International expansion creates opportunities for Irish businesses, but the cost of paying overseas suppliers deserves more attention than it often receives.
Irish businesses have become remarkably successful at looking beyond their home market. Yet while companies devote considerable attention to negotiating supplier contracts, managing logistics and protecting margins, one expense can remain surprisingly overlooked: the cost of making international payments.
It is a question worth asking.
How much does it actually cost a business to pay its overseas partners?
According to Ireland's Central Statistics Office (CSO), goods exports reached a record €260.3 billion in 2025, while imports totalled €144 billion. The United States accounted for 42.9% of Irish goods exports, demonstrating the importance of commercial relationships beyond Europe. [1]
For internationally active businesses, efficient payment arrangements are therefore more than an administrative convenience. They are part of the wider cost of doing business.
International payment costs are not always immediately apparent.
What matters is not simply how much a financial institution charges for an individual transfer, but how those charges are calculated.
Some providers use percentage-based pricing, meaning certain fees increase with the amount being transferred. Others apply fixed transaction fees, offering a different degree of cost predictability.
For businesses making regular payments to overseas suppliers, the distinction can be significant. As transaction values increase, a percentage-based fee may become more expensive, even when the payment process itself remains broadly unchanged.
Understanding this difference allows financial managers to assess whether their existing payment arrangements remain suitable as their companies grow.
Within Europe, the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) has helped simplify euro-denominated payments through harmonised standards. The European Central Bank describes SEPA as a framework that enables cross-border euro payments across participating countries to operate much like domestic transactions. [2]
International trade, however, rarely stops at Europe's borders.
Paying suppliers or service providers in markets such as the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Singapore or Australia can require different payment arrangements.
SWIFT remains an important part of the infrastructure supporting international transfers, connecting financial institutions across global markets.
For businesses, the question is increasingly not whether they can pay internationally, but whether they are using the most appropriate and cost-effective payment structure.
A different approach to international payment pricing
Financial technology companies are helping businesses reconsider how international payments are managed.
Among them is Jaevia, a fintech focused on facilitating international business payments through regulated financial infrastructure partners.
Jaevia's approach includes fixed base transaction fees for eligible international SWIFT payments, rather than calculating those base fees as a percentage of the amount transferred.
This distinction may be particularly relevant to companies making regular or higher-value payments to overseas commercial partners, where understanding transaction costs is important for budgeting and financial planning.
The fixed base fee does not necessarily represent the total cost of a payment. Foreign exchange charges, intermediary banking fees and additional compliance-related costs may apply depending on the transaction.
Jaevia is not a bank. Payment services are facilitated through its regulated partners, subject to applicable eligibility and compliance requirements.
Sources
[1] Central Statistics Office — Goods Exports and Imports, December 2025. Published 17 February 2026.
[2] European Central Bank — Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA).
[3] SWIFT — New Rules for Retail Cross-Border Payments. Published 25 September 2025.