Multi-currency accounts
Multi-currency accounts and IBANs for UK businesses
Collect, hold, convert and pay in several currencies from one account.
A multi-currency account gives you local account details in each currency, so an overseas customer can pay you like a local. You hold the balance instead of converting it the moment it lands.
The question that decides which account to pick is rarely the headline fee. It is whose name shows on the payment, and whether you are managing money or managing currency risk. Those are different jobs.
Currency Expert compares the providers that offer business multi-currency accounts and IBANs. Tell us the currencies you collect, hold and pay, and we will help you compare the ones that fit.
There is no charge to use Currency Expert. We may receive a fee from a provider if you become its customer.
What a multi-currency account and IBAN actually are
The appeal is logistics. Instead of one sterling account that converts every incoming euro or dollar the moment it arrives, you hold each currency, pay your foreign costs from it directly, and convert only what you need, when the rate suits.
It is worth being clear about what this is not. A multi-currency account manages money and timing. It does not fix a future rate or protect a margin, which is hedging, and lives on the corporate FX side. Do not buy one expecting it to do a job it was never built for.
Start with what the account is for
Before you compare providers, get four things clear. They decide which account fits, and they matter more than the headline price.
- 01
The currencies. Which you collect, which you hold, and which you pay out.
- 02
Whose name must show. Whether a payer needs to see your business name on the account, or a shared reference will do.
- 03
Collect or pay. Whether the job is mainly receiving foreign income, mainly paying foreign costs, or both.
- 04
How the money is protected. Whether the held balance is safeguarded at a payments firm or covered as a bank deposit.
Answer those and the choice narrows quickly. The first two, in particular, separate the accounts that look alike on a pricing page but behave very differently in practice.
Named or pooled: the question that matters
Two accounts can both offer a “euro IBAN” and behave completely differently. The difference is whose name the payer sees, and it decides your reconciliation.
- ◆The account is issued in your business’s own name.
- ◆The payer sees your name as the beneficiary, which looks and reconciles like a normal bank account.
- ◆Incoming payments match automatically to your account, not to a reference in a shared pot.
- ◆Better for anyone whose customers, auditors or platform care whose account the money landed in.
- ◆The IBAN routes into the provider’s own underlying account, shared across customers.
- ◆The payer may see the provider’s name, not yours, on the transfer.
- ◆Payments are matched by a reference field, which SWIFT can truncate, so reconciliation can break.
- ◆Often cheaper and quicker to open, and fine where the payer does not need to see your name.
The question to ask a provider
Will my customer’s payment confirmation show my company’s name, or yours? For platforms, agencies and multi-entity groups, that answer, and the reconciliation behind it, often decides the account more than the exchange-rate margin does.
What a multi-currency account does
Collect
Give a customer local details in their currency, so they pay a domestic transfer rather than an expensive international one.
Hold
Keep the balance in that currency instead of converting on arrival, so you are not forced to take whatever rate the market offers that morning.
Convert
Move between currencies when you choose, at a margin you can see against the mid-market. Convert only what you actually need.
Pay
Pay foreign suppliers or staff straight from the matching balance, so money you receive in euros can leave in euros with no conversion at all.
Where the value really sits
The saving people expect is on the exchange rate. The saving that often matters more is the conversion you avoid entirely.
If you receive euros and also pay euro suppliers, holding the balance means that money never converts. It arrives in euros and leaves in euros, and the margin you would have paid twice, once to convert in and once to convert back out, simply disappears. That is the quiet advantage of holding over converting.
For businesses collecting from a platform or agency, the second advantage is reconciliation. A named account that matches payments automatically can save more finance-team time than any rate improvement, which is why the named-versus-pooled question is worth more than a fraction of a percent on the spread.
How account providers make money
Holding is usually free or cheap. The cost is in the conversion, and sometimes a subscription.
Most providers let you receive and hold for little or nothing, and make their money on conversion: a margin inside the exchange rate, sometimes with a small percentage fee on top. Some also charge a monthly plan or a one-off setup fee. Wise, for example, charges a one-off account setup fee and then converts from around 0.33% at the mid-market. Airwallex charges 0.5% over interbank on the majors and 1% on other currencies, across monthly plans that run from nothing to several hundred pounds.
What the margin costs on £200,000 converted
Because the margin is inside the rate, add up the whole picture: the conversion margin on what you actually convert, plus any plan or setup fee. A cheap plan with a wide spread can cost more than a paid plan with a tight one.
A holding account is not a hedge
Converting when the rate suits is timing, not protection. If you need the cost of a future payment fixed, that is a forward contract, and it lives with the FX brokers, not the account. See our currency hedging guide.
Worth checking before you rely on one account
A non-local euro IBAN is legal everywhere, but not always accepted.
Under EU rules, a business cannot insist that you hold a euro account in a particular country. Rejecting a valid euro IBAN because it is not local, often called IBAN discrimination, is against the SEPA regulation.
