Top multi-currency accounts compared

About Top multi-currency accounts compared

A multi-currency account earns its place when you can hold several currencies, move money between them and still get paid into local account details without giving up a chunk of every transfer. This ranking compares 337 accounts on that job, and 337 of them sit in the multi-currency category. The main trade-off runs through the whole list: accounts with the widest currency lists and the most ways to be paid tend to charge more on conversion, while the cheapest converters usually cover fewer currencies. A second split is between licensing, where some accounts are e-money institutions and others are payment institutions, and running cost, where the median monthly fee in this ranking is €0 and only a minority charge anything. Readers weighing these accounts mostly want to know what a transfer really costs, where the money is held and how the account behaves day to day, so each entry leads on those points.

How we picked

Every account in this ranking is scored on the three things that decide what a multi-currency account is like to hold. Trust carries the most weight at 40%, so licensing, deposit protection and the entity behind the account come first. Cost is weighted at 35% and covers the exchange fee, the monthly charge and what a transfer costs. Offer is weighted at 25% and covers currency count, cash access, local payment details and who the account is built for. Figures come from each provider's own pricing, fees, help and support pages, its legal terms and imprint, and from regulator registers in Europe and app listings, with the category ranges drawn from the site's own records. Nothing here rests on personal experience. Partners are listed first and in the order the score gives them, and the brands after them follow in the same scored order. The list sits within 337 accounts in the wider data, of which 337 belong to this category and 209 are licensed.

Our top picks

1. 1. eToro

   eToro is in this ranking for cost and cash access, which pull the same way: conversion is charged at 0% and cash withdrawals are free, with a free allowance of £2,000 to £10,000 a month. Deposits sit under EU DGS up to EUR 100,000. The trade-off in this ranking is breadth and contact: 5 currencies are held, and support runs on help centre alone, so there is no phone line or email address to fall back on. Bit2Me, the brand below it in this ranking, holds far more currencies at 300 and keeps a phone line through phone, help centre and community.

   • Headline rate: 3.8%
   • Rate type: Variable
   • Minimum deposit: $1 to $10,000

   Pros

   • Access to shares, funds and crypto through one platform
   • Fractional shares for smaller purchases in higher priced companies
   • Data and analysis tools alongside views from the investor community

   Cons

   • Investment values can fall, so holdings may end below their starting value
   • Copying other investors can bring risks that are hard to judge

2. 4. Skrill

   Skrill sits near the top of this ranking on reach and clarity. It holds 47 currencies, among the wider counts here, and the exchange cost is a flat figure of 3.99% rather than a range, with a monthly fee of €0. Deposits are covered by EU DGS up to EUR 100,000, the provider holds an e-money licence, and support runs on help centre, email and phone, which includes a phone line and email. Transfers between Skrill balances take a percentage with a minimum charge, bank transfer payouts cost nothing, and international transfers carry a percentage ceiling that already includes the exchange rate mark-up. eToro, the brand below it in this ranking, converts at 0% but holds 5 currencies.

   • Monthly fee: €0
   • Licence type: E money
   • Deposit protection: EU DGS up to EUR 100,000

   Pros

   • The monthly fee is €0, the same as Starling Personal Account Debit Card at £0, so the wallet costs nothing to keep open.
   • The stated audience covers expats, travelers and business, so expats, travellers and businesses are the groups the service is built around.
   • 47 currencies sit in one wallet, well above the site median of 5.
   • Payouts go to bank, card and wallet, so money can land in a bank account, on a card or in another wallet.
   • Support runs through help centre, email and phone, which includes phone help for transfers that stall.

   Cons

   • Currency conversion costs 3.99%, against 0% at AXI Card Tarjeta y Credito and 0.5% at XTB.
   • An exchange rate mark-up of 4.99% can be added to international transfers on top of the fee.
   • The currency conversion fee ranking puts it at 297 out of 312, so exchange is the weak spot.
   • Balances sit under an e-money licence (e money) rather than a bank licence, and international delivery runs 24 - 72 hours.

3. TD10. Travelex DE: best for Travelex DE

   German site of Travelex for buying foreign currency and travel money online with pickup in branches, plus a currency converter and exchange rate information.

   • Currencies: 45
   • Legal entity: Travelex Deutschland GmbH
   • Headquarters: Germany

   Pros

   • Covers more than 45 foreign currencies for outbound travel.
   • Offers pickup in more than 20 branches across Germany.
   • Buys traveller cheques in all of its German branches.
   • Publishes currency guides and a travel magazine for trip planning.

   Cons

   • Focuses only on travel money rather than everyday account services.
   • Requires a branch visit to collect reserved foreign currency.
   • Airport branch network suits flyers more than non travellers.

What to look for

How many currencies you can hold

A multi-currency account is judged first on its currency list. The median in this ranking is 5, the narrowest account here holds 2 and the widest holds 360. More currencies matter if you invoice abroad or split money between markets.

What conversion actually costs

The percentage taken when you change currency is the number that decides whether a multi-currency account pays for itself. The median here is 0.3%, most accounts sit at or below 1.73%, and the priciest reach 6.7%. Check the rate type as well, since a variable rate moves.

What you pay to keep the account

A monthly charge is the exception in this ranking rather than the rule. The median is €0 and the upper quartile is €0, while the widest charge in the category reaches €449. Compare that against how often you will actually convert.

What sits behind the balance

Licence type tells you what kind of firm holds the money and what scheme applies. 61.9% of the accounts in this ranking are e-money institutions and 38.1% are payment institutions. Several publish a protection ceiling, such as FDIC up to USD 250,000 at PayPal Colombia and EU DGS up to EUR 100,000 at Wise.

How you get paid locally

Local account details decide whether a client can pay you in their own currency. 82.3% of the accounts in this ranking issue an IBAN and 25.7% issue US ACH details, with a smaller share offering UK sort code details. This is what keeps inbound conversion low.

Who the account is built for

Some accounts are pitched at a specific customer, and that shapes the features you will see. 63.3% of them target business users, 29.1% target travelers and 28.7% target expats, so match the account to how you will move money before comparing fees.

Frequently asked questions

Top multi-currency accounts compared by country

• Australia
• Brazil
• Canada
• China
• France
• Germany
• India
• Ireland
• Italy
• Japan
• Philippines
• Singapore
• Spain
• United Kingdom
• United States

The data behind this ranking

All data and the CSV