Repatriating funds: What international businesses need to know

Your business is thriving internationally. You've got funds accumulating in foreign accounts and you need to bring some of it home. But here's the kicker — most SMBs lose money on repatriation without even realising it. 

What may appear to be a straightforward transfer actually requires more strategic thinking than many businesses realise. Get it wrong and poor FX rates, hidden fees and bad timing can quietly eat into your profits before funds ever reach your home country. 

Get it right and your international business payments become less complicated and less expensive. With the right strategy, you can move money efficiently, transparently and on your terms. Repatriating funds becomes a predictable, cost-effective part of your international financial strategy. 

Let’s take a look at when it makes sense to repatriate funds, the best methods to use, and how to avoid the most common pitfalls that drain profits from cross-border transfers. 

What is fund repatriation and why does it matter?

Fund repatriation is the process of bringing foreign earnings back to a business's home country. It's how companies move money from overseas subsidiaries to their domestic operations.

Think of it like this: your overseas subsidiaries are generating cash, but you need that money back home, perhaps to cover head office costs, repay intercompany loans or distribute profits to shareholders.

The challenge? For many SMBs, repatriation is an afterthought. They wait until they desperately need the money, then scramble to move it at whatever rate their bank offers. Every repatriation decision becomes reactive rather than strategic. That's expensive and in many cases, completely avoidable.

Businesses operating across borders need a solid approach with the right processes and tools to move funds efficiently. They need cross-border payments that actually work in their favour — not against them.

When does it make sense to repatriate funds?

How to go about repatriation isn't a one-size-fits-all solution. The timing and approach depend on your business setup, market conditions and cash flow requirements.

Broadly speaking, many businesses repatriate funds when they have excess cash abroad that's not needed for local operations. If your overseas subsidiaries are generating more revenue than they can reinvest locally, it might make sense to move some funds back home.

Here are some common scenarios where repatriation makes sense:

• Excess foreign cash: When subsidiaries generate more than they need for local operations 
• Head office expenses: To cover domestic costs, loan repayments or shareholder dividends 
• Strategic reinvestment: Moving funds home to fuel growth in your domestic market 
• Currency risk management: When holding funds in a foreign currency becomes too expensive and/or risky due to geopolitical and economic factors 

Of course, when exchange rates move in your favour, it might be worth bringing money home even if you don't need it immediately. And when rates are unfavourable, sometimes it's better to hold on to funds.

Proper international payment planning and FX risk management can help you anticipate these scenarios instead of scrambling when you need cash urgently. The key is being proactive rather than reactive.

Proactive businesses plan their repatriation strategy. 

They understand when to move their money, how to move it efficiently and which providers give them the best tools for the job. As a result, more money stays with their business — where it belongs. 

What are the most common methods for repatriating funds?

There are several ways to bring money home, each with different costs, timelines and complexity levels. The truth is, international payment systems vary widely in how they work and what they cost. Let's break down your primary options.

Wire (SWIFT) transfers 

Let’s start with the most straightforward. Wire transfers sent using the SWIFT network are the go-to method for most businesses moving money internationally, including for repatriating funds.  

When you initiate a wire transfer can impact when it arrives. Your money travels through multiple intermediary banks before reaching its destination. It usually only moves during business hours and processing systems and regulatory requirements vary country to country. As a result, processing typically takes 1-5 days — sometimes longer if weekends or holidays get in the way. 

Many businesses will choose to transfer funds from their foreign bank account into their home country bank account. The most frustrating thing about making transfers through banks? You won't know the final amount or the actual arrival date until the transfer lands. Why? Many banks hide their (usually high) markups when sharing rates and offer little to no visibility of where your money is or how long it might take.  

The alternative is to use a specialised provider like Wise, Revolut or iBanFirst. These cross-border payment providers offer significantly better exchange rates and lower fees than traditional banks. They're built specifically for international transfers, often providing better tracking and faster settlement times.

Multi-currency accounts 

Multi-currency accounts let you hold funds in multiple currencies, convert and transfer your money when you choose and receive funds from customers and subsidiaries — all from one platform.

