FX Margins
International payments are essential to businesses. That's why our standard FX margins apply on all outbound and inbound international payments.
Our FX margin is the difference between the Bank of Scotland exchange rate and the rate at which we buy and sell currency in the wholesale foreign exchange markets.1
Payments below £25,000
For International Payments of £25,000 or less, the Standard margin of 2.60% applies.
Payments above £25,000
For payments over £25,000 the margin will depend on payment amount.
Payment amount |
Standard International Payments margins |
|---|---|
|
Payment amount £0 - £25,000 |
Standard International Payments margins 2.60% |
|
Payment amount £25,000 - £50,000 |
Standard International Payments margins 2.60% - 2.10% |
|
Payment amount £50,000 - £100,000 |
Standard International Payments margins 2.10% - 1.60% |
|
Payment amount £100,000 - £150,000 |
Standard International Payments margins 1.60% - 1.45% |
|
Payment amount £150,000 - £250,000 |
Standard International Payments margins 1.45% - 1.30% |
|
Payment amount £250,000 - £500,000 |
Standard International Payments margins 1.30% - 1.20% |
|
Payment amount £500,000 - £1,000,000 |
Standard International Payments margins 1.20% - 0.85% |
How to calculate margins for payments over £25,000
Log on to Online for Business and use our International Payments calculator to work out how much a payment will cost you.
You’ll also see the cost before you make an International Payment.
If you use Commercial Banking Online (CBO) to manage your accounts, there are 2 new optional columns you can use on the ‘Needs Rate today screen’. These are ‘Conversion cost – FX charges’ and ‘Debit Amount’. You can find out more at cbosupport.bankofscotland.co.uk/whats-new
FX margin calculator
Our FX calculator can help you gain a better understanding of how much it will cost you to send an International Payment.
International Payment margin:
##margin##%
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Example 1 – Making an international payment
You need to make a payment of €1,000 to a supplier in Spain. If the current GBP/EUR wholesale rate is 1.1900 the Bank of Scotland exchange rate applied to that payment would be 1.1591, based on our standard FX margin of 2.60%. This means £862.77 would be debited from your account..2
Example 2 – Receiving an international payment
A customer in the United States makes a payment of $35,000 to your GBP account. If the current GBP/USD wholesale rate is 1.2600 the Bank of Scotland exchange rate applied to the incoming payment would be 1.2902, based on our FX margin of 2.40%. This means £27,126.74 would be credited to your account..2
Example 3 – Inter account transfer
You need to transfer €65,000 from your EUR account to your GBP account. If the current GBP/EUR wholesale rate is 1.1900 the Bank of Scotland exchange rate applied to that transfer would be 1.2132, based on our FX margin of 1.95%. This means £53,577.10 would be credited to your GBP account..2