How to make international wire transfers as a business

International wire transfers enable businesses to send money securely across borders for vendor payments, international payroll, and cross-border investments. For finance teams, they’re essential to keeping international cash flow steady and avoiding payment delays. But fees, timing, and security can be challenges if you don’t have the right processes in place.

This guide breaks down how these transfers work, the tools businesses use, and what to watch out for to keep costs low and payments smooth.

What are international wire transfers?

Businesses typically use them to:

• Pay overseas suppliers or partners
• Fund regional offices or cross-border projects
• Handle payroll for international teams or contractors
• Move funds between global subsidiaries or entities

Wire transfers are a reliable way to handle large or urgent payments, but they come with costs and complexities. For finance teams, staying on top of these transfers is key to managing cash flow, meeting deadlines, and keeping global operations running without disruption.

How the SWIFT network enables business payments

When a business sends an international wire transfer, it typically moves through the SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) network. It’s a secure messaging system that connects more than 11,000 financial institutions worldwide.

SWIFT is key to global B2B payments but doesn’t move the money itself. Instead, it sends standardized, encrypted instructions between banks so they can complete transactions safely and efficiently. These messages include key details like account numbers, currencies, and transfer amounts.

For finance teams, SWIFT is critical because it offers:

• Security: Encrypted messages reduce the risk of fraud and human error
• Traceability: You can track outgoing wires across banks and borders
• Compliance: Built-in message standards support regulatory checks
• Global reach: SWIFT connects banks in more than 200 countries

After sending a transfer, many banks provide an MT103 document—a SWIFT message that includes all transaction details, such as sender, recipient, amount, and reference numbers. While it doesn’t confirm receipt, it serves as proof that the payment was sent and can help trace its progress. MT103s are especially useful for audits, vendor confirmation, and resolving payment issues.

Required information for business wire transfers

To process your international wire transfer, your bank needs specific details from your finance team about both the recipient and the transaction itself. Business transfers usually require more comprehensive information than personal transfers to satisfy compliance requirements and maintain proper audit trails for your company's records.

Here’s what you’ll typically need:

Recipient details:

• Business name
• Bank name
• Bank address (including city and ZIP/postal code)
• Bank account number or IBAN
• SWIFT/BIC code

Payment information:

• Amount of money and currency
• Purpose of payment (often required for compliance)
• Intermediary bank details (if applicable)

Additional compliance considerations:

For high-value transactions or payments to high-risk regions, your bank may require supporting documents to comply with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations. Some transactions may be delayed or require further verification based on regulatory checks, especially if they trigger sanctions screening or involve sensitive jurisdictions

Methods businesses can use to send international wire transfers

Businesses have a few solid options for sending money across borders. Finance teams often rely on digital tools that offer the scale, security, and control needed for smooth international payments. While large companies stick with corporate banking portals, many small and mid-sized businesses turn to fintech platforms built for flexibility and cost savings.

Corporate online banking portals

Most businesses use commercial banking service platforms to manage and send international wire transfers. These systems are designed for enterprise needs, with features that help streamline processes and maintain internal controls.

Key features include:

• Approval workflows to support multi-user access and financial oversight
• Payment templates for recurring vendors or frequent transfers
• Real-time FX rate previews with options to lock in rates
• Audit trails to track actions for compliance and reporting

And here are some limitations to be mindful of:

• Cutoff times for same-day processing, usually mid-afternoon
• Transfer limits vary by bank, but traditional banks often allow higher limits, ideal for large payments
• Fees differ based on currency, destination, and processing speed

If you’re already working with a major bank, you likely have access to these tools. They offer a strong mix of control, speed, and security for managing international payments.

Business-focused international payment platforms

Fintech platforms give smaller and growing businesses more flexible, budget-friendly ways to handle cross-border payments. These services help cut down wire fees and improve processing speed by using local payout networks.

Some businesses prefer them because of:

• Lower FX costs: Mid-market exchange rates with low, transparent fees
• Faster settlement: Especially when routing payments through local rails
• Multi-currency accounts: Hold, send, and receive funds in multiple currencies
• ERP integrations: Sync directly with platforms like Xero, QuickBooks, or NetSuite for easier reconciliation

These platforms make sense if your business is:

• Paying international freelancers or contractors
• Managing cross-border payroll
• Collecting payments in foreign currencies
• Reducing FX exposure when operating in multiple markets

For many businesses, these platforms are a cost-effective complement, or alternative, to traditional banking wires.

Key considerations for businesses sending international wire transfers

Before sending funds overseas, it’s important for finance teams to evaluate the full picture involving cost, speed, compliance, and risk. Even small inefficiencies or unexpected fees can add up quickly when you’re managing multiple vendors or large cross-border volumes.

Fees and hidden charges

International wire transfers often come with more costs than meets the eye. These charges can vary depending on the sending bank, destination country, currency, and number of banks involved.

