Alternative currencies
Primary and Alternative currency payouts
For businesses with international operations who need to settle and pay out in multiple currencies, Stripe enables payouts in alternative currencies in addition to your accountʼs primary currency.
Examples:
- The primary currency for Stripe accounts in France is EUR. All other currencies fall under alternative currencies.
- The primary currency for Stripe accounts in Hong Kong is HKD. All other currencies fall under alternative currencies.
Alternative currency payouts
At Stripe, a domestic payout is when you pay out to a bank account that’s domiciled in the same country as your Stripe account. You can make domestic payouts using the primary currency for a Stripe account or with an alternative currency. For example, when you pay out in EUR from an account based in France to a France-domiciled bank account, it’s a domestic payout in the primary currency. However, if you make a payout in any other currency to a France-domiciled bank account, it’s a domestic payout but in an alternative currency.
With alternative currency payouts, it’s easier to hold funds in up to 18 supported currencies needed to pay suppliers, process refunds, and more, without having to re-convert funds or use third-party sites.
Alternative currency payouts are available in select currencies for businesses in Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, and Europe, including the United Kingdom.
If your business is based in a country that’s not currently eligible for alternative currency payouts, we’d love to hear from you as we work to expand.
Setting up your bank account for alternative currency payouts
To enable alternative currency payouts, you must configure the currencies and bank accounts in your Dashboard.
First, in your Payout Settings, you’ll need to select the settlement currency you want to receive funds in using the “Manage currencies” button to start accumulating a balance in that currency.
A settlement currency is the currency your bank account uses, and you must select a settlement currency before adding a bank account in that currency. Once you add a bank account in that currency, you can receive the accrued balance.
If you select a settlement currency but do not then add a bank account for that currency, funds still accrue and remain in the account balance in the alternative currency until a supported bank account is added. Additionally, removing a bank account from your Dashboard doesn’t disable the settlement currency, so you can still accrue a balance in that currency. You will need to disable a currency to stop accruing a balance in that currency.