How Can You Take Payment From International Clients in Australia?
E-commerce has proven to be a fantastic innovation, allowing small businesses and freelancers to take on international clients. Going global has never been easier, but when it comes to payment, things can get tricky. There’s a whole host of different fees and charges involved in sending payments across borders by most methods.
If you’re based in Australia, there’s good news – you have plenty of options to choose from. Taking payments from international clients doesn’t have to be any more difficult than with any other client. Here are the best options open to you.
Online Services
There are two money transfer websites we can recommend: Transferwise and Ria. If you want to buy Aussie wherever possible, we advise using Ria whenever you need to make or receive an international money transfer. Clients can easily send you money through Ria from a number of supported countries.
If your client’s location doesn’t support Ria, Transferwise is the go-to for most people. However, there are other options out there if you’re willing to dig a little.
PayPal
PayPal makes getting paid about as simple as it could possibly be. Once you’ve created a PayPal account, you can start getting paid instantly. All you need to do is give your clients the necessary link. You can even use the PayPal Business app to generate and send involves. Your clients can then pay directly.
PayPal does charge a small fee, so you will lose a couple of percent of your total payment. However, you will pay much less than you would if you were receiving an international bank transfer. As far as fees go, PayPal's are definitely on the more generous end of the spectrum
Bank Transfer
International bank transfers are straightforward but are usually inefficient. You will have to pay various fees that can vary wildly depending on the banks and currencies involved. However, this is almost certainly going to be the most expensive way of receiving payment. In fact, you will often only receive a fraction of what you should.
Some international banks do have arrangements with Australian banks that make their fees cheaper. However, even with these concessions, you are still going to end up paying far more than you should.
Cryptocurrency
If you want to receive money without having to pay any fees, cryptocurrencies could provide an answer. Well, there will be fees involved at some point if you plan on converting it into cash, but they will be minimal. In terms of cryptocurrencies, there are plenty out there. However, Nano is particularly well suited to receiving payment for services.
Most cryptocurrencies charge network fees for every transaction. The sender can choose how much they pay; the more they pay, the faster their transaction is processed. With Nano, not only are there no network fees, but your transaction will process instantly. You can easily receive payments via Nano.
Whatever crypto you receive payment in, you will need to convert it into Bitcoin or Ether before you can cash it out. That means you'll have to use a crypto exchange. As with any Forex market, exchange rates vary over time.
While receiving payment in cryptocurrency does solve some problems, it also creates others.
There are more options than ever before for individuals and businesses that need to receive payments from clients overseas. The old-fashioned bank transfer is hideously expensive and slow. Fortunately, the internet provides plenty of other methods. We would recommend using a specialist online service like Ria. If your clients are in a country supported by Ria then getting set up with an account is easy and will make payments a breeze in the future.