Icelandic tour operators: collecting from foreign agencies and planning for the króna

A Reykjavík adventure tour company sells glacier and northern lights tours through a US tour operator, a British travel agency and a German wholesaler. Deposits arrive in dollars, pounds and euros from September to February for tours the following year. They used to be converted to krónur on arrival. Then the króna strengthened over the winter, and the tours sold in autumn were worth less when the costs came due.

How agencies pay

• US tour operators contract in dollars and pay deposits and balances by wire, usually to an Icelandic IBAN.
• UK agencies prefer pounds, and expect Faster Payments.
• European wholesalers pay euros by SEPA.

Deposits are conditional cash

A deposit for a tour in nine months is welcome, but cancellation terms may oblige you to return part of it. Keep enough available to cover likely refunds, and be clear in agency contracts about which currency refunds are made in. Holding the deposit in the currency it was paid in makes a refund in that currency simple.

Converting at the right time

The tour's costs, guides, vehicles, fuel, accommodation and park fees, are mostly in krónur and are paid when the tour runs. Converting deposits months earlier locks in that day's rate. Holding them, then converting closer to when costs are paid, or in planned steps over the season, spreads the risk.

Domestic rails for agencies

A US operator asked to wire dollars to an Icelandic IBAN uses an international wire. US account details let it pay by ACH, as it pays US suppliers. A UK agency pays sterling details by Faster Payments. Each payment arrives in full and on time.

Reconciliation

Agency payments often cover several bookings. Ask agencies to quote booking references, and match each payment to its bookings the week it arrives, not at the end of the season.

Paying into Iceland: the local rail

Source: Central Bank of Iceland: payment systems. Checked when this guide was last updated; the scheme's own page has the current figures.

Where Rivet fits

A Rivet business account gives an Icelandic company US account details in its own name on every plan and, from the Growth plan, sterling details and euro details with an IBAN. Balances can be held, refunded in the original currency, used to pay suppliers in 120+ countries, or converted at a rate shown before you confirm. Rivet is not a bank; regulated partner institutions hold the funds.