How Do Importers Make International Payments in September 2026？

An importer's payment is not simply a transfer of money. It is the settlement of a commercial obligation against documents, an invoice, a contract, a packing list and a bill of lading that all have to describe the same shipment, in a currency the supplier accepts, at a cost the landed margin can absorb, and on a date that keeps production on schedule. Get it wrong and the goods sit at the port.

Cost is the part importers feel first. World Bank data for the third quarter of 2025 put the global average cost of sending money at 6.36% of the amount, with banks averaging 14.99% and digital channels 4.59%. Currency is the second pressure point: the BIS 2025 Triennial Survey measured daily FX turnover at US$9.6 trillion in April 2025, 28% higher than in 2022, with the US dollar on one side of 89% of all trades. That is why most importers end up funding and settling in USD even when neither party is American.

Speed is the third, and the bar is now public. The G20 cross-border payments roadmap coordinated by the FSB targets 75% of cross-border retail payments to be available within one hour by the end of 2027, with an average cost of no more than 1% and no individual corridor above 3%. Most supplier payments today sit outside those numbers.

This guide compares the payment routes importers use most often, from bank transfers and documentary credits to escrow, cards and multi-currency accounts, and tests each against three questions: does the supplier accept it, who carries the transaction risk, and what does it really cost once bank charges, intermediary deductions and exchange-rate spreads are combined.

XTransfer is a cross-border trade payment platform built around B2B commerce rather than consumer transfers. An importer registers a business profile, completes trade verification, and then collects and pays through the platform: incoming payments can arrive from bank accounts in more than 200 countries and regions, and outbound payments reach suppliers' business bank accounts across the same footprint. For importers buying from China, the most relevant capability is settlement in CNY to a Chinese supplier's designated bank account, which lets the supplier invoice locally instead of financing a receiver fee on an international wire.

Why consider XTransfer?

The platform's scale matters to a first-time importer, because it means the verification and documentation workflow has been tested across many trade corridors rather than built for a niche. XTransfer reports over 1,000,000 enterprise clients, more than US$60 billion in annual processing volume and coverage of 200+ countries and regions, alongside an automated review rate of 98.5% and a fraud rate of approximately 0.003%.

On cost, account opening and account maintenance are free, incoming payments from bank accounts in 200+ countries and regions are free, and local currency collection is free in around 60 countries and regions, with a charge from 0.5% applying only to COP, PEN, CLP and ZAR collections. Outbound payments start from US$2 per transaction, and settlement in CNY to a Chinese supplier's designated account carries a maximum fee of 0.4% of the transaction amount.

• Key capabilities

• Multi-currency collection from bank accounts in 200+ countries and regions, with no inbound fee

• Local currency collection in around 60 markets, free apart from four currencies charged from 0.5%

• Outbound supplier payments from US$2, and a maximum 0.4% fee when settling in CNY to Chinese suppliers

• Automated trade review covering 98.5% of transactions

• Best for: importers with recurring supplier payments, several payees and a need for auditable trade documentation

• Not ideal for: a one-off, low-value purchase where a card or an escrow checkout already satisfies both sides

T/T is the default route. The importer's bank debits the account, sends a payment instruction through the correspondent banking chain, and the supplier's bank credits the beneficiary. In trade it is normally split: a deposit of 30% to 50% releases production, and the balance falls due against the bill of lading or before shipment.

• Supplier acceptance: High. It is the baseline expectation in most manufacturing corridors.

• Transaction risk: The importer carries it. Once the wire leaves, recovery depends on the receiving bank and the supplier's willingness to refund, and the goods are not protected by the payment itself.

• Total cost: Explicit bank charges are only part of the picture. A sending fee, a receiving fee, intermediary bank deductions and the FX spread are applied at different points, so the beneficiary can receive less than the invoice value.

• Best for: established supplier relationships, mid-sized and large orders, and any supplier that has already quoted in USD or EUR.

• Watch out for: the difference between OUR, SHA and BEN charge instructions. A short wording change shifts intermediary fees from the sender to the beneficiary.

• Bottom line: Reliable and universally accepted, but state the expected net amount in writing before the payment is sent.

Escrow places a neutral party between the two sides. The importer pays the escrow provider, the provider releases funds to the seller once agreed conditions such as shipment or delivery confirmation are met, and a dispute process applies if they are not.

• Supplier acceptance: Medium to high where it is part of the platform order flow, and low with suppliers selling outside those platforms.

• Transaction risk: Lower than a plain transfer on a first order, because the release of funds is conditional on evidence rather than on trust.

• Total cost: Priced as a service, so the fee is usually a percentage of the order and higher than a bank transfer, and the importer's money is tied up between payment and release.

• Best for: first orders with a new supplier, sample and trial orders, and purchases made through a marketplace.

• Watch out for: conditions that are hard to evidence. Delivery can mean arrival at port, customs clearance or receipt at your warehouse, and the release rules follow whichever definition the order terms use.

