Key takeaways
You can send money internationally in many ways, but relying on traditional methods can be relatively expensive and slow.
When choosing the right method for international transfers, you need to balance the costs, ease of use, speed, available currencies, and reliability of each option.
Airwallex lets you move money to 150+ countries using local methods, so your fees and waiting period are both dramatically lower.
France was the fourth largest importer in the world in 2023 1, paying for $773 billion (USD) worth of goods. While not all of this is business expenditure, international trade is clearly a big part of the economy.
In this article, we explain the basics of international transfers, as well as key things to look for (and avoid) when choosing your platform for international business transfers.
Best international money transfer options in 2026 (from France)
As well as using your bank to send a transfer, there are hundreds of alternatives that can provide a similar service – often for cheaper or with greater efficiency.
We’ve compared seven of the top contenders in the table below.
Provider | Account fee | FX margin or fees | Local settlement and multi-currency accounts | Number of payout currencies supported |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Airwallex | From 0 EUR per month ¹ | 0,5% - 1,00% above interbank exchange rates ¹ |
| 90+ ² |
BNP Paribas (Société Générale) | From 31,50 EUR per month ³ | Margin isn’t stated, but a commission of 2,90% + €0.90 per transaction is levied on all non-SEPA, non-EUR transactions | Not stated explicitly, but they do report “d'un accès aux systèmes de compensation locaux dans plusieurs pays à partir d’un pays unique.” ¹³⁰⁴ | 130 ⁴ |
Wise Business | 50 EUR to open the account ⁵ | From 0,47% ⁵ |
| 51 ⁶ |
Convera (formerly Western Union Business) | 0 EUR | Charges a margin, but only shares it on a per-transaction basis ⁷ | You can hold currencies for up to 180 days, but do not have local accounts | 140+ ⁸ |
Paysend | 0 EUR ⁹ | Fees per transaction starting from 1,50 EUR ¹⁰ |
| 33 ¹¹ |
Qonto | From 11 EUR per month ¹² | 2% above interbank rate ¹³ |
| 32 ¹⁴ |
Revolut | From 10 EUR per month ¹⁵ | From 0,6% over a 1,000 EUR allowance; 1% fee if exchanging money outside of trading hours ¹⁶ |
| 33 ¹⁷ |
How Airwallex supports international business transfers
We build the global financial infrastructure that empowers businesses to operate anywhere, anytime. International transfers are one of the key pillars of that mission.
You will have already seen in the table above that our pricing, margins, and fees are some of the best – and most transparent – on the market. In terms of costs, you can be sure you’re making a good choice. However, there are many more benefits to using Airwallex, including:
Fast payouts via local accounts in dozens of countries
Logic-based approvals for individual and batch transfers
Payment acceptance via checkout, payment links, and invoices
Spend management tools that help you stay on top of your numbers
Batch transfers, up to 1,000 items at a time, uploaded via API or .XLSX template
A transfers dashboard that provides status updates for each past and current transfer
What is an international money transfer?
International money transfers can happen in a few different ways, but they always concern sending money to another country.
Common ways you’ll make an international transfer are:
Sending EUR across the Eurozone
Sending EUR outside the Eurozone and having the receiving bank convert it to local currency
Sending a different currency you hold to another country (e.g. from a USD account with a French bank, sending to America)
Common reasons businesses send international transfers from France
Once upon a time, only the biggest businesses had to make international transfers. In 2026, business is global – it doesn’t matter whether you’re a one-person business or employ hundreds of people.
Of course, the nature of your international payments will be unique to the size of your business and its industry. There are still some common categories across businesses, however:
Paying suppliers or contractors
Funding expansion in other countries
Settling invoices from foreign vendors
Funding a foreign acquisition or expansion
Moving funds between companies or subsidiaries
Paying remote employees or directors with foreign accounts
How do international business transfers actually work?
There is more than one way to send an international transfer, so the standard procedure varies depending on the method you’re using.
To start with, let’s look at a few key terms you’ll encounter with international transfers.
