How to accept international payments for your business

Selling to customers overseas means you need a way to accept international payments in the currencies your buyers already use. That comes down to three decisions: which payment methods and currencies to support, what each transaction costs you, and how to set your account up to receive the money.

This guide covers what international payments are, the methods you can offer overseas buyers, the fees that apply, and how to set up a PayPal Business account to receive and hold foreign currencies. If you are still weighing up whether to start selling internationally, start there and come back to this guide when you are ready to start getting paid.

Key takeaways

• An international payment is a payment where the buyer and the seller are in different countries, which usually involves a currency exchange and fees a domestic payment does not carry.

• You can get paid by overseas customers through cards, bank and wire transfers, digital wallets, local payment methods, and online payment platforms.

• A PayPal Business account can convert payments made in other currencies to U.S. dollars automatically, or hold balances in up to 21 other currencies so you choose when to convert.

• Cross-border fees and currency conversion costs sit on top of your standard transaction fee, so compare the total cost per transaction rather than the headline rate.

• Selling overseas brings tax obligations, anti-money laundering and know-your-customer checks, and different fraud patterns, so check what applies in each market.

What are international payments?

An international payment is a payment where the buyer and the seller are based in different countries. It usually involves converting one currency into another, carries fees a domestic payment does not, and is subject to the rules of both the buyer’s market and your own.

You’ll see the same thing described as international payments, cross-border payments, or foreign transactions. They all describe money moving between two countries.

Say your U.S. store sells to a customer in Germany who pays in euros. That payment is processed by a provider that supports euro transactions, converted at the applicable exchange rate, and settled into your account, with cross-border and conversion costs taken out along the way. You can also hold the euros instead of converting, which is covered below.

Common international payment methods

Overseas buyers pay in different ways depending on where they are:

• Credit and debit cards: widely recognized and quick to process. A cross-border fee usually applies when the card was issued in a different country from your account.
• Bank and wire transfers: useful for high-value invoices and B2B sales. They can take several business days, and intermediary banks may each deduct a charge along the way.
• Digital wallets: buyers pay from a stored balance or a linked card or bank account, without re-keying card details. They typically settle at card-like speed.
• Local payment methods: bank redirects, installment plans, and account-to-account options that are standard in one market and unknown in another. Check the differences between payment methods by market before you launch in a new country.
• Online payment platforms: one provider that supports several of the methods above, handles conversion, and gives you a single place to reconcile.

Benefits of accepting international payments

Getting paid by overseas buyers can change what your business can reach. Here is what it can give you:

• Expand internationally: Selling overseas can open up markets your domestic setup cannot reach. Demand shifts by category and market, so review cross-border e-commerce trends before you choose where to sell.
• Flexibility: Buyers in many markets may expect to see prices in their own currency and to pay with the methods they use at home.
• Buyer trust: in a Nielsen survey commissioned by PayPal, 30% of PayPal consumers surveyed cited trust as a reason for using PayPal when making purchases from overseas small and medium-sized businesses, compared with 28% of non-PayPal users who cited trust in their available checkout options.¹
• Simple currency management: PayPal can convert payments to U.S. dollars for you, or you can hold the balance and convert it later. You can also accept payments in other currencies (read more about this below).

How to accept international payments through your PayPal Business Account

There are several ways to receive money internationally. Here is how to set up a PayPal Business account to do it. By the end of these 5 steps, your account should be able to accept payments from buyers who hold non-U.S. PayPal accounts.

Follow these steps to get started:

1. Log in to your PayPal Business account or click here to create an account.
2. Find your name on the home page and choose Account Settings from the drop-down menu.
3. In Account & Security, choose Payment preferences.
4. In Block payments, choose Update.
5. Near the bottom of the settings, find “Block payments from users who...” and make sure “Have non-U.S. PayPal accounts" is unchecked to allow PayPal account holders from other countries to pay you online.

You can choose to convert foreign payments into U.S. dollars automatically or accept without converting for up to 21 other currencies that you can hold in your PayPal account.

How to hold payments in foreign currencies

You can hold balances in up to 21 currencies other than U.S. dollars in your PayPal Business account, and convert them when it suits you rather than on every transaction.

Payments received in currencies other than U.S. dollars will be automatically converted to U.S. dollars. The amount is converted at the latest applicable conversion rate and is then credited to your PayPal Business account. International payments are charged a percentage of the transaction amount on top of the exchange rate.

Looking to receive payments made in currencies other than U.S. dollars and hold them in your PayPal Business account? With PayPal, you can hold balances in foreign currencies and arrange to convert them yourself.

