What a €100,000 supplier payment really costs.
A trading company in Cairo pays a supplier in Milan. The money usually goes through an intermediary, and the cost is spread across the route so no single line shows it.
- 1
Cairo bank converts EGP to USD
2% to 3% spread
The rate you are given, not the rate on the screen.
- 2
Intermediary in the UAE receives and re-sends
Flat fee, plus a second spread
This hop exists because the sender cannot reach the beneficiary directly.
- 3
USD to EUR conversion
A further 1% to 2%
A second conversion the payment did not need.
- 4
Correspondent banks on the SWIFT leg
Deducted in transit, amount unknown until arrival
Each bank in the chain may take its own fee from the principal.
Typical elapsed time
3 to 5 working days
The cumulative spread across two conversions and an intermediary is commonly 3% to 5% of the principal. On €100,000 that is €3,000 to €5,000 — but no statement ever shows that figure on one line.
With European account details in your own name, Cairo to Milan stops being an international wire. You convert once, then send a euro payment inside the euro area.
- One conversion into euro
- Confirmed before you convert
- Euro payment to Milan · €0.50
- €0.50
- Total, shown before you confirm
- €0.50 + conversion fee
Settlement
Same or next working day
Where the scheme cut-off allows. Intermediary or beneficiary-bank fees do not arise on a euro payment inside the euro area.
The part that is not a fee
The spread is the visible cost. What the intermediary route does not produce is the part that matters when a tax inspector, a bank or a buyer asks a question a year later.
- An invoice-matched record your accountant can file
- Proof the supplier was paid by your company, in your company's name
- A fee you were told before the money left
- Anyone to ask when it does not arrive
- Figures for the intermediary route are illustrative ranges, not quoted prices: the cost depends on the banks in the chain and is not published by any of them. TrillioniPay's own figures are the published fees on the MENA plan and are shown in full before you confirm any payment.
See the fee for your own corridor and amount.
Open the fee calculatorPrepare your business for global trade.
Leave your email and we'll write when onboarding opens.
Talk to us instead