Here's what really makes multi-currency accounts stand out:

• You can open as many currency accounts as you need in next to no time at all. It’s like having a wallet containing every currency you need for your business: euros, dollars, yen.
• You control the timing. Instead of being forced to convert at whatever rate your bank offers, you can wait for markets to move in your favour. Your funds sitting in a USD account can stay there until the exchange rate makes sense for your business to convert them to euros.
  
• Multi-currency account providers typically offer better FX rates than traditional banks. They're also more transparent about fees, which means no surprises.
  
• Another major advantage? Consolidated visibility. Your finance team can see everything in one place instead of having to log into numerous bank portals to track down your money. 

Intercompany loans and dividends  

If you've got multiple entities or subsidiaries, you can get more strategic about how funds move between them. These methods aren't just about transferring money across borders — it's about structuring those transfers in ways that make tax and regulatory sense.

Intercompany loans give you flexibility. They let you move funds as loan repayments between your different entities. On paper, your overseas subsidiary is paying back money it borrowed from your home company. You can structure repayment terms, interest rates and timing to suit your cash flow needs — perfect when you need working capital flexibility without the hassle of external financing.

Dividends are more straightforward. They're formal profit distributions from subsidiary to parent company.

The catch? Local regulations vary enormously. Some countries make this process easy and smooth. Others have regulatory, tax and compliance requirements that could potentially delay transfers for weeks or even months. Understanding local tax and regulatory frameworks becomes crucial — what works seamlessly in Germany might be a complex maze in Brazil.  

Foreign exchange forward payment contracts

With FX forward payment contracts, you can lock in an exchange rate today for a transfer that happens anytime from a week to a year from now. Think of them as insurance against currency volatility — and one of the smartest yet underutilised tools available to businesses large and small.

Here's how they work: You agree to exchange an amount in one currency for another, say pounds for euros in 90 days at today's rate. Regardless of how exchange rates shift — even if the pound crashes tomorrow — you're protected as the rate is locked. 

This makes perfect sense for predictable repatriation — quarterly dividends, annual profit distributions and scheduled loan repayments. You know the money's coming home and often when you'll need it, so why gamble on what the rate will be? 

FX forward payment contracts reduce your exposure to volatility and help with cash flow forecasting. Your finance team can budget with certainty instead of hoping exchange rates don't move against you.

The catch? Not all cross-border payment providers offer forward payment contracts while many traditional banks reserve these tools for their biggest clients, leaving SMBs to deal with FX risk on their own. 

What challenges do businesses often face with the repatriation of funds?  

The challenges pile up fast when you're moving money across borders — even between your own subsidiaries. Here are some of the major roadblocks businesses can face.

Exchange rate markups and hidden fees 

Here's where most businesses get stung. Traditional banks don't just charge transfer fees — they also add hefty markups to their exchange rates, often 3-6% above the mid-market rate (what you see on Google or financial news sites). On a €100,000 repatriation, that markup could cost you €3,000-€6,000.

The frustrating part? These markups are rarely disclosed upfront. You'll see a clean-looking exchange rate, but it's already inflated compared to what the currency is actually trading for. Add in receiving bank fees, intermediary bank fees, and hidden costs from your bank, and what looked like a straightforward transfer suddenly becomes unnecessarily expensive.  

A lack of control over timing

Most businesses repatriate funds when they need the money, not when exchange rates are favourable. So when your quarterly dividend is needed or you simply need working capital back home, you’re stuck having to convert at whatever rate is offered that day. If the euro drops 2% against the dollar just as you need to bring funds home, your transfer suddenly costs more than you budgeted.

Added to this is the challenge of limited banking hours in specific time zones, often meaning your urgent Friday transfer doesn't even move until Monday. The result? Your approach is reactive instead of strategic. Without the ability to time your conversions or lock in favourable rates in advance, every repatriation becomes a gamble that most businesses can't afford to lose. 

