6 international payment methods for business: From SWIFT to local payment rails

Key takeaways

• The main international payment methods include wire transfers, SWIFT, SEPA, ACH, payment cards, and online payment platforms — each comes with different costs, speeds, and coverage.

• Understanding payment rails (the infrastructure behind these methods) helps you choose the right balance of speed, cost, and reach for your business.

• Airwallex routes over 90% of transfers through local rails instead of SWIFT, with roughly 95% arriving the same day or faster. This helps businesses cut fees and move money globally without delays.

Moving money between countries should be simple. However, businesses often face a maze of options, and each option has trade-offs in cost, speed, and coverage. Whether you're paying suppliers, collecting from customers, or managing cross-border payouts, you need to understand your choices. That way, you can protect margins and keep cash moving.

This guide explains the main international payment methods. It also shows how payment rails work behind the scenes and helps you choose the right approach for your business.

What are international payments?

International payments — also called cross-border payments — are transfers of funds between parties in different countries. They’re like domestic payments, but with more steps. These steps can include currency conversion, compliance checks across multiple jurisdictions, and routing through different financial networks.

These details matter because each step can add fees and slow things down. When you understand how international payments work, you can pick methods that cut costs and get money where it needs to go faster.

How payment rails work

Payment rails are the infrastructure that international payment methods run on. They’re the networks that move money between a payer and a payee. You can think of them as the motorways that payments travel on.

To make cost-effective international payments, it helps to understand both global and local payment rails. Global rails, like SWIFT and card networks, have wide reach. But they can also be slower and more costly. Local rails are market-specific networks, like Faster Payments in the UK or SEPA in Europe. They’re often faster and cheaper, but they only work in certain regions or currencies.

In the UK, you’ll likely know payment systems such as Faster Payments and Bacs, which are operated by Pay.UK. You may also know CHAPS, which is operated by the Bank of England.

Global vs local payment rails

Global rails like SWIFT connect banks worldwide. That makes them useful when you need to reach almost any destination. Still, this reach comes with a cost. Often, several intermediary banks get involved, and each one can add fees and time.

Local rails, by contrast, work within specific markets or regions. They’re built for speed and efficiency within that coverage area. Here’s why they matter for cross-border payments:

• Higher authorisation rates and better customer satisfaction when accepting payments, because you’re offering familiar payment methods

• Lower fees than routing everything through global networks

• Faster settlement — often same-day or instant

• More cost-effective customer refunds and international bill paying

To use local rails, your business needs an account with a financial institution that’s licensed to operate in that country.

How Airwallex routes payments through local rails

Airwallex has built our global payments network on top of local payments infrastructure. That means we use a local rail to collect funds in the sending country at a lower cost. Next, we transfer the funds internally to our matching entity. Then we pay out through the local rail in the receiving country.

The result is that over 90% of transfers route through local rails rather than SWIFT. Also, roughly 95% arrive the same day or faster. This approach removes intermediary banks and their fees, while also speeding up settlement times.

6 international payment methods for cross-border payments

Two of the most common international payment methods are traditional bank transfers and cards. However, there are several other options, depending on what you need. Below, you’ll see how each method works, what it costs, and when to use it.

International wire transfers

A wire transfer is an electronic transfer of funds between two different banks or financial institutions. It’s a broad term for bank-to-bank transfers. In many cases, SWIFT is the messaging network used to process them.

Wire transfers run through networks provided by correspondent banks. These banks pass funds from the sending bank to the receiving bank. Along the way, this chain of banks handles the payment and helps make sure local rules are followed.

Traditional wire transfers often don’t suit businesses that make frequent or high-value international payments. That’s because currency conversion and fees from several banks in the chain can make them very expensive.

SWIFT payments

SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) is a messaging network that banks use to send standardised payment instructions to each other. It’s important to know that SWIFT doesn’t move money. Instead, it sends secure messages that tell banks what to do.

When you make a SWIFT payment, your bank sends a message with the recipient’s SWIFT code (also called a BIC) and the payment details. The message then travels through the correspondent banking network until it reaches the recipient’s bank. After that, the recipient’s bank credits the funds. If you understand how cross-border payments work, it’s easier to predict the costs.

SWIFT payments are widely accepted. They’re also fully traceable through SWIFT gpi (Global Payments Innovation). With SWIFT gpi, 75% of payments now reach destination banks within 10 minutes, and nearly all within 24 hours. Still, some transfers may take longer, depending on the correspondent banking chain and the beneficiary bank’s processing. Even so, cross-border fees can add up fast: sending fees, intermediary bank charges, receiving fees, and currency conversion mark-ups. So, if your business makes a high volume of transactions, these costs and delays can become a real issue.

SEPA payments

SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) standardises euro-denominated transfers across 36 European countries. It’s designed to make EUR payments within Europe as easy as domestic transfers.

SEPA has two main services: SEPA Credit Transfers (SCT) for sending payments, and SEPA Direct Debit (SDD) for collecting payments. Standard SCT payments settle within one business day. Meanwhile, SEPA Instant Credit Transfers arrive in seconds.

The main limit is that SEPA only supports EUR and only works within participating countries. However, if you pay European suppliers or collect from European customers in euros, it’s usually the fastest and cheapest choice.

