Foreign currency accounts for exporters: holding the currency you sell in

An exporter's revenue arrives in someone else's currency. If every dollar is converted into local money when it lands, and some of it is converted back to pay for freight or software a week later, the business pays two spreads on the same money. A foreign currency account is the simple fix.

What is a foreign currency account?

It is an account in a currency other than your own, held in your company's name: USD for a Kenyan coffee exporter, EUR for a Moroccan textile maker, GBP for an Indian software firm with UK clients. It receives payments in that currency, holds them, and pays out in it.

Where the savings come from

1. Convert once, not twice. Pay foreign costs, such as freight, packaging, cloud hosting, ads and foreign contractors, from the foreign balance.
2. Choose the moment. Convert what you need locally when you need it, at a rate you see.
3. Lower receiving costs. With local details in the buyer's currency (ACH for US buyers, SEPA for EU buyers), the buyer pays a domestic transfer and nothing is deducted on the way.

The true cost of international payments shows how much of an FX bill comes from margins and double conversions.

The risk you take on

A balance in USD goes up and down in local terms as the exchange rate moves. Most exporters manage this with a simple rule: keep enough foreign currency to cover the next month or two of foreign costs, and convert the rest on a schedule. Larger exporters add forward contracts.

Local rules on export proceeds

Many countries regulate what exporters do with foreign earnings.

• India: export proceeds must be realised and repatriated within the period the RBI sets. Exporters can hold eligible earnings in an EEFC account at an Indian bank.
• Pakistan: the State Bank of Pakistan lets exporters, including IT exporters, retain a share of proceeds in foreign currency accounts under set conditions.
• Nigeria, Kenya and others: central banks set their own rules, and they change. Ask your bank.

Any provider abroad should fit into those rules: proceeds received in your company's name, then moved home with a clear record. The Payoneer alternatives guide for South Asia covers this for Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.

What to look for

On Rivet

Rivet gives exporters registered in the countries we support USD details in the company's name on the free plan, and EUR and GBP from Growth. Conversion is from 0.80% on Starter to 0.30% on Scale, shown before you confirm, and payouts to suppliers in 120+ countries come from the same balances. See Bank accounts and Pricing.