International payroll
International payroll payments for UK businesses
Pay staff abroad on time, in the right currency, at a cost you can plan.
Paying staff abroad has one hard rule: the money lands on payday, in full. No saving on the exchange rate makes up for a salary that arrives late.
A recurring foreign-salary bill does not cost the same in pounds twice. As the rate moves, so does the sterling cost of the same salaries, and a run you budgeted in January can cost noticeably more by June for no reason you controlled.
Currency Expert compares the providers that run international payroll: the FX and payment specialists that move salary batches, not employment or tax. Tell us the currencies, the headcount and the cycle, and we will help you compare the ones suited to it.
There is no charge to use Currency Expert. We may receive a fee from a provider if you become its customer.
What we compare, and what we do not
The employment side, handled by firms like Deel, Remote or Papaya, owns contracts, local tax, social security and compliance in each country. That is a different service and a different regulatory animal. We are not an employer of record, and we do not give employment or tax advice.
If you already run payroll and simply need the currency moved better, faster and at a known cost, that is the gap we cover. This page is about the money: the rate, the fees, the timing and the safeguarding.
Start with your payroll, not the platform
Before you compare providers, get four things clear about the pay run itself, the batch of salaries you send each cycle. They decide everything that follows, and they stop you comparing on the rate alone.
- 01
The currencies and countries. Which salary currencies you pay, and where the money has to land.
- 02
The size and headcount. Roughly what each run totals, and how much it moves as people join and leave.
- 03
The calendar. Your payday, and the cut-off each provider needs to guarantee the money arrives before it.
- 04
What can change. Bonuses, leavers, joiners and one-off payments that make a run bigger or smaller than the last.
Get those straight and the right provider is usually obvious. Skip them and you will compare on the rate alone, which is the thing that matters least when a salary is late.
Where the currency actually bites
On a recurring, date-critical run, the rate is only one of four ways payroll can cost you more than you planned.
- ◆The monthly rate drift. A recurring foreign-salary bill is a standing exposure you did not choose. Pay £200,000 of salaries a month and a 2% move is about £4,000 on a single run, close to £48,000 across a year. The question is whether payroll can run to a budget that shifts underneath it.
- ◆The cut-off you did not see. Every provider has a cut-off time and a settlement speed, and both vary by currency and destination. Miss the cut-off, or hit a local bank holiday, and the cheapest rate in the market is worthless, because the money lands the day after payday. Reliability is the product. The rate is the discount.
- ◆Net pay, gross cost. Employees must receive an exact net amount. The FX margin, the lifting fees and any returned-payment charges come out of your side, not theirs. Budget the run gross of those costs, or the numbers will not reconcile.
- ◆Headcount drift. You can hedge a payroll budget. You cannot hedge a headcount that keeps changing. Leavers, joiners and bonuses leave a fixed hedge too big or too small. The usual answer is to fix a floor you are confident of and top up the rest at spot.
Which type of provider fits payroll
There is no best payroll payment provider in the abstract. There is one that fits your currencies, your cycle and your headcount.
Workable when the run is small, in one or two currencies, and already inside your approvals. Rarely cheapest on the rate and often slower on the less common currencies, but an existing relationship and clean reporting have their own value.
- ◆the run is small and in major currencies
- ◆your approvals and controls already sit with the bank
- ◆consistency matters more than the last fraction on the rate
Strong for regular, operational pay runs: batch upload, multi-currency balances, local rails and published pricing. Wise Business takes a CSV of up to 1,000 payouts at the mid-market rate, from around 0.33%. Airwallex charges 0.5% over interbank on the majors and 1% on others, with local transfers free to 120-plus countries.
- ◆payments are regular and operational
- ◆you want batch upload and clear pricing
- ◆you value speed on local rails
- ◆you do not need a hedging desk
Earns its place as the run grows, the currencies get harder, or you need to fix the sterling cost of payroll in advance. The value is a dealer who understands a pay run, forwards to fix a budget, layered approvals, and someone who answers when a payment stalls the day before payday.
