What compliance and clearing paths do importers follow for international payments in September 2026?

Learn the main ways importers can make international payments, including the costs, trade-offs and practical considerations behind each option.

In its October 2025 update, the WTO said world merchandise trade had grown faster than expected in the first half of 2025, raising its 2025 volume growth forecast to 2.4% but lowering its 2026 outlook to 0.5%. For an importer, that combination of momentum and uncertainty turns payment into a recurring decision rather than a back-office routine. Goods have to be paid for, and every way of paying carries a different mix of cost, speed, documentary work and risk.

Merchandise trade ran at 44.5% of world GDP in 2024, according to World Bank data, and most of that value moves between businesses rather than consumers. A buyer paying an overseas supplier is therefore not doing the same thing as a consumer sending money to a friend. The payment has to match a purchase order, survive a compliance review, and arrive in a currency the supplier accepts without a surprise deduction.

The practical difficulty is that the available methods are not interchangeable. A bank wire settles quickly but can hide fees and FX margins inside the rate. A letter of credit protects both sides but depends on documents being exactly right. Escrow reduces counterparty risk but ties up working capital. This guide explains how each option works, what it really costs, and where a trade-focused account fits in.

Below are the main ways businesses can make international payments.

XTransfer is a payment platform designed for B2B cross-border trade rather than general consumer transfers or domestic banking. It connects small and medium-sized importers and exporters to settlement infrastructure that was previously practical only for larger corporates. That positioning matters to an importer that needs to pay several overseas suppliers without opening a bank account in every market it buys from.

Key features of XTransfer

• Local collection accounts that let a counterparty pay in a familiar currency through domestic rails, which may reduce the number of intermediaries and related deductions, depending on the corridor and route.
• Multi-currency holding and conversion, so funds can stay in the currency they arrived in until a supplier invoice is actually due.
• Trade-based verification and automated review. According to XTransfer’s HKEX filing and X-Net materials, TradePilot reported an automated transaction-review rate of approximately 98.5% and a fraud rate of approximately 0.003% as of March 31, 2026. These are company-reported metrics; definitions and measurement scope may differ from other providers.
• Payment workflows built for several payees, including approvals, batch payments and reconciliation support that a growing importer eventually needs.
• Operations across more than 200 countries and regions, with licensing or registration in major hubs including the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong (China), the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore, the Netherlands, Australia and Canada. In the United Kingdom, XTransfer UK Limited holds FCA Authorised Payment Institution status.

Each of those capabilities maps to a specific decision. Local collection may reduce the number of intermediaries and related fee leakage on eligible routes. Multi-currency holding gives the importer currency control instead of forcing a conversion the moment funds land. Automated trade review may shorten onboarding and settlement friction for repeat supplier payments, subject to the provider’s compliance requirements and review criteria.

In practice the flow is straightforward. A business registers as a trading company and completes verification with standard corporate and trade documents. It then receives or funds the account in a supported currency, holds the balance, and pays suppliers over local rails or SWIFT where the route requires it. Before committing, confirm eligibility for your own registration location and corridor, check the fee schedule that applies to your currencies, and prepare the documents your verification will require.

International Wire Transfer / Telegraphic Transfer (T/T)

A wire transfer, also called a telegraphic transfer or T/T, is instructed through banking channels, often using SWIFT messages, and may be settled through correspondent banks. It remains the default in many trade relationships because it is widely accepted and supports the deposit-and-balance structure many manufacturers prefer.

• Key considerations
• Supplier acceptance: high, since T/T works for nearly any supplier and currency.
• Transaction risk: the buyer sends money before goods ship, so a deposit against a trusted supplier is easier to accept than a full prepayment to a new one.
• Cost: the sending bank, the receiving bank and any intermediary can each deduct a fee, and the FX margin is often folded into the rate rather than shown as a line item.
• Where XTransfer may fit better: when an importer pays the same suppliers regularly and wants fee and FX visibility instead of unexplained deductions, an account built for trade with local collection is worth pricing against the bank wire.

Speed is usually not the only constraint. In the SWIFT gpi material cited below, SWIFT reports that, on average, around 40% of gpi payments reach the beneficiary within five minutes and almost all within 24 hours. For a specific payment, compliance screening, FX conversion, cut-off times, the route and participating banks can change the actual timing.

