Every time you receive a payment in the wrong currency, a decision is made and it might be yours… or not!
Let’s say a client sends you €1,000 to your UK bank account. Let’s also say that you rely on your bank to handle currency exchange, because you just don’t care that much and it’s too much trouble. Your GBP account accepts it, your bank processes it, and before you even touch the money, it’s been converted. If later you need to pay a supplier in euros, the process happens again, in reverse. Each conversion comes with a fee (can vary, depending on your bank), each step takes a slice but you don’t get a notification… just bite-sized charges that will be difficult to see in general reports! The importance of FX rates and fees becomes clear when the number and volume of foreign currency transactions of your business grows or a new regional branch starts operating in a different currency environment.
According to a 2025 payment behaviour study conducted across mid-sized UK businesses, most cross-currency receipts result in at least one automatic FX event, often without confirmation. Some providers convert inbound payments into GBP by default, even when the original currency could be held, and when the same funds are sent abroad later - a second conversion occurs. The average combined loss in the worst quantile is in the range of 2.4-3.2% of the original transfer value depending on provider, time of day, and routing.
When you don’t set the rules, your money is processed by someone else’s decisions.
Transform your financial operations by using a more tactical approach and establishing means of controls provided by digital banking services. Thus, businesses receiving regular payments in USD, EUR or CHF often separate their accounts by currency:
- Incoming dollars go to a USD account
- Euro invoices land in EUR
- Pounds stay in GBP
Although it might seem that running separate accounts is somehow more complicated - it is not. With modern digital banking apps it will be actually virtually the same, since all the data is accessible in one place, and your bank will know and understand how your business uses those different accounts. This allows you to hold and convert when it suits your needs, and not based on transaction arrival timings.
If you’ve ever been paid in pounds by a US client, chances are they were the ones doing the conversion. That means their bank picked the timing and the rate. You got what was left, the other party and the intermediate bank controlled the cost and you paid for this, at least partially.
The same logic applies to payouts. Converting too early can impact tax calculations, supplier reconciliations and internal budgeting. Holding in native currency, even briefly, helps businesses avoid rushed decisions just because a rate moved 0.3% one morning.
Ampere gives SMEs the ability to hold, send and convert funds in GBP, EUR, USD and CHF from a single interface. Each currency has its own balance. You decide what moves, when, and in which direction.
The FX margin is flat:
0.35% for GBP and EUR.
0.55% for USD and CHF.
(as of August 2025)
Taking some time to set simple rules for how foreign currency arrives and gets processed can reduce avoidable costs and remove surprises. With separate currency balances, transparent conversion preferences, notifications, alerts and so on - you decide when exchange fits your cash flow rather than the timing of an inbound transfer. If you’re unsure where to begin, map your common payment routes, check which currencies you can hold, and set defaults for receipts and payouts; a short monthly review is usually enough to stay aligned. If you’d like a hand, talk to our AI agent or our support team to go through options and we’ll help you configure these controls at a pace that suits your business.