• Bottom line: Worth the extra percentage on a first order with an unknown supplier, and less necessary once a relationship is proven.

A documentary credit is a bank undertaking: the issuing bank pays the beneficiary against compliant documents rather than against the buyer's promise. The importer's bank issues the credit, the supplier ships and presents documents, and payment follows if those documents match the credit terms.

• Supplier acceptance: High for large orders, and often required by the supplier's own bank before it finances production.

• Transaction risk: Balanced and explicit. The importer's exposure shifts from the supplier's behaviour to documentary compliance.

• Total cost: Priced per quarter of validity. Bank of China (Thai)'s import tariff lists an irrevocable letter of credit at 0.25% of the credit amount per three-month period for customers with a credit line, with a minimum of THB 1,000 per transaction, THB 500 for other amendments and THB 3,000 for a discrepancy, as set out in the bank's published import tariff schedule. Discrepancies, not fees, are the real cost risk, because each one adds charges and delay.

• Best for: high-value orders, new suppliers with no payment history, and transactions where the supplier's bank requires bank-backed assurance.

• Watch out for: document perfection. The invoice, bill of lading, packing list and certificate of origin have to match the credit wording line by line.

• Bottom line: The right instrument when order value justifies the administrative overhead, and unnecessary for routine repeat purchases.

An agent buys on the importer's behalf, consolidates several factories into one order, inspects goods and invoices the importer in a single currency. Payment then moves to the agent rather than to each factory.

• Supplier acceptance: High with the factories the agent already works with, because the agent becomes the counterparty.

• Transaction risk: The importer's credit exposure shifts to the intermediary, so due diligence moves from the factory to the agent.

• Total cost: A commission, usually a percentage of order value, plus an exchange-rate spread on the consolidated invoice that is often not disclosed separately.

• Best for: multi-supplier sourcing, market entry, and importers without an entity or a bank account in the supplier's market.

• Watch out for: visibility. Individual factory prices disappear inside one invoice, and switching away later means rebuilding those relationships.

• Bottom line: Efficient for fragmented sourcing, provided the commission and the exchange rate are shown separately from unit prices.

PayPal and similar services work account to account, with buyer protection and a formal dispute process attached. The buyer pays with a card or a balance, and the seller receives the funds minus a processing fee.

• Supplier acceptance: Medium. Common for samples, spare parts and small order confirmations, but many factories decline it for production orders because the fee is passed back to them.

• Transaction risk: Buyer protection is the attraction. The importer can open a dispute within the published window if goods never arrive or differ materially from the description.

• Total cost: Percentage-based and high for trade. PayPal's published US merchant rates price checkout at 3.49% plus a fixed fee per transaction, add a further 1.50% when a transaction crosses borders, and price card-funded payments at 2.99% plus the fixed fee.

• Best for: samples, tooling deposits and small top-up orders, where speed and dispute rights matter more than the percentage.

• Watch out for: the protection window is finite, so a production delay that runs past it leaves the importer with no dispute route.

• Bottom line: Practical for low-value, high-uncertainty purchases, and expensive as a standing method for regular supplier payments.

Cash transfer networks move money through agent locations and pay out in cash or to a local account, often within minutes. For importers the use case is narrow: a local representative who needs funds immediately and has no business account able to receive an international wire.

• Supplier acceptance: Low for factory invoices, and higher for small local disbursements and field expenses.

• Transaction risk: High. The transfer is irrevocable and instructions are often confirmed by name and identification number, so an error is difficult to reverse.

• Total cost: A transfer fee plus an exchange-rate margin embedded in the quoted rate rather than shown as a separate line.

• Best for: urgent local payments, deposits paid in person, and markets where business banking is impractical.

• Watch out for: transaction size limits and the absence of a trade documentation trail, which complicates both bookkeeping and any later claim.

• Bottom line: Treat it as a contingency tool rather than a channel for supplier invoices.

Cards move the payment onto a card network, where authorisation is immediate and the acquirer settles with the merchant. Trade platforms and marketplace checkouts increasingly accept them for orders small enough to fit inside card limits.

• Supplier acceptance: Medium on marketplaces and online B2B storefronts, and low with factories that invoice against a contract.

• Transaction risk: The cardholder can raise a chargeback, so a remedy survives payment, but card rules favour merchants who can evidence delivery.

• Total cost: Card acceptance is priced as a percentage of the order, which makes it expensive relative to a bank transfer on larger invoices, and cross-border card transactions can also attract an additional fee and a conversion margin.

• Best for: small orders, urgent replacements, marketplace purchases and suppliers already set up to accept cards.

• Watch out for: per-transaction ceilings, and the fact that the processing fee is normally built into the supplier's quotation rather than shown to the buyer.

• Bottom line: Convenient for low-value purchases, and uneconomic for volume procurement.