Term | Definition |
|---|---|
SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) | The system banks use to communicate with each other across the world. |
BIC (Business Identifier Code) | The unique identifier given to each institution in SWIFT. ‘BIC code’ and ‘SWIFT code’ are used interchangeably. |
SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) | A payment initiative across much of the European continent, facilitating cross-border payments in Euro denominations. |
IBAN (International Bank Account Number) | A unique identifier attached to every bank account in 89 countries worldwide, containing up to 34 numbers and letters. 18 |
Intermediary bank | If two banks don’t have a relationship, they will conduct a transfer via an intermediary bank – i.e. a mutual contact. |
Exchange rate | Used to calculate the value of a transfer from one currency into another. For example, with an exchange rate of 1.15, 1,000 EUR sent to a USD account would be worth $1,150. |
Payment provider/platform | Not a bank, but a regulated financial services firm that can handle international payments at competitive rates and with simple usability. |
How a SEPA transfer works
Whatever method you choose, the process is usually quite straightforward. Let’s use a SEPA transfer as our example:
1. You enter the transfer details, usually:
Your details | Their details |
|---|---|
Name | Name |
Address | IBAN |
Which currency you’re using for the transfer (if you hold multiple currencies in an account) The amount you want to send | BIC/SWIFT code (not always required) |
2. Choose the type of SEPA transfer you want to use
Credit transfer (takes ~one day)
Instant credit transfer (takes seconds)
Core Direct Debit (takes up to two days)
B2B Direct Debit (takes up to three days)
3. Initiate the transfer and await confirmation
There is another way to make international transfers: With a multi-currency account, you can initiate a local transfer – no matter where you are in the world.
Key factors to consider when choosing a transfer method
Needs vary depending on your industry, size, and customer and supplier base, but there are some universally important factors that every business should consider. Before you decide how to send money across borders, think about the following:
What to consider | Why it matters | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
Foreign exchange (FX) rates and hidden fees | These affect your costs and the recipient’s margins. For your recipient to be paid in full, you will have to pay more money overall. | A clear tariff of fees and publicly available FX margins or live FX rates. |
Supported currencies and countries | If your recipient needs to receive the funds in a specific currency, your provider must be able to facilitate that exchange. Regarding countries, some providers will only make transfers to certain locations (e.g. USA, UK, and Europe). | On each provider’s website, you should find a list of currencies and countries they support. If you can’t find a list, you should ask them directly. |
Compliance and reporting | Transacting in multiple currencies can add complexity to your financial records. Your international payment provider should process payments in a compliant way and allow for accurate recording and reporting. | Integrations with your accounting software. Clear, auditable data trails. |
Ease of use | If every time you make an international transfer, it feels like a complicated or stressful process – something’s wrong. Your chosen method should be intuitive, simple, and work consistently. | You’ll have to test a few different options. Once you have, you’ll naturally know which ones felt easiest and most intuitive. |
Payment volumes and frequency | The number of transfers you make and their value (individually and collectively) will affect which method you choose. If your chosen method limits how much you can send per transaction, it may not be suitable for your average transfer value. | Check different methods for their costs and limits on transfers. For example, SEPA Instant Credit Transfers for many years had a maximum limit of 100,000 EUR per transaction. |
Common mistakes to avoid when sending money abroad
If there’s ever a time when you want to get things right, it’s when you’re sending money out of your business. Avoid unnecessary costs, issues, and operational headaches – look out for these common errors:
Only using banks
If you need to make a transfer, it’s obvious to think of your bank. They can do this task, but they aren’t always the best choice in terms of cost or user experience.
You are doing yourself a disservice by not considering alternative providers for your international payments. Many of the newer fintech challengers offer lower exchange rates and fees than traditional banks.
Your bank could be the best choice – it will all depend on your situation – but you should review the whole market before making any decisions.
Using consumer tools for business needs
Services like Western Union are primarily meant for P2P transfers. A business can use them, but this may go against their terms and conditions or expose you to greater risks, costs, and challenges.
The nature of business transfers are quite different to consumer ones, in both volume and value. The mechanism of transferring funds may be the same, but the assurances, limits, and protections required are completely different.
