How do I pay a supplier abroad from my business account?

How to pay a supplier abroad: the short answer

To pay a supplier abroad, collect the supplier's exact bank details and choose a payment route that fits the supplier's country and the invoice currency. Then check the payment, send it, and keep the confirmation.

That is five steps, in this order:

1. Agree the invoice terms: the currency and who pays the bank charges.
2. Collect the bank details: the account holder's name, the IBAN or local account number, and the BIC where needed.
3. Choose the route: a local rail such as SEPA, or an international wire over SWIFT.
4. Check before sending: the fees, the payee name, and the request itself.
5. Send the payment and keep the proof.

This guide is for one B2B (business to business) payment: paying a single supplier. To pay many affiliates, partners, or creators at once, read how to pay international affiliates and partners at scale.

Step 1: Agree the invoice currency and who pays the bank charges

Start with the invoice. Confirm the currency it is payable in, and the invoice reference the supplier wants quoted on the payment.

Ask the supplier, and ask your bank or provider, who pays the sending bank's charges, who pays any intermediary bank's charges, and who pays the receiving bank's charges. Ask too whether the supplier will receive the full invoice amount.

You also choose the currency you pay in: the invoice currency or the currency of your account. If they differ, ask how any conversion would be applied and at what rate.

Nudl business accounts support EUR, GBP, USD, and CHF, subject to eligibility and jurisdiction. If your invoice is in another currency, check with your bank or provider whether your account can send it.

Step 2: Collect the supplier's bank details

Ask the supplier for their bank details in writing. You need these items:

• The account holder's name, exactly as the supplier's bank holds it.
• The account identifier: the IBAN where the country uses one, otherwise the local account format.
• The bank's BIC or SWIFT code, where needed.
• Anything else your bank or provider may also ask for, such as the supplier's address, the invoice reference, or the purpose of payment.

For payments within the EEA, the payer only has to provide the IBAN. For cross-border transfers outside the EEA, the BIC must also be provided (Deutsche Bundesbank).

Check every character against the supplier's invoice or contract. Then confirm the details through a channel you already know, as Step 4 explains.

Step 3: Choose the route: a local rail or an international wire

A local rail is the payment system of the supplier's own currency area. An international wire goes over SWIFT. The right choice depends on the supplier's country, the invoice currency, and how much the payment is for.

On a euro payment between banks in the EU, the payer's bank or provider must ensure the money is credited to the supplier's bank by the end of the following business day, under Article 83(1) of the EU Payment Services Directive (PSD2). Under Article 83(2), the supplier's bank then makes the amount available to the supplier. BaFin, the German financial regulator, gives the same one business day deadline for euro transfers within the EEA.

Euro: SEPA and SEPA Instant

SEPA is short for the Single Euro Payments Area. SEPA payments can only be processed in euro (Deutsche Bundesbank). Under the SEPA Instant scheme, instant credit transfers make funds available in the payee's account within ten seconds (ECB).

Sterling: Faster Payments and CHAPS

Faster Payments offers real-time payments of up to GBP 1m (a scheme figure), day and night, 365 days a year (Pay.UK, the scheme operator). Each bank and building society sets its own limit, and those limits differ.

CHAPS is a sterling same-day system for high-value and time-critical payments (Bank of England). It is usually open 6am to 6pm on working days, and customer payments must be submitted by 5.40pm. CHAPS has no minimum or maximum payment limit. Those are scheme times, so your bank or provider may set an earlier cut-off.

Dollars: ACH and Fedwire

The ACH Network reaches all US bank and credit union accounts and is used for invoice payments (Nacha). The Fedwire Funds Service is a real-time gross settlement system (Federal Reserve Board). It currently runs 22 hours a day on weekdays, holidays excluded (Federal Reserve Board).

Everywhere else: an international wire over SWIFT

For a supplier outside these areas, or an invoice in another currency, you send an international wire over SWIFT. No single time applies to a SWIFT payment. Ask your bank or provider for its cut-off time and the expected value date (the date the money should arrive) for that country and currency.

The one business day PSD2 rule does not apply where only one of the two banks is in the EU, under Article 2(4) of PSD2. Nor does it apply to a payment in a currency that is not an EU Member State's currency, under Article 2(3). BaFin, the German financial regulator, says there is no statutory deadline for transfers outside the EEA. For a wire to a supplier outside the EEA, there may be no equivalent statutory deadline.

