The Problem with Receiving International Payments
Hey I remember you used to work with a lot of foreign clients how did you collect payments from them generally VI transfers to my saving bank account don’t make this mistake if you are a business or a freelancer accepting foreign payments from International clients then watch this video to learn the best way to receive your funds and avoid potential issues down the line.
My Early Struggles as a Freelancer
When I was a freelancer I used to work with foreign clients especially for developing their websites and mobile apps however it was difficult to receive the payments and Banks a lot for currency conversions and the settlement process also took a lot of time. I still remember the first time I developed a landing page website for a foreign client it was a portfolio landing page website and I had charged them around $550 for it. Back then I was still in college and I had no clue on how I could receive the payment from them.
The Mistake of Using Direct Bank Transfers
I tried a bunch of applications but either their application process was too long or their charges were over 10%. I had finally gone ahead with my bank account and asked them to do a direct bank transfer. This was truly the worst mistake ever. First of all the payment took more than 10 days to reach my account. Secondly most of it got cut in Forex charges. I didn’t even know such a charge existed.
Hidden Costs in Currency Conversion
It’s basically currency conversion charges so when someone sends you $1 you will not get the market value of $1 in rupees which currently is around 83.96 rupees but rather a much lower rate of around 82—sometimes even lower than that. Apart from this, accepting payments directly into your savings account makes tracking the status of your funds extremely difficult. You are never truly sure where your money has reached in the process.
Delays and Complications with Bank Support
Additionally the bank’s relationship manager might take their own time in responding leading to delays and complications. So yeah it’s not easy to serve International clients from India but if only I had this video back then I could avoid so many problems and rather than spending money on all these charges I could have saved it all up.
The Solution: Virtual Bank Account
So well here’s the solution instead of looking for a third party provider that could cost you a lot what if you had your very own virtual bank account number that allows you to collect payment from your clients directly in 140 plus countries and accept US dollar. Yes you heard me right—get your own virtual bank account number and collect payments from 140 plus different countries.
Who Is This Best For?
This is going to help you a lot especially if you’re a freelancer or have an agency or even if you are an IT, design, or development company where you’re providing IT services to foreign clients. I even run a marketing agency which has multiple International clients and keeps receiving payments in US Dollars. This helps me out a lot.
How to Set Up Your Xflow Account
To get your virtual bank account number that allows you to collect International payments within the next business day itself watch the next 3 minutes of this video. First of all go over to Xflow, sign up with the link in the comment section down below—it will be in the pin comments. To complete your registration you’ll need to provide a bunch of different things: first of all your email address, phone number, PAN card, and address details if you’re a freelancer. But if you have a company then you need to provide company-related details.
Simple KYC and Activation
Only basic documents are required and you’re all set to go. Once you submit your KYC details the Xflow team will verify your documents and activate your account within one business day itself. Then simply share your virtual Account Details with your International clients and start receiving payments. Yes it’s that simple.
Bonus: Special Referral Code
By the way you can even use my referral code ALI to get flat 1% pricing for at least the first 3 months.
How Xflow Works
So how does all of this work and how do you receive payments from 140 plus countries? Receiving International payments with Xflow is simple and efficient. The accounts function like foreign currency bank accounts designed for Global Payments. Once your Xflow account is set up you’ll receive a free USD receiving account.
Local Transfers Save Costs
To get payments, share your account details with your customers who can then send money via local bank transfers instead of costly International wire transfers. For instance if you’re receiving USD payments from the United States of America then select the sender country and currency as USD. You’ll be presented with various local bank transfer options which are cheaper and much faster just like we have NEFT and RTGS in India. The US has ACH and FedWire.
Tracking and Withdrawing Your Payments
When a customer sends a bank transfer it will appear in your receiving account and you’ll get an email notification as well. To withdraw funds add an invoice in the Xflow dashboard, choose the invoice and decide on the withdrawal amount. Before initiating the withdrawal you’ll see the exchange rate and you’ll receive it in that rate itself. Now after all this you’ll be notified of the INR amount deposited to your bank account within one business day itself.
Invoice Flexibility and Large Payments
For more details check out the payout details page. Xflow accounts streamline International payments making them affordable and hassle-free. The best part about Xflow is that it does not have any limit on the transaction. I once had to get $115,000 payment from a client which was related to a development project. I realized that I can’t get this directly in one invoice as most of the payment providers have a transaction limit of $10,000. I actually had to break this $115,000 invoice into two invoices and then send it to the client. This was a big hassle for the client as well—he was not sure why I needed to do this and at some level it affects the trust factor too.
No More Delays or Hidden Charges
Apart from this, with Xflow you no longer need to wait for weeks to receive your payments—rather you can actually get it the very next business day. So yes, that solves our first problem of settlement delay. But what about Forex charges and the high currency conversion fees?
Transparent Pricing
Well what if I tell you that there are no hidden charges nor any Forex charges with Xflow. Yes yes, their pricing is just 1% of whatever you get and you actually know beforehand exactly how much INR will be deposited to your account. Basically what you see is what you get—that’s it. You get the direct market rate for currency conversion and they don’t charge you anything else.
Final Thoughts and Call to Action
So click on the link in my description or in my pinned comments and get your account set up right away. Also make sure to use the referral code ALI to get special pricing which will be valid for all the customers for the first 3 months. Let me know your experience of using Xflow in the comments down below and if you face any issues let me know—I would love to help you guys out.
