Best Multi-Currency Accounts UK: Top Personal & Business Accounts

Let’s drill down into how the inner workings of a multi-currency account differ from other bank accounts.

Multi-currency account providers have links with local banks around the world. This means you can have accounts for foreign currencies that work just like if you lived there. So you could have a EUR account with your own IBAN code, or a USD account with routing numbers for Fedwire and ACH transfers.

Imagine you have a friend or customer in the US who sends you $100. With a regular bank account, this would be converted to GBP at the current exchange rate, plus a markup and a conversion fee.

That might not be a huge deal if you never use dollars. But what if you’re planning to take a trip to the US? Or maybe you need to pay an American supplier? In that case, it would be better to keep the $100 in USD so that when you later need to spend USD, you don’t waste time and money on unnecessary currency conversions.

A multi-currency account is a place to hold your USD and other foreign currencies until you need them. You’ll have separate balances for different currencies that you can easily view and manage from your app or computer.

As well as holding foreign currencies, a multi-currency account will typically enable you to do other things, such as:

• Make international payments: You’ll be able to send your currencies worldwide much cheaper than with a regular bank account. Business multi-currency accounts will even let you make batch payments.

• Receive international payments: Having your own foreign currency account details means you can get paid like a local. Business multi-currency accounts can also integrate with payment methods like PayPal or platforms like eBay.

• Deposit and withdraw: Just like any other bank account, you’ll be able to add money to it and withdraw it through accepted payment methods. The difference is that you can deposit and withdraw multiple currencies.

• Spend with a multi-currency debit card: Many multi-currency accounts (OFX excluded) come with a debit card to withdraw and spend foreign currencies like a local when abroad.

• Convert currencies: Multi-currency accounts enable you to convert between currencies whenever you want. They typically offer better exchange rates and fees than regular banks.

Multi-currency accounts may offer some useful features, but there are other functionalities that they typically lack. For example:

• Interest: Most multi-currency accounts won’t pay you interest, meaning they’re not great for savers. However, Wise and Revolut are exceptions that will pay users interest on GBP, USD, and EUR.

• Overdrafts: Most multi-currency accounts aren’t provided by banks, which means they’re not licensed to provide overdrafts. A notable exception is the HSBC, which requires you to have a regular account as well as a multi-currency account, meaning you’ll have access to traditional banking services like an overdraft.

• Credit cards: Although most multi-currency accounts come with a debit card, most don’t have a banking licence so can’t offer credit cards. However, HSBC users can apply for a credit card.

Pros and Cons of a Multi-Currency Account

This is a fee that you pay at regular intervals simply for having a multi-currency account. Plenty of multi-currency accounts won’t charge you this fee—Wise, HSBC, and OFX, for example.

Other multi-currency accounts may charge you each month or each year. With Revolut, unless you opt for the free Standard plan you’ll pay a monthly fee with tiered pricing. Meanwhile, Equals Money and Airwallex will charge you an annual fee with a custom price depending on your specific business needs.

This is the fee you’ll pay when you make a transfer between currencies. The form it takes varies from one account to another. For example, OFX charges a flat fee, while Airwallex charges a percentage fee and Equals Money bases the fee on volume.

Wise, on the other hand, charges both a flat and percentage fee, while HSBC doesn’t charge a fee at all. You should bear in mind that providers which don’t charge a currency conversion fee may not be the cheapest option as they may well add a markup to the exchange rate.

Most multi-currency accounts provide a debit card or multiple company cards, but they will likely charge you for this. An exception is the HSBC Global Money account, which comes with a free debit card.

However, Wise charges £7 for card issuance, and Revolut doesn’t charge for the card itself but will charge you for posting it. Equals Money charges £10 per company card, whereas Airwallex doesn’t charge for company cards but charges £5 per employee card after the first five.

You may need to pay an additional charge to replace a lost or stolen card.

Withdrawing cash with your multi-currency debit card may be free up to a limit, but after that, you’re likely to incur a charge. Wise and Revolut Standard both let you withdraw up to £200 a month for free. After that, Wise charges 1.75% and Revolut 2%.

Other accounts may not offer free withdrawals at all. For example, Payoneer charges £1.95 per ATM withdrawal, while Equals Money charges £1.50.

You should opt for a multi-currency account if you need to make significant and/or frequent transactions in foreign currencies. In this case, you’ll be able to save a lot of money by avoiding currency conversions or holding currencies until the exchange rate improves.