Step 4: Check the fees, the payee name and the request before you send

Ask your bank or provider these questions before you send:

• What total amount will leave your account?
• What amount should the supplier receive?
• Who bears each bank's charges?
• Does any currency conversion happen, and at what rate?

Then check the payee name. Under Article 5c of Regulation (EU) 260/2012, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2024/886, payment providers must offer payers a payee verification service for euro credit transfers within the EU. Providers in euro area Member States must offer it from 9 October 2025, and providers in other EU Member States from 9 July 2027. The service tells the payer, before the payment is initiated, about any discrepancy between the account identifier given and the name of the intended payee.

As of 25 October 2026, the check applies to euro payments within the EU only, and only for providers in euro area Member States. Do not assume the name is checked on an international payment. Ask your bank or provider whether it offers any check on international payments.

Treat any message that says the supplier's bank details have changed as a possible fraud. In a review of 24 January 2023, the Swiss National Cyber Security Centre describes attackers who search hacked email accounts for sent invoices, alter the bank details, and resend them as if from the real issuer. The FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center describes criminals who gain access to email and send fraudulent requests to change the payment method or redirect a payment to an account they control.

These controls follow from that guidance:

• Verify any change of account details through a separate channel, such as a phone call (Swiss National Cyber Security Centre).
• Check sender domains for misspellings (FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center).
• Use dual control, so that two people approve payments (Swiss National Cyber Security Centre).

Step 5: Send the payment and keep the proof

Keep the payment confirmation your bank or provider issues, together with the invoice reference. If the supplier asks for it, send them the confirmation. Keep both with the invoice, so you can show later what was paid and to which account.

Act quickly if you realize you paid the wrong account or were tricked. Contact your bank or provider immediately and ask it to try to recall the payment (FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center). A recall is a request, and it may not succeed. Speed matters because some systems, CHAPS among them, settle irrevocably.

Which route fits your supplier?

Match the route to the supplier's country and the invoice currency:

• Supplier in the euro area or another SEPA country, invoice in euro: use a SEPA credit transfer, or SEPA Instant where your bank or provider offers it. The payee name check from Step 4 applies to euro payments within the EU: from 9 October 2025 for providers in euro area Member States, and from 9 July 2027 for providers in other EU Member States. The one business day crediting duty from Step 3 applies to euro payments within the EEA. For a SEPA country outside the EU, ask your bank or provider which of those rules still apply.
• Supplier in the UK, invoice in sterling: use Faster Payments for an ordinary invoice within the limit your bank or provider sets. A large invoice may need CHAPS, because that limit may be lower than the GBP 1m scheme figure. Ask your bank or provider for its own Faster Payments limit and its CHAPS cut-off.
• Supplier in the US, invoice in US dollars: use ACH for scheduled invoice payments that fit its settlement windows. Whether your own account can use it is for your bank or provider to confirm.
• Supplier outside the EEA, or an invoice in another currency: use an international wire over SWIFT. Plan around the cut-off time of your bank or provider, and ask for the expected value date. For a supplier outside the EEA, there may be no statutory deadline.

Nudl is a regulated financial intermediary that provides payment orchestration and AML/compliance services over regulated partner institutions. See which currencies and rails Nudl business accounts support, subject to eligibility and jurisdiction, in the supported currencies section. When you are ready, you can start an application.

FAQ

How long does it take to pay a supplier abroad?

There is no single answer. It depends on the rail, the currency, the cut-off times, and the banks involved. For a SWIFT wire, ask your bank or provider for its cut-off time and the expected value date. Among the rails Nudl supports, only SEPA Instant and Faster Payments are instant, subject to eligibility and jurisdiction.

Do I need an IBAN or a SWIFT code to pay a supplier?

It depends on where the supplier's bank is located. Within the EEA, the payer only has to provide the IBAN, while transfers outside the EEA also need the BIC (Deutsche Bundesbank).

What if I sent money to the wrong account or a fraudster?

Contact your bank or provider immediately and ask it to try to recall the payment. Report it to the police or the relevant authority in your country. Recovery is not certain.

Nudl is a service of Quixo AG, a Swiss financial intermediary affiliated with the Self-Regulatory Organisation VQF (No. 101241) under the Swiss Anti-Money Laundering Act. Nudl is not a bank and does not take deposits; funds are accepted for payment settlement only and safeguarded with regulated partner institutions. Services are subject to eligibility, jurisdiction, and compliance checks. This article is general information, not financial or legal advice.