Receiving payments
How can I receive payments from overseas?
Organising to ship goods overseas and make sure you get paid in return can be daunting but rest assured we have some solutions:
- Electronic transfers
- Card payments
- Drafts and cheques.
I want to accept electronic transfers
Telegraphic transfers are a fast, economical and secure way to receive electronic payments. The funds will arrive in your account as ‘cleared funds’ so you have immediate access, and you can monitor them online from your home or office.
You will need to provide your customers with:
- Your name
- Business address – not a PO box
- Phone number
- Full account and branch number
- Our Westpac SWIFT identification code WPACAU2S.
I want to accept card payments
Research shows that customers may spend more when they’re able to pay by card. As well as potentially increasing sales, accepting payment by card increases flexibility of payment options as you can accept payments online, by phone, or mail.
Review your options
I want to accept drafts and cheques
If you want to accept drafts and cheques from overseas, you'll usually need to wait for the funds to be cleared. However, on certain transactions (subject to credit approval) proceeds can be made available to you immediately. Cheques or drafts in Australian dollars drawn on an Australian bank require 3 business days to clear. If they are drawn on an overseas bank, then it can take 4-6 weeks for (cleared) funds to be received from the drawee bank.
What if I’m an exporter?
We can organise the collection of your export proceeds, freeing up your time with an Export documentary collection.
How can I reduce exchange rate risk?
If you regularly receive and pay funds in foreign currencies, a Foreign Currency Account may provide protection against foreign exchange rate fluctuations. We have a range of other International Trade solutions to meet your needs.
How can I reduce the risk of non-payment?
If you’re concerned about being paid, we can guarantee payment from the buyer's bank (assuming certain Terms and Conditions are met) using export documentary letter of credit.
Can I get further export assistance?
If you want to capitalise on the opportunities that exporting can offer your business, but are concerned about the additional resources, risks and cashflow pressures, our Going Global exporting workshops can help you.
We’ll show you ways you could:
- Assess the steps involved in your exporting cycle to help you manage additional risk and resource requirements, enabling it to operate more efficiently
- Understand how to manage currency risk and learn about the various export payment options, so you can pick the best option for your business
- Calculate the benefits of improving your exporting cycle, as a means to help improve overall business profitability.
