I have done a fair bit of google looking but a lot of conflicing information floating around. Also it gets confusing and I am a bit thick.

As a UK based ltd company needing to buy from a Canadian company in USD, what’s the best way of paying them to get the best exchange/least fees etc? It’s about £6k.

They say just phone up and pay on a card..

Does the Canadian company have a USD account? (I’m assuming you have USD) If so, just pay them USD to USD against their invoice (though you’ll be at their whim for the x/rate assuming their base cost is CAD)

I’m surprised they want to take a card for nearly $10,000 – they’ll lose over $400 in fees…. If you have a card, that’s probably the easiest, and will avoid bank fees

Credit card gives you a slight penalty on rate, but gets you effectively credit which is obviously better for a business purchase.

If you want to save the most money and pay straight away you want a currency broker, we use hifx at the moment but last time xe.com who have merged with them were a smidge cheaper. Others are available , but youll have to jump throuh a few hoops, passport details etc to get signed up and sorted. If its a one off transaction might be as easy to slap it on a card. Youre going to lose 1-2% depending on who you bank with.

Buying what? There may be duties/tariffs involved. Though business to business, right now they would be under EU rates with Canada (where does the USD come in?), but after 29th, who knows.

My cards started charging a fee of a couple of percent on top of their ungenerous exchange rates about a year ago, so you’ll probably want to check that first.

I’ve done electronic transfers straight from one bank account to the other. No fees on top of the exchange and the bank has been decent with it’s rates so going with a currency outfit wouldn’t have saved enough to make it worth the hassle.

I’d probably use a CC if they’re not looking to pass on the fees (madness) but check with your card provider to check what their forex percentages are.
Don’t bother with XE/Hifx. Even after my preferential rate after a 5 year history of moving UK funds for house deposit, lump sums, significant business GBP>CAD transfers my immediate rate from transferwise was better! So much easier too!

If the supplier wants to swallow the merchant fees, let them and take the points/miles.

(where does the USD come in?)

My first thought also. Do you mean CAD?

Lot of North American companies deal in USD. A concession to the biggest market there. Even if they don’t do the actual exchange in USD they price in them and convert.

Canada isn’t in the US, last I looked.

Quite a few Canadian companies sort of hedge in USD.  They will be paying factories in Taiwan etc in USD so in some senses if you pay in USD then you’re just removing some forex uncertainty.

I don’t know why they deal in USD. There is no mention of bank fees, is that something you only get with credit cards? Customers paying us from outside the EU have been able to pay us in GBP and get the exact amount showing on our statement with no fees at our end with bank transfers. The people we are buying off charge $50 if we pay by bank transfer.

Is it worth getting a credit card for this? Do the charges work differently to debit cards? We have run the busniess for better or worse with no credit for over eight years. I am aware that we may be missing out on all sorts of miles/points/whatever but I am also aware I can’t be trusted with money that doesn’t exist. If it makes a difference to the fees on this we could pick one up.

I would ask if they will accept a bank transfer and if so sign up with a peer to peer currency broker such as CurrencyFair (who I use) or Transferwise (who I think work similarly). You’ll get mid-market rates, minimal fees and commission (something like £3 + 0.3%).

Use a personal Monzo card/Starling card and claim back as out of pocket expenses? I use those cards here in Denmark – the good exchange rate and no fees.

You should be able to get an account and card in a couple of days. Also great for travelling of course!

i just bought something from canada which was in usd and paid gbp.
yes canada isnt in the usa. i think the seller was aware of this, as was i.

it hasn’t turned up yet but i just used my credit card. the bank charged me a non sterling fee.

Is this going to be a one off or are you likely to be buying more from company in the future?  If it’s going to be a frequent occurrence somebody like TransferWise would be best method. Perhaps more hassle first time but easier afterwards.

Canadian banks use Intermediary financial institutions for foreign bank transfers. So, you elect to send a transfer of the exact dollar amount per the invoice with fees paid, it arrives, then their bank takes a fee straight out of their account for the service.
At least my bank does in that scenario.

That fee is fixed so it hurts on small transfers (say booking deposits) but far cheaper than cc merchant fees when you get into balance payments.
They won’t get charged for transfer wise payments as TransferWise (like xe/hifx etc) do the transfers into the payment currency and send it from within country – although with them holding US fund accounts in Canada I wonder where your forex solution sends the money from..

A CC merchant service can’t differentiate between visa credit and visa debit. So this is an option if you have a visa branded debit card. You’d need to advise your bank before they try and charge your card though.
Ddepends on your bank cards foreign fee/exchange rate

I just looked at 6kgbp with Barclays online. That gets 7734usd plus costs you 9gbp fee plus their 50usd charge
Transfer wise, 6k gets you 7925usd.

Canada isn’t in the US, last I looked.

Canadians are, I am sure:

A) aware
B) profoundly grateful, particularly at the moment

They also know that their noisy neighbour to the South has a large economy and therefore a relatively stable currency.

then their bank takes a fee straight out of their account for the service.

Plenty of experience ex-pats in Canada getting UK pensions and the like – that’s the first I’ve heard of that. Time for a new bank?

Plenty of experience ex-pats in Canada getting UK pensions and the like – that’s the first I’ve heard of that. Time for a new bank?

They probably don’t receive their pensions into a business account 😉