- ◆the run is large or in harder currencies
- ◆you want to fix a payroll rate for the year
- ◆you need multi-level approvals or a bureau workflow
- ◆you want a person on the line when a payment breaks
What a good provider notices about a pay run
A provider that understands payroll does not lead with its rate. It leads with your calendar.
It asks when payday is and works back to the cut-off. It asks which currencies, and tells you which settle on local rails and which go by SWIFT with a day or two of intermediary hops. It asks whether the run changes month to month before it mentions a forward.
The failures are rarely dramatic. A file misses a cut-off by an hour. A beneficiary detail is wrong and the payment bounces back three days later. A business hedges a headcount that has since shrunk. That is where an experienced provider earns its margin.
How payroll providers make money
The comparison that matters is the total landed cost of a run, not the headline fee.
A provider can charge a margin inside the rate, a per-payment fee, a SWIFT charge on non-local routes, or a monthly subscription. On a large multi-currency run the margin usually dwarfs the rest.
What the margin costs on £200,000 converted in a run
Multiply by twelve runs and the difference is a real line in the budget. A per-payment fee of a pound or two is noise beside it.
To compare properly, give two or three providers the same run on the same day: the same currencies, amounts, destinations and payday.
Ask for the number, not the assurance
Ask what each employee actually receives, and what the whole run costs you, all-in. Then compare that total, not the headline fee.
Do not accept “the rate is competitive” as an answer. On twelve runs a year, the margin is the number that moves the budget.
Fixing the cost of payroll
Spot
Convert at today’s rate, run by run. Fine when the run is small or the currency cost is not material to the budget.
Forward contract
Fix a rate now for salary currency you will need later, so the sterling cost of payroll is known for the months ahead. It buys budget certainty and gives up any later gain. Size it to the headcount you are confident of, not the one you hope for.
Holding balances
Keep a balance in your main salary currencies and top it up when the rate suits, so not every run is converted at whatever the market does that morning.
It is still a contract
A forward on payroll is a claim on your cash flow, not just a view on the rate. Deposits and margin calls apply. Size it against the cash you can find at short notice.
A £200,000 monthly euro payroll over a year
The move cuts both ways, which is exactly why fixing it is a budget decision, not a forecast.
Worked example
At today’s rate the run costs roughly £200,000. A 2% move against you lifts it by about £4,000 on a single run, for the same salaries. Across a year, the same swing is close to £48,000.
Fix the rate with a forward and payroll costs the same every month, whatever the market does. You give up the months the rate would have helped you. For most businesses, a payroll budget that holds is worth more than the chance of a good month.
The decision is not where the euro is going. It is whether your budget can carry a swing it did not choose.
Read this before the first live run
International payroll adds operational risk on top of the rate. Confirm the mechanics before you run live salaries through a provider.
- 01
The cut-off time for each currency, in writing, and the settlement speed by route.
- 02
Whether payments go on local rails or by SWIFT, and who pays the intermediary fees.
- 03
The batch format, CSV or API, the file-size limit, and whether a test run is possible.
- 04
The approval levels available, so no one person can release a run alone.
- 05
What happens to a payment with a wrong beneficiary detail, and the return fee.
- 06
If you use forwards, the deposit, the margin-call terms and how fast you must meet one.
If a provider cannot answer these plainly, do not run live payroll through it yet.
Banks, platforms and specialists compared
No route wins on every measure. Match it to your currencies, your cycle and how much a late run would cost you.
| Route | Pricing | Batch and rails | Hedging | Often best suited to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Existing business bank | Quote-based, or built into the rate | Limited batch, usually SWIFT-led | From some banks, subject to eligibility | Small runs in major currencies, existing controls |
| Multi-currency platform | Published: Wise from ~0.33%, Airwallex 0.5% majors / 1% others | CSV or API batch, local rails, multi-currency balances | Spot only | Regular operational runs, speed and clear pricing |
| Specialist FX provider | Usually quote-based, margin inside the rate | Batch plus dealer support | Spot, forwards, market orders | Large or complex runs, budget hedging, bureaux |
Wise and Airwallex are both Currency Expert partners, so we may earn a commission if you open an account with either. It does not change your pricing. Wise is listed first because it converts more cheaply on published rates, from around 0.33% against Airwallex’s 0.5% on the majors; Airwallex earns its place on free local transfers to 120-plus countries. Neither fixes the cost of a pay run in advance: that needs a forward from a broker.