Multicurrency accounts make a great bank account option for travellers or global businesses as they’ll be dealing with large amounts of money and/or transacting regularly, so the potential savings are significant.

On the flip side, there’s no point in getting a multi-currency account if you don’t deal with foreign currencies. If you just want to make a one-off international transfer, it’s probably not worth it. If you’re planning a holiday abroad, a multi-currency account could save you money, but you should compare it with your bank account and decide whether the potential cost savings are worth the effort.

If you need to convert between currencies, you could save money by finding a favourable exchange rate. Checking rates regularly could help you find the cheapest opportunity to convert.

Depending on which multi-currency account you opt for, there may be other features you can take advantage of. For example, OFX lets you set up rate alerts so you’ll be notified when the exchange rate hits your target. With Equals Money, you can use forward contracts, options, and other order types to help you find the right exchange rate.

Notifications may be enabled automatically, but it could be worth turning them on if they’re not. Spending alerts could help you see if you’re running out of money or if your card has been used fraudulently.

If your business issues company or employee cards, spending notifications could give you more transparency and control over expenses.

If your multi-currency account enables you to set limits, this could be a beneficial thing to do. Giving yourself spending limits could help you avoid running out of money on holiday.

Meanwhile, businesses can set limits for employee cards to avoid unexpected expenses.

Your multi-currency account might come with integrations to websites and software, which can be especially useful for freelancers and businesses. For example, OFX can be integrated with Xero to make invoicing and accounting easier.

If you need to send multiple payments at regular intervals—say you need to pay lots of employees or suppliers—it could be pretty time-consuming to send all the payments individually. Instead, you can take advantage of the batch payments feature offered by business multi-currency accounts.

This one could be pretty key. If you’re opening a multi-currency account because, say, you want to transact with family in Mexico, then you’ll need to choose an account that supports pesos, which may rule out a few.

Or if you need a business account that will enable you to expand globally, you might opt for the one with the biggest range of currencies. However, if you only deal in major currencies, this consideration won’t be your top priority.

We’d all like to save money when we can. To work out which multi-currency account will save you the most on fees, you’ll need to compare the different types of fees. Some will charge you a fee for every transfer, while others might charge a monthly or annual fee. You could also be charged for other things like physical card issuance and ATM withdrawals.

Think about exactly what you’ll be doing with your multi-currency account and which fees might apply. Perhaps you just want to receive the occasional transfer. In this case, a monthly fee would be a waste of your money, but you wouldn’t be impacted by a card issuance or ATM fee.

On the other hand, if you’re going to be using lots of features on a regular basis, it would probably be cheaper to just pay a monthly or annual fee than to pay a fee for each individual action you take.

You’ll find that different multi-currency accounts offer different exchange rates. This is something you should check if you want to avoid losing money on currency conversions. Some providers will add a markup to the mid-market exchange rate.

You’ll need to take the currency conversion fee into account as well to work out which provider is the cheapest. Some may charge a fee but use mid-market rates, while others may offer fee-free conversions but add a markup to the exchange rate.

Another thing to look for is features that will help you get better exchange rates, such as rate alerts and forward contracts.

Your multi-currency account should be easy and enjoyable to use. If you’re not very tech-savvy, this might mean choosing a simple multi-currency account without all the bells and whistles. Or if you manage all your finances from your mobile, you’ll need to choose an account with a fully functional and smooth mobile app.

Think about what else you’d like to do with your multi-currency account. If you want to meet all your banking needs under one roof (savings, investments, borrowing), then you’ll need to opt for a traditional full-service bank account.

But maybe you already have a bank account and you want a separate multi-currency account to provide you with travel perks, in which case you should consider Revolut. Or if you’re a freelancer who wants to connect to eBay, pay seller’s fees, and invoice, schedule, and track payments, then Payoneer could provide the extra features you need.

The speed at which transfers are completed can vary from one multi-currency account to the next depending on the transfer methods they use and which payment networks they’re integrated with.

If you need to make transfers quickly, look for providers that offer instant or same-day transfers. One thing to bear in mind though: faster transfers could cost you more.

Naturally, where money is concerned, you want to be sure that it’s in safe hands. All the multi-currency accounts on this page are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, but the security features they offer may vary.

For example, banks are signed up to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, meaning your funds are protected up to £85,000. Fintechs aren’t FSCS protected but will use safeguarding to protect your money.

Other useful safety features to check for include 2-factor authentication, fraud monitoring, and spending notifications.