Letter of Credit

A letter of credit, also called a documentary credit, is an undertaking by the buyer’s bank to pay the supplier once a defined set of documents is presented and found compliant. The bank pays against documents such as an invoice, transport document and packing list rather than against the goods themselves.

• Key considerations
• Supplier acceptance: high for larger orders, and frequently required by a supplier that has not traded with the buyer before.
• Transaction risk: the supplier gains stronger payment assurance, while the buyer gains documentary control; neither side should treat the credit as a guarantee of the goods’ quality or condition.
• Cost: issuing and advising fees, plus discrepancy charges that arise whenever documents do not match the credit exactly.

A letter of credit can be a sensible structure for a first order with a new supplier or a large capital purchase. It may be poor value for routine replenishment when the documentary overhead outweighs the risk reduction. ICC Trade Register data estimates that documentary trade accounted for roughly 2% of total global trade flows in 2022. That is a prevalence statistic, not by itself evidence that a letter of credit is unsuitable for every repeat order.

• Where XTransfer may fit better: XTransfer is not a substitute for a documentary credit. When an importer needs a bank’s own payment undertaking tied to compliant shipping documents, a letter of credit issued by a trade bank should remain the primary instrument.

Documentary Collection, including D/P and D/A

A documentary collection uses the banks to handle documents rather than to guarantee payment. Under documents against payment (D/P), the supplier’s bank releases the shipping documents only once the importer pays. Under documents against acceptance (D/A), the documents are released against the importer’s written promise to pay at a future date.

• Key considerations
• Supplier acceptance: medium to high, and common where the two sides already know each other.
• Transaction risk: asymmetric. D/A gives the importer credit and leaves the supplier exposed, so it is normally reserved for established relationships.
• Cost: cheaper than a letter of credit because the bank does not add its own payment undertaking.
• Where XTransfer may fit better: the collection itself is a bank-intermediated mechanism, so XTransfer is not necessarily the preferred instrument for it. It can sit alongside one as the account that holds funds and settles the invoice once documents are released.

Escrow or Marketplace Buyer Protection

Escrow holds the buyer’s money with a third party and releases it once agreed conditions are met, such as confirmed delivery. Marketplace platforms often bundle similar protection into checkout, which is why many first orders between parties that do not know each other start this way.

• Key considerations
• Supplier acceptance: high on marketplaces that build protection into the platform, lower for direct supplier relationships.
• Transaction risk: low for the buyer, at the cost of delayed receipt for the seller.
• Cost: platform or escrow fees plus currency conversion, with funds tied up for the duration of the order.
• Where XTransfer may fit better: once a relationship moves off a marketplace into direct repeat ordering, escrow or marketplace protection may become less cost-effective. A trade account with verified counterparties can be a more efficient structure at that stage, depending on the corridor and the protection required.

Sourcing Agent or Trade Intermediary

A sourcing agent or local buying office handles supplier sourcing, inspection and sometimes payment on the importer’s behalf. In return for a commission or service fee, the importer gains local language skills, factory visits and quality checks it could not easily run itself.

• Key considerations
• Supplier acceptance: high where the agent already has a relationship with the factory.
• Transaction risk: depends almost entirely on the agent, because the importer may be paying a party it cannot fully verify.
• Cost: the commission is visible, but the FX and payment margin applied inside the agent’s handling may not be separately itemized. Confirm the agent’s all-in quote before comparing it with direct payment.
• Where XTransfer may fit better: if an importer wants to keep using an agent for inspection while paying suppliers directly, holding the payment in its own verified account preserves the fee and FX visibility that a bundled agent payment removes.

International Credit or Debit Card

Cards are fast and widely accepted, and they work well for samples, software, subscriptions and small one-off purchases. Their weakness is scale: card networks and payment processors generally charge percentage-based fees, so the cost of a business payment can rise with the amount.