How safe is a payroll payment provider?
You contract and transact directly with the provider you choose. Currency Expert never receives or moves your money.
Before moving funds, check the exact legal entity in the provider’s agreement, then confirm the basics. A payroll bureau holds its clients’ money in the gap between you funding the run and staff being paid, so its safeguarding and its approval segregation are procurement questions, not footnotes.
- ◆its status on the FCA Register
- ◆whether it is a bank, payment institution or e-money institution
- ◆how customer funds are protected
- ◆where, and in whose name, the payroll float is held between funding and payday
Read this before you commit
Safeguarding is not the same as FSCS deposit protection.
Authorised payment and e-money firms must generally safeguard relevant customer funds, so they can be returned if the firm fails. Safeguarded funds are not directly covered by the FSCS.
Eligible bank deposits may receive FSCS protection, currently up to £120,000 per eligible person, per authorised firm. That does not cover a payroll float held at a payments provider.
The FCA strengthened the safeguarding regime from 7 May 2026, with daily reconciliations, monthly returns and annual safeguarding audits. That is stronger oversight. It is not a deposit guarantee.
How Currency Expert compares providers
We begin with the run, not a league table.
- ◆the salary currencies and destinations
- ◆the size of each run and the annual volume
- ◆the pay cycle and how tight the calendar is
- ◆whether you need to fix the cost of payroll in advance
- ◆the provider’s pricing, batch capability and approval controls
- ◆the legal entity providing the service, and its safeguarding
The point of the comparison
A provider that works well for a twenty-person euro run may be the wrong choice for a five-hundred-person run across a dozen currencies. Matching the provider to the run is the whole job.
What to check before choosing a provider
Seven questions that do most of the filtering.
- 01
Compare a live quote on your actual run. Same currencies, same amounts, same day.
- 02
Calculate the total landed cost. Margin, per-payment fee, any SWIFT charge and any subscription.
- 03
Get the cut-offs in writing. Per currency, with settlement speed by route.
- 04
Confirm the FCA entity and safeguarding. Do not treat “FCA authorised” and “FSCS protected” as the same thing.
- 05
Check the batch and approval fit. File format, size limit, test run, and multi-level sign-off.
- 06
Read the forward terms. Deposit, margin calls and settlement flexibility, if you plan to hedge.
- 07
Match the provider to your cycle. Reliability and support on payday beat a fractional rate saving.
Tell us about your pay run.
Share the salary currencies, roughly what you run each month, your headcount pattern, when payday falls and whether you need to fix future rates. We will identify providers whose service suits the run. You decide whether to proceed, and deal directly with the provider.
Common questions
What counts as international payroll payments? +
The conversion and delivery of salaries into foreign currencies, on a fixed cycle. It is a payments and FX service. It is not global payroll or employer-of-record, which also handle employment contracts, local tax and compliance.
Can I fix my payroll exchange rate for the year? +
Often, yes, with a forward contract through a specialist provider. It fixes the sterling cost of the salary currency you commit to, though deposits and margin calls apply, and headcount changes may leave you over- or under-hedged.
Will the money arrive by payday? +
Only if the file clears the provider’s cut-off for each currency and route. Local rails are usually same-day or instant; SWIFT can take longer. Get the cut-offs and settlement times in writing before the first run.
Is a specialist cheaper than my bank for payroll? +
Often on the rate, but not always overall. Compare the total landed cost of the same run, taken at the same time, not the headline fee.
How is my money protected? +
You deal directly with an FCA-authorised provider that safeguards client funds. Safeguarding is not FSCS deposit protection. Check the legal entity and its safeguarding arrangements before funding a run.
How does Currency Expert make money? +
We are free for businesses to use. We may receive a fee from a provider if a business we introduce becomes its customer. That does not change the need to compare the provider against the run, its terms and the alternatives.
Payroll is a deadline with a currency attached
Get the run, the calendar and the currencies straight, then compare providers on the total cost of hitting payday, not on the rate alone.
Tell us those things and we will help you compare the routes that fit.