There’s a quiet obsession in global payments that only exporters and freelancers understand: the refresh button. You finish a project, get paid in USD or EUR, and spend the next few days watching your bank app like it’s a stock ticker. When will it land? Tomorrow? Monday? Never? In a world where money moves across
Every international payment has two clocks. One tracks when your money lands. The other — quieter, more stubborn — tracks when your **FIRC** finally arrives. The first clock decides your cash flow. The second decides your compliance. Most Indian freelancers and exporters only discover that second clock when their accountant asks, “Where’s the FIRC for
Somewhere in every Indian exporter’s inbox, there’s an old email thread titled “Purpose code missing — please clarify.” It usually arrives right after the payment. The client’s money has landed, but the compliance gods aren’t satisfied yet. You’ve done the hard work — pitched, delivered, invoiced — but now you’re learning that one small alphanumeric
Somewhere between your client’s bank and yours, there’s a tollbooth.No signboard, no receipt ; just a silent collector that takes a few euros, dollars, or pounds from every payment that crosses its bridge. Banks call it intermediary charges. “Freelancers and exporters call it” “what happened to my money?” In an age where fintech can move
The euro doesn’t behave like the dollar.It moves through different networks, follows different rules, and arrives in India with a personality of its own. For Indian IT service firms working with clients across Europe, that difference shows up not in code quality, but in cash flow.You can deliver a perfect sprint, ship every milestone on
There’s a quiet kind of experiment that plays out every week across India.A freelancer finishes a project for a client abroad — the logo ships to Berlin, the code runs in New York, the video streams in Dubai.Then comes the real test: getting paid. One week it’s an Upwork payout. The next, a Fiverr transfer.
Running an Amazon storefront from India isn’t a side gig anymore — it’s a full-time circus. You juggle listings, chase reviews, manage couriers, and still find time to restock that one SKU that suddenly went viral. And just when you think the show’s over, Amazon’s payout email lands: “Your payment is on its way.” Great
You’ve just wrapped up a project for your overseas client. They say, “Payment sent via bank transfer — should hit soon.” You nod, smile politely, and wait. Two days later, your bank credits you ₹81,500 for what was supposed to be $1000. You check again. You refresh. You sigh. Where did the rest go? That,
You’ve finished a project. The client says, “Payment sent!” You smile. You check your Wise or Payoneer dashboard. And then—bam—that mini heart attack: “Wait… why is the amount less?” Welcome to the freelancer’s favorite riddle: where did my dollars disappear? If you’ve been freelancing in India for a while, you already know that what’s sent
TL;DR (Quick Verdict) 👉 If you want to maximize every rupee while receiving money from abroad, Wise usually wins — unless you’re tied to a marketplace that only pays through Payoneer. Why This Comparison Matters For Indian freelancers, consultants, and small exporters, receiving international payments is not just about speed. Every % point in FX
