Paying affiliates in another currency: where the 4% goes, and how to pay euros from euros

By Jimi Barkway · Published 6 September 2026 · Part of the blog

What does it cost to pay an affiliate in another currency?

In shortIt depends on where the conversion happens. On PayPal the exchange rate carries a 4.00% spread. So a $100 payout loses about $4 on the affiliate's side. On Wise the conversion is at the mid-market rate and the fee is from 0.24%. So the same $100 costs about $0.24.

Many programs discover this the wrong way round. They set commissions in dollars. They recruit affiliates in Europe and Asia. They pay through the account they already had. And they never see the conversion line, because it is inside the rate. I read PayPal's and Wise's own pricing pages on 6 September 2026 for the figures here. I noticed that the number that matters most, the yearly cost of the spread, is on neither page.

Three words first. A spread is the gap between the real exchange rate and the rate you are given. It is where a conversion cost hides. The mid-market rate is the real one, halfway between buying and selling. It is the rate on a currency chart.

Where does the 4% go on PayPal?

In shortInto the exchange rate, on the affiliate's side. PayPal's fee page covers a payout where the recipient gets a different currency from the one you pay in. It carries a spread of "4.00%, or such other amount as may be disclosed to you during the transaction". You pay the sending fee. They receive fewer euros than the chart says.

The arithmetic on a single payout. Let's say you pay a Spanish affiliate $100 and PayPal converts it to euros. You pay 2% as the sending fee, which is $2 under the $20.00 international cap. The affiliate's euros are converted at a rate 4.00% worse than the chart. So about $4 of value comes off their side. They receive about $96 of value. PayPal's FAQ is precise about it: "Payout recipients pay no fee regardless of the type of PayPal account they have." That is true. The fee is the sender's. The spread is the rate's, and the rate is theirs. The spread is a rate, not a fee, which is why it is not itemised as one.

Now the arithmetic on a program. Let's say you pay $5,000 a month to affiliates who are all paid in other currencies, through PayPal. About $200 a month goes to the spread. Over a year that is $2,400. It is not itemised as a fee anywhere. That is the number to check before you pick a payout method.

Three more PayPal rules for a multi-currency program, all from its developer FAQ. Payouts reach "over 156 countries in over 23 currencies". But PayPal's restrictions "do not allow conversion of Argentine Pesos, Brazilian Real, or Malaysian Ringgit". And a batch that pays in more than one currency needs "separate payment files for each currency". A tool should build those files for you. If you upload by hand, that is one file per currency, every month.

What does Wise do differently?

In shortIt converts at the mid-market rate and charges its fee where you can see it. Wise's business pricing page says it does not "inflate the mid-market exchange rate". The fee for sending money starts at 0.24% and varies by currency. On a $100 payout that is about $0.24.

The design is the opposite of PayPal's. Wise shows the rate on the chart. It charges a fee beside the transfer. It pays into the affiliate's bank account in their own currency. A batch takes up to 1,000 transfers "in multiple currencies with one payment". So a program paying in six currencies sends one file, not six.

The trade is set-up and reach. Wise pays into bank accounts. On AffiliateRail's Wise route that means an IBAN, or an account and routing number, and never an email address. Its help centre lists the currencies it can send to and from by country, with notes on each. Check an affiliate's country against that list before you promise them Wise. And "All in for 50 GBP" buys the account details to receive money in 22 currencies. That is the part a program that also gets paid abroad will use.

How do you run a program in more than one currency?

In shortPick one program currency for the commissions. Then hold a balance in each currency you pay out in, so most payouts never convert at all. Where they do convert, let Wise do it at the mid-market rate. And expect one payout per partner per currency. That is how the ledger has to work.

The program currency comes first, and it is a one-way door. AffiliateRail's setup guide says "the currency is fixed once the program has money in it". The minimum payout is "20.00 by default, in your currency". So decide before the first sale whether commissions are in dollars, pounds or euros. A program that bills in dollars usually sets the program in dollars.

Then the balances. On Wise you fund a balance per currency from your bank. The integration page's line: "Pay a EUR partner from GBP and Wise converts at its rate." If you hold euros already, the euro affiliates are paid from euros and nothing converts. That is the cheapest possible payout. It is the reason a program with a cluster of affiliates in one region should hold that region's currency. On PayPal the same idea is a separate payment file per currency.

Finally the ledger. AffiliateRail's payouts guide nets "everything due" into "one payout per partner per currency" when the month closes. Its Wise route pays partners "in their own currency" from your balance. So an affiliate paid in two currencies has two balances and two payouts. The same guide says AffiliateRail charges nothing on the payout itself. So on a converted payout the only cost is the payout method's, and on an unconverted one there is none at all beyond the transfer fee.

One thing a large program should know. One enterprise platform lists the currencies it takes card payments in, ten of them, from dollars and pounds to yen and Singapore dollars. That is the platform's currency list, for funding it. It is a different question from the currencies your affiliates can be paid in. Ask both before you sign anything.

Which payout method for which affiliate?

In shortPayPal for affiliates paid in your own currency, and for anyone who asks for PayPal. Wise for anyone paid in another currency. Both, for a program with affiliates in more than one region, with each affiliate adding their own payout method in their portal.

For example, take a US SaaS with 30 affiliates: twenty in the US, six in Europe, four in Asia. The twenty are paid in dollars through PayPal at a flat 0.25 USD a payment by API. There is nothing to save there. The six in Europe are paid in euros from a Wise euro balance, with no conversion at all. The four in Asia are paid from Wise's dollar balance, converted at the mid-market rate for a fee from 0.24%. Nobody loses 4% inside a rate. The whole month's payouts leave from two accounts, both yours, on the same date.

The PayPal article has PayPal's four numbers and the 30-day unclaimed rule. The Wise article has the batch limits and the approval rule by country. The manual's payout methods chapter walks the arithmetic at program size. On AffiliateRail both payout methods connect to your own accounts. The affiliate adds their payout method in their portal. The batch goes out on the date from the right balance, and AffiliateRail charges nothing on it. If you run a program in more than one currency today and have never seen the conversion cost, this is the month to look for it.

Every figure on this page was read off PayPal's and Wise's own pricing pages, or AffiliateRail's docs, on the date beside it in the sources. Rates and fees vary by currency. They change without notice. Read your own account's pricing page before you budget.

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