One-off Payments

At Smart we have a solution for every kind of currency transaction. If you’re only making a one-off payment, you might think it will be easier to use your normal high-street bank, but there are many reasons for choosing a currency specialist.

Whether you’re transferring savings for the purchase of a lifetime or are simply paying for goods or services, Smart Currency Exchange will help you to manage your one-off payment so that you avoid costly and worrying delays.

Why use Smart Currency for your one-off payments?

Since 2004, Smart has helped thousands of clients and transferred over £10 billion. We trade in over 35 currencies from our head office in London and our offices in Spain and Portugal.

As specialists in home purchases we know the importance of getting every transaction right. We understand how property transactions and other larger business deals work and we will manage every step to avoid risk.

When you could be exchanging your life savings, you want to be in the dealing with the most trusted currency exchange specialist in the UK.

Currencies movements can be a risk to one-off payments

Exchange rates strengthen and weaken against each other by the minute. If you are buying a product or service in another currency its price will be rising and falling by the minute too, potentially changing wildly from day to day. Imagine if you were in the supermarket and the price of each item at the checkout was different to that marked on the shelf. That would be tricky enough with the weekly shop, but it could be disastrous with a larger, one-off payment.

Many of us stretch our budgets. We buy the biggest holiday home we can afford, choose the most stylish car, are charmed by the most expensive architect! The risk is that if your budget is at its limit, should the exchange rate move against you before you have to settle your bill, you may find yourself unable to pay.

Even if you allow yourself a little leeway in your budget, it is not unknown to see currencies change in value by 5% during the course of a few days. This makes effective budgeting all but impossible without locking in a rate.

Tailored payment options

Whatever the payment structure of your purchase, Smart will have a solution. A spot contract and a forward contract are just two of the options for setting the exchange rate and protecting your budget.

Spot Contracts allow you to buy the currency and make the transfer to an overseas bank or financial institution on the same day, or within a couple of days.

Forward Contracts are for those who need to make a payment in the near future and are planning in advance. In this instance, your trader will help you to lock in an exchange rate that you’re happy to trade at for the future. This gives you peace of mind as you will know exactly how much the transfer will cost you and how much will come out of your bank account on the allotted day.

Quick and easy set up

Setting up an account for a one-off payment is easy. Simply complete a short online application form and your own dedicated Smart Currency trader will give you a call to discuss what payment needs to be made and when. They will explain the options for minimising risk available for your payment given your time frames and the market conditions.

When you make a payment through a bank, it can take as long as five days to arrive in the intended destination. Transfers made through Smart will be with the intended beneficiary within 48 hours.