It still happens in practice. Some payers, portals and direct-debit systems quietly refuse a non-local IBAN. If a key customer or a direct debit in one market depends on it, confirm they will accept your IBAN before you build a process around a single euro account.
The main account providers compared
No account wins on every measure. Match it to your currencies, whose name must show, and how your money is protected.
| Provider | Conversion pricing | Local details | Money protection | Often best suited to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wise Business | From ~0.33% at the mid-market, one-off setup fee | Local details in 20-plus currencies | Safeguarded, not FSCS | Broad currency reach, clear pricing |
| Airwallex | 0.5% majors / 1% others, plans £0 to £999+/mo | Local details across many currencies | Safeguarded, not FSCS | Scaling businesses, collections and automation |
| Revolut Business | Plan-based, with FX allowances and a margin beyond them | Multi-currency accounts and local details | Balances at Revolut Bank may be FSCS-covered | Businesses wanting a bank-held balance option |
| WorldFirst | Quote and plan-based | World Account, 40-plus currencies | Safeguarded, not FSCS | Marketplace sellers and importers |
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 collections and automation. Both safeguard rather than hold your money under FSCS, as the table sets out.
Read this before you hold a large balance
Safeguarding is not the same as FSCS deposit protection.
Most multi-currency accounts are run by payment or e-money institutions, not banks. Your balance is safeguarded, held in segregated accounts separate from the firm’s own funds, so it can be returned if the firm fails. That is real, but it is not a deposit guarantee, and a failure can still mean delay or a shortfall.
The FSCS deposit guarantee, £120,000 per eligible person since 1 December 2025, covers money held at a bank. It does not cover a balance held with a payments firm, whatever the amount.
The exception worth knowing: money held with Revolut Bank UK, a licensed bank, may carry FSCS cover, unlike an e-money balance. The FCA’s safeguarding regime also tightens from 7 May 2026. If you plan to hold a large balance, check whose name it is in and how it is protected.
How Currency Expert compares providers
We begin with what the account is for, not a feature list.
- ◆the currencies you collect, hold and pay
- ◆whether you need a named IBAN or a pooled one will do
- ◆the conversion margin, plus any plan or setup fee
- ◆local-detail coverage in the currencies that matter to you
- ◆how the balance is protected, and in whose name
- ◆whether you also need hedging, which the account cannot do
The point of the comparison
An account that is perfect for holding euros and paying euro suppliers may be the wrong choice for an agency that needs each client’s name on incoming payments. Matching the account to the job is the whole task.
What to check before choosing an account
Six questions that do most of the filtering.
- 01
Named or pooled. Ask whether the IBAN is in your name and what the payer sees.
- 02
The conversion margin. Against the mid-market, plus any percentage fee, on your actual currencies.
- 03
Local details. Confirm they cover the currencies you collect and pay, not just the majors.
- 04
IBAN acceptance. If a key market or direct debit depends on it, check your IBAN will be accepted.
- 05
Money protection. Safeguarded or bank-held, and whether FSCS applies. Do not treat them as the same.
- 06
Total cost. Add the plan or setup fee to the conversion margin, and compare the whole picture.
Tell us what the account is for.
Share the currencies you collect, hold and pay, whether you need your own name on the IBAN, and roughly what you convert. We will identify accounts whose features and protection suit the job. You decide whether to proceed, and deal directly with the provider.
Common questions
What is a multi-currency IBAN? +
An IBAN is the international account number a payer uses to send you money. A multi-currency account gives you local details in several currencies, including a euro IBAN, so overseas customers can pay you as a local transfer rather than an expensive international one.
What is the difference between a named and a pooled IBAN? +
A named IBAN is issued in your business’s own name, so the payer sees your name and payments reconcile automatically. A pooled or virtual IBAN routes into the provider’s shared account and matches by reference, which is cheaper but can complicate reconciliation and show the provider’s name instead of yours.
Is a multi-currency account the same as hedging? +
No. An account lets you hold and convert when you choose, which is timing. Hedging fixes a future rate to protect a margin, using a forward contract from an FX broker. If you need certainty on a future cost, the account alone will not give it.
Can a European business refuse my UK-based euro IBAN? +
They should not. Rejecting a valid euro IBAN because it is not local is against EU SEPA rules. It still happens in practice, so if a key customer or direct debit depends on it, confirm acceptance before relying on a single euro account.
Is my money safe in a multi-currency account? +
Balances at a payments or e-money firm are safeguarded in segregated accounts, but not FSCS-protected the way a bank deposit is. A balance held with a licensed bank, such as Revolut Bank, may carry FSCS cover. Check whose name the money is in and how it is protected before holding a large sum.
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 account against the job, its terms and the alternatives.
Pick the account for the job, not the price
Work out the currencies, whose name must show, and how your money is protected. Then compare accounts on the whole cost and the reconciliation, not the headline spread.
Tell us what the account is for and we will help you compare the ones that fit.