For platforms like Wise or Revolut, they offer both retail and business accounts. It might seem obvious, but you should double-check that you’re opening a business account.
Ignoring FX markup costs
Businesses can unknowingly lose a lot of money to FX markups/margins. Let’s say you are sending $10,000 USD from a EUR account.
Sending $10,000 with Airwallex | Sending $10,000 with another provider | |
|---|---|---|
Mid-market rate | 1.15 | 1.15 |
FX margin | 0,5% | 2% |
Applied exchange rate | 1.14 | 1.127 |
Cost of transfer (in EUR) | €8,740.52 | €8,873.24 |
That’s a 132,72 EUR difference on a single transfer. Not prohibitively expensive, but it’s still an unnecessary loss. Applied over a dozen more transfers and your business is suddenly short thousands of euros for no good reason.
Manual entry errors in high-volume payouts
Humans make mistakes, especially with data entry at scale. It can happen even with the best procedures and processes in place.
If your accounts payable team is manually processing hundreds of payments, it’s easy to put one number in the wrong place. Unfortunately, one number can cost your business a lot of money. 20,000 instead of 10,000, even 2,000 instead of 1,000 – it’s a big, frustrating problem to try and resolve.
Using an intelligent platform that has logic-based approvals means you can catch errors before they happen. For example, you could set a rule that says any transfer greater than 10,000 EUR needs approval from a senior person in the finance department.
Poor visibility into payment status
International transfers are typically slower than local transfers. The money has to pass between different countries and their banking systems, as well as potentially through currency exchange.
Transferring internationally takes time and is rarely instant, however you should still be able to check on the status of your payment. A timeline, with expected arrival and clearance dates, is not too much to expect. If you can’t access this, the stress and uncertainty might be enough reason to choose a different provider.
Accurate reporting
Any business that exceeds EUR 30 million in foreign transactions in a calendar year is required to complete monthly reports as part of the Relevé de transactions économiques (RTE). 19
Businesses transacting below that value can be chosen, at random, to complete the Enquête complémentaire sur les échanges internationaux de services (ECEIS).
You also have to consider your normal l'impôt sur les sociétés (IS) reporting obligations.
International transfers made easy with Airwallex
A few decades ago, it was reasonable to expect international transfers to be expensive. In 2026, when businesses like Airwallex are moving more than $150 billion USD every year, it should be no harder than sending money to your next-door neighbour.
The market is fractured. Some of the biggest names in banking and payments make significant profits from their customers’ international trade. Others want to facilitate more international growth. Choose a platform that does more of the latter and you’ll grow further and faster.
Sources and references
https://convera.com/docs/convera-fx-transactions-pds-en-at.pdf
https://help.paysend.com/hc/en-gb/articles/5999816166429-What-fees-does-Paysend-charge
https://qonto.com/fr/pricing?select-toggle=solo&periodicity=yearly&website_addon_period=yearly
https://qonto.com/fr/pricing?select-toggle=team&periodicity=monthly&website_addon_period=yearly
https://www.revolut.com/fr-FR/business/business-account-plans/
https://www.swift.com/sites/default/files/files/iban-registry_3.pdf
https://www.banque-france.fr/en/statistics/focus-services-excluding-travel
View this article in another region:France - Français
Alexandre Huin
Head of Sales, SME and Growth, France
Alexandre Huin is Head of Sales, SME & Growth, FR at Airwallex. He leads the French sales team supporting fast-growing SMEs and digital businesses with cross-border payments, FX and cash flow management. On the Airwallex blog, he shares practical insights on how French companies can streamline international expansion and modernise their payments stack.
Posted in:
TransfersShare
- Best international money transfer options in 2026 (from France)
- How Airwallex supports international business transfers
- What is an international money transfer?
- Common reasons businesses send international transfers from France
- How do international business transfers actually work?
- How a SEPA transfer works
- Key factors to consider when choosing a transfer method
- Common mistakes to avoid when sending money abroad
- International transfers made easy with Airwallex