Limited visibility across accounts

When you've got numerous subsidiaries across multiple countries, each with its own local bank account and currency, getting an accurate snapshot of your global cash position becomes a nightmare.

You likely need to log into separate banking portals for each currency and pull each of those balances into a spreadsheet, then convert them into your home currency. This manual process is time-consuming and far from error-proof.

5 ways to efficiently repatriate funds from international subsidiaries with an iBanFirst account   

These challenges — the unpredictable costs, variable timing, delays and scattered visibility — they’re completely avoidable.

Here's how iBanFirst can help you move money more efficiently across borders.

1. Use multi-currency accounts to hold and convert funds strategically 

Your US subsidiary just had a great quarter. Profits are sitting in USD, and you're itching to bring them home. But the exchange rate right now? Not so great.

With a multi-currency account, those dollars can simply stay put in a USD account until market conditions work in your favour. Because you control the timing, you choose when to send based on the rate. The strategic advantage? You can stay patient and time your conversions around market opportunities instead of simply reacting to cash emergencies or bank schedules. 

2. Transfer funds between subsidiary accounts

Moving money across borders between your own entities shouldn't feel like solving a puzzle. It should be simple, fast and cost-effective.

With iBanFirst, you can send and receive money in 25+ currencies across 180+ countries right from your multi-currency account. You can save on costly conversion and transfer fees compared to your bank and best of all, there’s never any mystery about where your money is after you send it. Thanks to iBanFirst's Payment Tracker, you and your partners, suppliers and subsidiaries get detailed, real-time tracking showing you exactly where your funds are and which intermediary banks are involved. It means fewer emails chasing payments, less stress, and healthier, happier relationships.

3. Lock in FX rates using forward payment contracts

As we've seen, FX forward payment contracts allow you to lock exchange rates today for future transfers. Doing so gives you peace of mind over how much that transfer will cost, regardless of what the FX markets might do. Even if one of your trading currencies crashes next week, you're protected.

We provide three types of forward payment contracts for different situations:

• Fixed forward payments to lock in a rate for scheduled repatriation, like quarterly dividends or annual profit transfers

• Flexible forward payments to secure your rate but move funds in portions as cash flow needs change across subsidiaries 

• Dynamic forward payments to get guaranteed downside protection while also keeping upside potential when bringing profits home 

This works brilliantly for predictable repatriation. You eliminate the guesswork from budgeting and protect your margins from currency swings. 

4. Manage payments from one centralised platform

If every subsidiary uses a local bank — each with different interfaces and fee structures and only deals in their local currency — you're constantly switching between systems just to figure out how much money you have and where it sits.

Our platform solves this by combining multi-currency accounts, international transfers and FX tools in one. You get a consolidated balance and clear visibility into your global cash position instead of playing detective across multiple banking portals. This means you can coordinate fund repatriation decisions across all subsidiaries and take action from one easy-to-use dashboard. 

5. Get support from real FX experts

Most SMB finance teams don't have a dedicated currency specialist. Instead, CEOs and finance managers are having to multitask, juggling budgets, payments and financial regulatory compliance, to name a few. They often have to make currency decisions reactively whenever payments are due.

But with iBanFirst, you can speak to real human FX specialists who understand your business and FX market complexities. They help you spot market opportunities, plan your transfers in advance, decide when and how to use FX forward payment contracts and ultimately build FX risk management strategies that actually make sense for your repatriation and broader financial needs. 

Get started with iBanFirst today

Ready to stop losing more of your hard-earned profits than you need to on repatriation and kickstart a strategy that works for you, not against?

We've built our platform specifically for businesses like yours. With iBanFirst, you gain access to:

• Multi-currency accounts to hold, receive, send and convert funds across 25+ currencies 

• Fixed, flexible and dynamic forward payment contracts to protect against rate volatility 

• Real FX experts who know your business and can help design currency risk strategies that actually make sense for you 

• Transparent pricing with no monthly or hidden fees 

Want to see how it all works? Take a quick product tour to explore the platform on your own, or request an account to get set up with your very own account.