A multi-currency account is not a payment rail. It is the account layer that sits between them. The business holds balances in several currencies, receives from customers in the currency they pay in, and converts or pays out only when it chooses, which removes the automatic conversion that happens when every incoming payment lands in a single domestic account.

• Supplier acceptance: High, because payouts still leave the account as local or international transfers in the supplier's currency.

• Transaction risk: The importer keeps control of the funds until a payout instruction is issued, and approvals can be structured by user.

• Total cost: Can be lower than converting on arrival, but only if the conversion margin and the payout fees are counted together. Published UK pricing shows how much the models differ: Wise Business charges a one-off 50 GBP to open an account supporting 22 currencies, with conversion from 0.24%; Airwallex applies a 0.50% FX markup on major currencies and 1.00% on others, with SWIFT transfers priced at £10-£20 per transfer depending on the SHA or OUR option, and domestic transfers in EUR, GBP and CHF free; WorldFirst opens local receiving accounts in 15+ currencies, holds funds in 20+ currencies, charges £0.30 for local payments and £4.00 for international payments, and applies conversion pricing of up to 0.50%.

• Best for: importers paying suppliers in more than one currency, holding stock across seasons, or receiving customer payments in the buyer's own currency.

• Watch out for: the headline FX margin is not the whole cost. Payout fees, non-trading-hours surcharges and minimum conversion amounts are priced separately.

• Bottom line: For regular multi-currency trade, this layer can carry a lower total cost than converting on arrival, provided conversion margins and payout fees are counted together.

Alibaba.com is where a large share of first-time importer payments happen, and its order flow sets the expectations that follow. A typical order opens with a deposit of 30% to 50% and settles the balance before shipment. Domestic (local-currency) T/T in supported markets such as the US, Canada, the UK, Germany and France clears in one to two business days, while international T/T takes three to seven business days. USD transfers carry no stated ceiling, while other currencies are capped at US$300,000. Where a supplier accepts online bank payment, that route is quoted at US$15 or EUR 15 per transaction where a flat fee applies, or at 2.99% capped at US$30 per order in the US, with payment confirmed after four to five business days for US accounts and nine to ten for European accounts.

Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay and PayPal payments are priced at 2.99% with a per-transaction ceiling of US$12,000, while in the US online banking is also quoted at 2.99% but with the fee capped at US$30 per order. On a large order, that difference is the difference between a rounding error and a four-figure charge.

Payment method	Typical payment speed	Best for	Main consideration
Debit or credit card	Immediate authorisation, settlement in days	Small orders, urgent top-ups	2.99% fee, US$12,000 per-transaction ceiling
Local bank transfer	Domestic T/T in 1-2 business days	Suppliers concentrated in one market	Usually the lower-cost route, with no buyer protection
International wire / T/T	3-7 business days	Production deposits and balances	Intermediary deductions can reduce the amount received
Online bank payment	4-5 business days (US), 9-10 (Europe)	USD orders above US$12,000	US$15 or EUR 15 flat in some markets; 2.99% capped at US$30 in the US
Letter of credit	Days after document presentation	High-value or first orders	Banks charge per quarter of validity

Importers rarely need a single payment method. They need one place where deposits, milestone payments and supplier payouts can be prepared, reviewed and traced. XTransfer is built for that pattern rather than for one transfer, and it works alongside the routes above rather than replacing them: a first order can still run through escrow or a letter of credit, and routine payments can move to the platform once the relationship is established.

• Coverage of 200+ countries and regions for collections and payouts, with local currency collection in around 60 markets

• Free account opening and maintenance, and no inbound fee on payments from bank accounts in 200+ countries and regions

• A maximum fee of 0.4% when settling in CNY to a Chinese supplier's designated bank account

• Automated trade review on 98.5% of transactions, behind a reported fraud rate of approximately 0.003%

If your business makes regular payments to suppliers, manages multiple payees, or needs clearer visibility over FX and payment workflows, XTransfer may be worth evaluating.

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

No. An international wire works from your existing account, and a trade payment or multi-currency account can provide local receiving details where a supplier prefers to be paid domestically.

How long does an international supplier payment usually take?

International T/T typically clears in three to seven business days. Domestic transfers inside the buyer's own market settle in one to two business days for recipients able to accept them.

Should I use a letter of credit or a wire transfer?

A letter of credit suits high-value or first-time orders where both sides want bank-backed assurance. A wire transfer is simpler and cheaper for repeat orders with a supplier you already trust.

Is a multi-currency account cheaper than paying from my domestic account?

Often yes for regular trade, because funds are converted when you choose rather than on arrival. Compare the conversion margin and the payout fee together before deciding.

What documents does a supplier payment need?

Expect to provide the commercial invoice, the contract or purchase order, and shipping documents such as the bill of lading. They should describe the same goods, value and counterparties.

This article is compiled from publicly available sources and interview content 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.