and we will point you to the two or three providers worth your time. No cost, no obligation.