Foreign Currency Payments

Foreign currency payments to suppliers can be made online using the Santander International Payments system.

The University generally makes payments to suppliers in UK pounds sterling (GBP) to UK bank accounts except if there are operational reasons for a payment to be made in a foreign currency or sent to a foreign bank account. These types of payments are normally made weekly. Payment is via Santander and typical transactions include:

payments for overseas conferences and courses
payments to overseas examiners
refunds made to overseas students
payments to foreign suppliers

The two main types of transactions used to pay overseas suppliers are:

Bank drafts - This is the term for cheques being sent to a foreign country, drawn in a foreign currency.
Electronic funds transfers - This term relates to the transfer of monies directly into a foreign supplier's bank account. This is a faster but much more expensive method of payment and should be used when the payment is required urgently.

If you have a query about a foreign currency transaction made please email Finance.Helpline@ed.ac.uk quoting the online payment reference