Common fees to watch for are:

• Initiation fee: Charged by the sending bank to process the wire
• Intermediary bank fees: Applied when multiple banks route the transfer
• Recipient bank fees: Deducted from the amount received on the other end

These fees can erode margins and complicate vendor relationships, especially if the recipient receives less than expected. In some cases, vendors may incur foreign currency receiving fees charged by their own bank, which can result in underpayment if these costs aren’t anticipated.

Unanticipated fees can disrupt cash flow planning, strain vendor relationships, and affect forecasting accuracy, especially when managing multiple international partners.

Exchange rates

The exchange rate you get when sending international payments has a big impact on your total cost, especially at scale. Most banks and platforms apply an FX markup on top of the mid-market rate, which can range from 1–4% or more.

That may not sound like much, but on a $100,000 transfer, even a 2% markup means $2,000 lost to currency exchange—every single time.

Here’s how to optimize exchange rates:

• Compare providers regularly to ensure competitive rates
• Use platforms that offer real-time FX rate previews or locked rates
• Set thresholds internally for acceptable FX margins
• Time transfers strategically if you have flexibility around market movements

Security considerations

International wires move quickly, and once they’re gone, there’s often no getting them back. That’s why payment security is critical, especially for teams handling large sums or high volumes.

Common risks include:

• Business email compromise (BEC): A fraudster poses as a trusted contact and sends fake wire instructions
• Phishing or hacked accounts: Funds are redirected to the wrong recipient
• Lack of recall options: Once a wire is processed, reversing it is difficult, if not impossible

Best practices for safer transfers are:

• Dual approval workflows: Implement multi-level authorization for all outbound wires, ensuring separation of duties between initiators and approvers
• Independent verification: Always confirm new or updated recipient details via a trusted channel
• Secure access controls: Limit who can initiate, approve, or view transfers within your payment platform
• Audit trails and alerts: Use tools that log all actions and flag unusual activity

Comparing wire transfers to other cross-border payment methods

Wire transfers work for international payments, but they're not always your best option, especially for smaller or regular transfers. While wire transfers work well for large or urgent payments, they can become costly and inefficient for frequent, smaller transactions.

When you're picking a cross-border payment method, focus on:

• Cost structure
• Processing speed
• Transaction volume capabilities
• Integration with your accounting systems

The right choice depends on how often you make payments, where you send money, and what your team needs. If wire transfers aren't ideal, you have other options available to you.

Global ACH

Global ACH lets you send cross-border payments through local clearing systems in different countries. These include SEPA in Europe, BACS in the UK, EFT in Canada, and ACH/Nacha in the US. Each system has its own process for moving money between bank accounts within its region.

Here's how Global ACH compares to wire transfers:

• Cost: You'll typically pay lower fees than wire transfers. Some providers offer flat-rate pricing regardless of how much you're sending
• Speed: Transfers take longer—usually 2–5 business days to reach their destination. The exact timing depends on the region and local banking systems
• Use cases: This works well for recurring vendor payments, international payroll, or smaller transfers where saving on fees matters more than getting the money there instantly

The main drawback of Global ACH is limited tracking and slower speed compared to SWIFT wire transfers. Wire transfers give you near real-time confirmation and tracking, while Global ACH provides fewer updates as your money moves through the system.

Multi-currency wallets

Multi-currency wallets are digital accounts that let you hold, pay, and receive money in several currencies without converting everything to your home currency first. It's like having local bank accounts in different countries, which makes international transactions much simpler.

In practice, you can use multi-currency wallets to:

• Handle international receipts and payments from a single platform
• Reduce foreign exchange exposure by choosing when to convert currencies
• Improve how you manage cash flow in foreign markets by eliminating conversion delays

If your business operates internationally, multi-currency wallets give you more flexibility and control over your global finances.

Send international wire transfers, and other payments, with Ramp

International wire transfers play a strategic role in global business payments. While more expensive than some other methods, international wire transfers are ideal for one-time, high-value, or time-sensitive cross-border transactions where speed and certainty matter most.

With Ramp Bill Pay, you don’t have to choose just one payment method. Ramp supports a wide range of payment types to help your business move money exactly how—and when—you need to:

• International wire transfers: Ramp supports payments to vendors abroad in U.S. dollars or payments to international vendors in their local currency
• Domestic wire transfers: Great for large, time-sensitive payments. Ramp enables same-day domestic wires for eligible transactions, with secure processing through the Fedwire network.
• ACH (direct deposit): Ideal for payroll, recurring vendor payments, and predictable disbursements. Ramp supports both regular and same-day ACH for faster delivery on eligible bills.
• Check payments: For US-based vendors who still prefer checks, Ramp can issue and mail checks on your behalf
• Ramp cards: Pay vendors by card—either with your existing cards or one-time-use Ramp cards—to earn cashback for vendors that accept Visa

By combining control, speed, and ease of use, Ramp helps you streamline every payment, whether it’s recurring or last-minute, small or large, domestic or international.

Whatever the need, Ramp makes it easy to pay smarter.

This post includes general information about international payments. For help with international payment functionality specific to Ramp, visit Ramp Support for more details.