You export to the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, or the United Arab Emirates. You send your invoices in euros. Your client pays in euros. Everything seems simple. But if your company generates €2 million in export turnover, you are potentially leaving between €40,000 and €60,000 on the table every year without knowing it. Not because of your prices, your margins, or your commercial terms. But because of the currency in which you invoice. Behind every payment in euros by a foreign client, their local bank silently deducts between 3% and 4% on the conversion. This cost is absorbed by your client and it always ends up being passed on: in their perception of your price, in their negotiation margin, in their loyalty. By taking control of the invoicing currency, you can recover all or part of this gain for yourself, for your client, or to increase competitiveness. That is what this article explains to you.
What happens when you invoice in euros abroad
When your foreign client receives an invoice in euros, they have to buy those euros from their local bank. This bank applies its own exchange rate, which includes a margin that they keep in full.
This margin is not insignificant. In the UK, the US, Switzerland or the UAE, local banking institutions commonly charge between 3% and 4% on this type of conversion for their corporate clients. This extra cost never explicitly appears on any invoice or statement: it is blended into the rate applied at the time of the transfer.
Let's take a concrete example with a client based in the United Arab Emirates.
Your company invoices them €200,000 for services over the year, a common volume for an established business relationship. Their local bank applies a margin of 3% to 4% on each conversion. On this single client, they absorb between €6,000 and €8,000 in annual extra costs, without this amount appearing explicitly anywhere.
Project this mechanism across all your clients outside the Eurozone, and you will understand where the €40,000 to €60,000 mentioned in the introduction comes from.
Your clients see this extra cost in their budget. They might not talk to you about it, but they account for it. And when it comes to renewing the order, comparing your rates with a competitor, or renegotiating terms, this detail carries weight.
The difference of invoicing in local currency
Imagine you make the opposite choice: you invoice directly in pounds sterling, dollars, Swiss francs or dirhams, in your client's currency. You take care of the conversion via OSolto, which gives you access to rates that are far more competitive and closer to market conditions than those applied by local banks to your clients.
Your client no longer has any conversion to make. They pay in their own currency, just as if they were paying a local supplier. Zero exchange fees on their end.
The margin that their bank would have taken doesn't disappear: it is reallocated. And you decide who benefits from it.
Three ways to use this gain
1. You invoice in local currency under competitive conditions, you convert via OSolto, and you collect more in euros than you would have obtained on a traditional incoming transfer. On €200,000 invoiced to an Emirati client, the difference between the margin their bank would have taken and the conditions offered by OSolto concretely represents several thousand euros recovered over the year, without any commercial negotiation. This is the preferred option for companies looking to improve their profitability on their existing exports, without changing their offering or their prices.
2. You can also choose to share this gain with your client by offering them a more advantageous conversion rate than their local bank's. They pay less in their currency for the same service, you collect more than before, and both parties win on the same transaction. This is a particularly effective loyalty lever for recurring relationships: the benefit is concrete, visible with every payment, without you having to demonstrate it.
3. You maintain your target margin, but you lower your face price by the equivalent of the gain. Your client pays less and you collect as much as before. On markets where local competition is strong, or when facing buyers who compare several providers, this price advantage can be decisive, without you having sacrificed a single penny of your margin.
A sales argument your competitors don't use
Beyond the financial aspect, offering your clients the option to pay in their own currency transforms your positioning.
A buyer based in London, New York, Geneva or Dubai naturally prefers to pay in pounds, dollars, francs or dirhams. Removing the constraint of bank conversion simplifies the relationship with every transaction. It is also a strong signal: you master international flows, and working with you is simpler than with anyone else. In a B2B relationship, operational simplicity has real value, which is often underestimated. Few exporting French SMEs use this argument. This is precisely what makes it a differentiator.
What the OSolto infrastructure makes possible
For this approach to work, you need to be able to receive payments in local currency, which means having local bank details in your client's country.
Via our partner Ebury, OSolto gives you access to named collection accounts in over 14 currencies with local bank details, allowing your client to make a domestic transfer in their own currency, without any international transit. In total, there are more than 30 countries in which you can collect payments like a local business, and over 29 currencies available for your multi-currency accounts, including GBP, USD, CHF, AED, CAD, SGD, HKD, JPY, and many others.
Your funds are then converted and repatriated in euros at competitive rates, via a regulated infrastructure, with full traceability at every stage.
Exchange rate risk: how to manage it
Invoicing in foreign currency involves a risk: between the date of issue of your invoice and the date of collection, the exchange rate may move unfavourably. This risk can be managed via forward contracts. As soon as your invoice is issued, you can fix the rate at which you will convert the received currencies, regardless of market movements in the meantime. Your collection in euros is secured from day one, and your turnover becomes fully predictable. This is the approach we recommend for recurring contracts or large volumes. On one-off transactions, a spot purchase at the right time is often sufficient.
How OSolto supports exporting SMEs
OSolto is an ACPR-approved payment intermediary, registered with ORIAS (No. 26004337). We support exporting French SMEs in optimising their collections in foreign currencies, without replacing their bank, by stepping in where it cannot offer competitive conditions.
Your clients pay in their local currency into a named account opened in your name, with no forced conversion on their side. Your conversions are carried out at conditions much closer to the market than those applied to traditional incoming transfers. On your issued invoices or confirmed contracts, we set up forward contracts adapted to your invoicing cycle. And you benefit from a dedicated contact person who knows your business and monitors the markets for you.
Conclusion
Invoicing in euros for exports means letting your client's bank capture a 3% to 4% margin on every transaction. This margin is measurable, and it can be recovered, in whole or in part. Depending on your priority — improving your profitability, building client loyalty, or gaining price competitiveness — the strategy differs. But the starting point is always the same: taking back control of the invoicing currency and the conversion.
Would you like to estimate what this gain concretely represents on your current collections? Contact us for a free analysis: info@osolto.com
FAQ
Is it legal to invoice in foreign currency from France? Yes, without restriction. French regulations allow invoicing in any foreign currency. From an accounting perspective, you record the transaction at its euro equivalent on the payment date.
What happens if my client's currency depreciates between the invoice and collection? This is the transaction exchange rate risk, manageable via a forward contract: as soon as your invoice is issued, you lock in the conversion rate. Your collection in euros is secured regardless of how the market behaves.
Can my client really pay in their local currency without additional fees on their side? Yes. Through the local collection accounts that OSolto gives you access to, your client makes a simple domestic bank transfer in their own currency, just as if they were paying a supplier in their own country. No bank conversion, no exchange fees on their end.
Are the conditions offered by OSolto the same for all clients? No. They vary according to currencies, volumes and the profile of each client. This is why we always prefer a prior discussion to offer you a solution adapted to your actual situation.
In which currencies can I receive local payments via OSolto? Via our partner Ebury, you can collect local payments in more than 14 currencies — including GBP, USD, CAD, AUD, SGD, HKD, NZD, PLN, SEK, NOK, DKK and more — and hold funds in over 29 currencies in total.
