Alternative currencies
Primary and alternative currency payouts
For businesses with international operations that need to settle and pay out in multiple currencies or to multiple countries, Stripe enables payouts for select currencies and countries in addition to your primary currency and domestic bank.
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.
You can also pay out to certain non-domestic bank accounts in the account’s local currency, subject to applicable fees. For example, when you pay out in USD from a France-based account to a US-domiciled bank account, the non-domestic payout is subject to the fees listed below.
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 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. After you add a bank account in that currency, you can receive the accrued balance.
If you select a settlement currency but don’t add a bank account for that currency, funds still accrue and remain in the account balance in the alternative currency until you add a supported bank account. 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 need to disable a currency to stop accruing a balance in that currency.
If your platform includes Express or Custom connected accounts, you can enable your connected accounts to pay out in alternative currencies using the toggle under Multicurrency Payouts in your Connect Settings. After it’s enabled, your connected accounts need to add a new bank account to accrue and pay out funds of alternative currencies.
Presentment currency payouts
When the presentment currency differs from any of your enabled settlement currencies, the currencies accepted by any of your bank accounts or debit cards, we automatically convert the payment to your default settlement currency before transferring the funds. View Currency conversions for details.