Follow the steps below to use your PayPal Business Account to hold foreign currency payments using your desktop computer:

1. Log in to your PayPal account.
2. Find your name on the homepage and choose Account Settings from the drop-down menu.
3. In Account & Security, choose Payment preferences
4. In Block payments, choose Update
5. Go to Preferences for receiving payments, and select the third option: "Accept all payments without converting the currency, either adding to an existing balance or creating a new holding currency where needed"
6. Your changes will be saved automatically

Follow these steps to use your PayPal Business Account to hold foreign currency payments using your PayPal app:

1. Navigate to the Money screen
2. Next to “Currencies”, select “More Actions”
3. From the dropdown menu, select “Add a currency”
4. Choose the currency you’d like to hold from the list
5. Select the “Add a Currency” button to confirm
6. Your PayPal account can now receive and hold this currency.

How to accept international credit card payments

Cards do a lot of the work in cross-border sales. In one corridor, 63% of cross-border purchases made by Australian consumers from U.S. businesses using PayPal were funded by debit and credit cards, based on PayPal internal data from April 2024 to March 2025.² Patterns differ by market, so treat this as one example.

Businesses like yours can accept international credit card payments by setting up a payment processing system that accommodates foreign credit cards. Here are a few tips as you get started:

• Choose a payment gateway or processor: Select a payment gateway or processor that supports international credit card payment processing. If you'd rather skip a full gateway integration, PayPal Payment Buttons let you add a simple checkout button to your website and accept card, digital wallet, and PayPal payments from international customers in eligible markets, without custom development.
• Check legal and regulatory requirements: Check which local and international regulations apply to accepting foreign payments, and choose a provider that helps you support compliance with them. This may include anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) requirements, among others.
• Verify card acceptance: Confirm that the payment processor accepts major international credit card networks. Different countries may have preferences for specific card networks.
• Implement geolocation detection: Use geolocation detection to identify the customer's location and automatically display prices and payment options in their local currency.

Discover more strategies on how to accept payments from shoppers globally.

Currency, tax, and compliance considerations when selling globally

International payment processing may be complex, but with the right strategies and tools, handling multiple currencies can be manageable. Before you start to accept international payments, consider some of these factors:

• Accounting software: Invest in accounting software that supports international payment processing to track and manage finances accurately.
• Transparent pricing: Clearly communicate to customers how exchange rates and conversion fees may affect the final price of products or services.
• Cash flow: Keep in mind that fluctuating currencies can impact cash flow.
• Payment processing: Different countries may have unique payment methods and regulations. Make sure to adapt your payment processing strategies to each market.
• Compliance: Selling into a new market can bring tax obligations with it, from U.S. sales tax rules to VAT and similar consumption taxes where your buyers are based. Your payment provider will also run anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) checks. Rules differ by market, so get independent tax and legal advice first.
• Fraud exposure: cross-border orders carry different risk patterns from domestic ones, including mismatched billing and shipping countries. Look for a provider that runs address and card verification checks, and review disputed orders by country so you can spot a pattern early.
• Offer multiple global payment methods: Provide customers with multiple payment options, including the preferred local payment methods, credit cards, and digital wallets.
• Displaying local currencies: To sell in different markets, it is ideal to present the costs of your products and services in the local currency of that market. Look for a payment processor that helps to display local currencies based on the buyer’s location. It is one of several things that can shape how a global audience responds to your marketing.

Understanding international payment fees

When accepting international payments, cross-border fees may apply because multi-currency payments generally involve additional costs. The total cost of a cross-border sale is usually made up of four components.

• Standard transaction fee: what your provider charges on every sale, domestic or not. Everything else sits on top of this.
• Cross-border fee: an extra charge that applies when your buyer’s account or card is registered in a different country from yours, whether or not a conversion takes place.
• Currency conversion cost: the margin applied to the exchange rate when a payment is converted into your account currency. Holding the balance instead delays this cost.
• Fixed fee by currency: a small fixed amount per transaction that varies by the currency of payment, which matters most on low-value orders.

PayPal charges along the same lines: a standard transaction fee, a fixed fee based on the currency of payment, and a further charge if PayPal performs a conversion. Rates vary by country and product, so check the current PayPal business fees rather than a figure quoted elsewhere.

How to help reduce the cost of international payments

There is no single cheapest method, but there are ways to help bring the total down.

• Hold balances in the currencies you are paid in most often, then convert on your own schedule rather than on every transaction.
• Price in local currency in the markets you sell to regularly, so conversion happens once on your side.
• Consolidate providers. One platform across several markets helps avoid separate setup and per-transaction costs.
• Review which corridors carry the most volume, then focus on the fees you pay most often.
• Compare what each payment method costs in a market, and lead with the cheaper one where buyers are happy either way.

Start selling internationally with PayPal

A PayPal Business account lets you accept payments from buyers in a wide range of markets, convert them to U.S. dollars automatically, or hold balances in up to 21 other currencies. At checkout, your customers can pay with PayPal, cards, and other supported methods depending on their market, through a single global payments platform.

Ready to get paid by customers overseas? Open a PayPal Business account or see how to accept payments in more currencies and markets.