• Key considerations
• Supplier acceptance: high for consumer-type transactions, lower for large industrial orders where suppliers dislike absorbing card fees.
• Transaction risk: card schemes may provide dispute or chargeback rights subject to scheme rules, issuer policies and transaction type; suppliers may be cautious about large card payments.
• Cost: percentage-based processing fees plus a conversion margin on cross-border transactions. Compare the all-in card cost with a bank or trade-payment quote for the exact transaction rather than using a fixed amount threshold.
• Where XTransfer may fit better: cards suit the procurement and expense side of importing rather than supplier settlement itself. Where an order is large enough for percentage fees to become material, a trade payment account is usually the lower-cost structure.

Multi-currency Accounts for Importers

A multi-currency business account is a single account that holds balances in several currencies and provides local receiving details in some of them. It solves two problems at once. An importer can let receipts and refunds land in the original currency rather than converting immediately, and it can convert and pay a supplier when the rate and the cash flow both make sense.

That control is the practical benefit. Businesses forced to convert on receipt absorb whatever the rate is that day and often pay a margin on top. Holding currency and converting deliberately turns that into a decision rather than an automatic cost. Local collection details may shorten the payment chain, which can reduce the chance of intermediary deductions on eligible routes. Airwallex says its Global Accounts support receiving in 20-plus currencies from 70-plus countries and regions; separately, it reports that 92% of transfers settle the same day. These are provider-reported figures, and actual availability and speed vary by entity, corridor and transaction.

Published pricing, where it exists, makes comparison possible. On its current EU pricing page, WorldFirst lists currency conversion at up to 0.75% and payment fees that vary by currency, starting from €0.30. Payoneer says receiving in the primary local currency may be free, while other currencies may incur a fixed fee or a 1% fee, depending on the account and region. Wise Business reports more than 700,000 global businesses and supports payments in 40-plus currencies to 160-plus countries on its business pages. Exact pricing depends on currency, route, account type and volume, so the practical test is to price a real payment rather than compare headline numbers.

The trade-offs are real. Many multi-currency accounts are built for businesses rather than consumers, so verification and trade documentation are part of onboarding. They add little for a business making a single one-off payment, or for a transaction that genuinely needs a bank’s own payment undertaking, such as a documentary credit. XTransfer’s fit in this category is conditional rather than exclusive: it is most relevant to businesses whose regular trade needs clearer fee visibility, multi-supplier payment workflows and verified compliance handling for specific corridors.

XTransfer may be worth evaluating when:

• Regular cross-border trade makes fee and FX visibility a recurring problem rather than a one-off annoyance.
• The business pays several suppliers, works in multiple currencies, or needs approval and reconciliation workflows.
• The relevant collection, payment or compliance capability is verified for the business’s own corridor and registration location.

Another method may be more suitable when:

• A high-value first order needs documentary bank protection, which a letter of credit provides and a payment platform does not.
• Marketplace escrow or buyer protection is the main priority for a new supplier relationship.
• The business only needs a small, one-off payment, or trades from a location the platform does not serve.

Do importers need a local bank account to pay overseas suppliers?

No. A wire transfer or a multi-currency account lets an importer pay from its home country. Local account details matter mainly when receiving funds in a specific currency, although a provider may still require a domestic funding account or other onboarding conditions.

How long does an international payment usually take?

SWIFT’s cited gpi material says that, on average, almost all gpi payments reach the beneficiary within 24 hours. That is not a guarantee for every international payment; compliance screening, currency conversion, bank cut-off times, the route and participating banks can add a day or more.

Is a wire transfer or a multi-currency account better for regular supplier payments?

For a one-off payment, a wire transfer may be simpler. For repeat payments in the same currencies, a multi-currency account may be cheaper or easier to reconcile, but compare the all-in quote for the exact corridor, route and account type.

What is the difference between CNY and CNH?

CNY is the onshore renminbi traded inside the Chinese Mainland. CNH is the offshore renminbi traded outside it. They are separate markets and can carry different rates.

What documents may be required before making an international payment?

Providers may ask for company registration papers, identification of directors and trade documents such as a purchase order or invoice. Requirements vary by provider, entity, corridor and transaction risk. A letter of credit requires the documents specified in the credit, which may include shipping documents.

This article is compiled from publicly available sources for informational purposes only and does not represent the official views of XTransfer. XTransfer accepts no liability for any damages arising from reliance on this content.