For businesses
The same arithmetic, multiplied by every invoice you settle
One transfer at 2.9% is an annoyance. Forty a month is a line in the accounts that nobody has ever put a name to, because it never appears as a fee.
2.9%
of everything, forever
40
invoices a month
EUR 1,113
a year, two transfers a month
Recurring payments compound the markup, not the fee
A flat fee is a fixed cost and it shrinks as a proportion of a growing payment run. A rate markup does the opposite: it is a constant percentage of everything you send, forever, and it scales exactly with the business.
That is why the provider that looks cheapest on a single test transfer is often the most expensive over a year.
Payroll is the hardest case
Payroll has to land on a date, in full, in the recipient’s currency. That combination removes most of the cheap options, and the ones that remain price the certainty. Budget for the deduction at the far end rather than discovering it in a message from an employee.
Ask for the rate, not the fee
A provider quoting a corporate rate will usually tell you the markup if you ask directly and in writing. The number is real, it is negotiable above a certain volume, and almost nobody asks.