ACH payments

ACH (Automated Clearing House) is the US electronic payment network for bank-to-bank transfers. It supports both credits (pushing money to someone) and debits (pulling money from someone with their authorisation).

Standard ACH payments settle in 1–2 business days. However, same-day ACH is also available for faster processing. Fees are usually low compared to wire transfers, which makes ACH a cost-effective option for regular payments.

ACH is mainly USD-based and focused on the US. Still, international ACH (IAT) does exist for cross-border transactions. ACH is a good fit when you’re paying US-based suppliers or receiving USD from US customers.

Payment cards

Payment cards — credit and debit — are one of the easiest international payment methods to use. For example, a business might pay an overseas supplier with a corporate card. Or it might accept customer payments through card networks like Visa, Mastercard, or American Express.

In the background, card networks and acquirers handle the transaction. As they do, they charge different fees:

• Interchange fees paid to the card-issuing bank

• Scheme or assessment fees paid to the card network

• Cross-border surcharges for international transactions

• Currency conversion fees when the transaction currency differs from the card currency

Because of these fees, card payments can be costly for high-volume cross-border transactions. Merchants looking for the best cross-border payment solution often choose cards for convenience, but the costs can pile up.

For businesses that make a high number of supplier payments, virtual debit cards can be a more cost-effective option. Online travel agents, for instance, use virtual cards to pay hotels and airlines around the world. Since each card can be issued for a single transaction, reconciliation is much easier for finance teams.

Online payment platforms

Online payment platforms combine payment gateways and payment processors to move funds digitally. They help businesses accept payments in foreign currencies, send payouts, and automate finance tasks.

Over the past decade, these platforms have been one of the biggest changes in global payment methods. They can reduce foreign transaction fees, lower FX costs, and cut operational overhead when compared to older options like wire transfers.

Airwallex goes further by combining payment acceptance with Global Accounts in 60+ currencies, competitive FX rates, and payouts through local rails in 180+ countries. So you can collect, hold, convert, and pay out funds — all in one platform — without the fees and delays that can come from routing everything through correspondent banks.

Comparing international payment methods

Many businesses use more than one method, based on the type of payment. For example, a company might use SEPA to pay European suppliers, ACH for US payroll, and an online payment platform to collect customer payments worldwide.

How to choose the right international payment method

The best payment method depends on what your business needs. With that in mind, here are the main factors to think about:

Key factors when choosing an international payment method

• Transaction volume: If you send lots of payments, you’ll benefit from platforms with lower per-transaction fees. Wire transfers and SWIFT can get expensive at scale.

• Payment size: Big one-off payments may justify wire transfer fees. In contrast, smaller regular payments often fit ACH, SEPA, or platform-based options.

• Speed requirements: If funds need to arrive quickly, local rails and instant options can beat SWIFT’s 1–5 day settlement.

• Currency pairs: SEPA only supports EUR, and ACH is mainly USD. So, if you deal in many currencies, you’ll want a platform that supports the currencies you use.

• Recipient preferences: Some suppliers or customers only accept certain methods. Also, local methods often have higher acceptance rates.

• Compliance needs: Each method has its own reporting rules. Platforms that handle compliance across jurisdictions can cut admin work.

Why businesses use Airwallex for international payments

Instead of managing multiple payment rails on their own, over 150,000 businesses use Airwallex to bring everything together in one platform. We route over 90% of transfers through local rails instead of SWIFT. That’s why roughly 95% of payments arrive the same day or faster.

With Global Accounts in 60+ currencies, interbank FX rates that can save up to 80% on conversion fees, Corporate Cards for supplier payments, and payouts to 180+ countries, you can collect, hold, convert, and pay out funds. You can also do it without the hassle of juggling multiple providers.

Open a Global Account to start moving money internationally with lower fees and faster settlement.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

What are the main methods of international payment?

The six main international payment methods are wire transfers, SWIFT payments, SEPA payments, ACH payments, payment cards, and online payment platforms. Each one has different costs, speeds, and coverage. So, the right choice depends on things like transaction volume, currency pairs, and how fast funds need to arrive.

What's the difference between ACH and SEPA?

ACH is the US electronic clearing network for USD transfers. SEPA standardises EUR transfers across 36 European countries. ACH usually settles in 1–2 business days (with same-day options). SEPA Credit Transfers settle within one business day, and SEPA Instant arrives in seconds. The key difference is coverage: ACH is for USD in the US, while SEPA is for EUR in Europe.

What fees are involved in international payments?

International payment fees often include transfer fees from your bank or provider, intermediary bank charges (for SWIFT payments), currency conversion mark-ups, and card network surcharges (for card payments). Costs can vary a lot by method. For example, SWIFT payments can include fees from three or more banks. In comparison, local rail transfers and platforms like Airwallex can lower costs by avoiding intermediaries and offering interbank FX rates.

How long do international payments take?

Settlement times can range from instant (for some local rail transfers and SEPA Instant) to up to 24 hours for most SWIFT and wire transfers via SWIFT gpi. Also, 75% of SWIFT payments reach destination banks within 10 minutes. Still, some payments may take longer, depending on the banks involved. SEPA Credit Transfers usually settle within one business day, while ACH takes 1–2 business days. Airwallex delivers roughly 95% of transfers the same day or faster by routing through local rails rather than correspondent banking networks.