Paying a UK supplier from Russia: pounds, an IBAN built from the sort code, company register checks, bans on some services, bank holidays. Route checked first.
Estimate the minimum fee
The final fee and rate are fixed in the payment order
Minimum amount: 10,000 USD or equivalent
This is a minimum, not an offer or a rate lock. The final figure depends on the country, amount and the banks involved and is fixed in the payment order.
Request a quoteLaboratory consumables and medical devices, parts for industrial and scientific equipment, books and scientific journals, registration and exhibition fees. UK suppliers usually ship to new customers from abroad on prepayment against a pro forma invoice.
UK organizations often accept registration fees through an online account with card payment. A transfer from a company needs an invoice made out to your legal entity with bank details, not a payment link: ask the organizer to issue such an invoice. A payment has a minimum amount, so small fees and dues are not processed as separate payments.
Currency: the pound sterling (GBP). UK companies invoice in pounds and often switch to dollars or euros for foreign clients. Domestic payments use a six-digit sort code and an eight-digit account number.
An international payment goes to a 22-character IBAN. Inside it, after the letters GB and the check digits, come a letter code for the bank, the same sort code and the account number. The BIC is added to it. It is not worth assembling the IBAN yourself: one wrong digit and the transfer will come back. Ask the supplier for ready-made details for international payments.
Every UK company is entered in the government register with an eight-character number; for Scottish companies it starts with SC. The register shows the address, the directors, the persons with significant control and the filed accounts. The name is written with the form Ltd, PLC or LLP. Before you sign the agency agreement, we check that the company is active and that the person signing the contract is among the directors.
The United Kingdom prohibits its companies from selling a long list of goods to Russia and from providing a number of services: management consulting, accounting, advertising, legal advice, IT consulting. If the subject of your contract is on these lists, the payment cannot be made lawfully, and we will tell you so before you transfer your roubles. UK banks also ask new payers questions, so the payment reference gives the contract details, the number of the UK invoice and a description of the goods or the fee.
For a UK payment we find out whose transfer in pounds, dollars or euros your supplier’s bank will accept on the payment date, and we work with that agent from our pool. The payment order, which you see before the debit, shows that agent’s rate and fee. On request, the roubles wait in a special escrow account at a Russian bank until the money is credited to the UK company, for an additional fee. The client transfers nothing to VEDmost: the agent covers the broker’s fee.
Pounds are not transferred on bank holidays. These are New Year’s Day, Good Friday and Easter Monday, the first and last Mondays in May, the last Monday in August, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, which follows it. Scotland and Northern Ireland add their own days, and the Scottish summer bank holiday falls in early August. When the payment date on a UK invoice falls on a long weekend, send the payment earlier or agree a new date with the supplier.
Five steps, the same for every country. Country specifics are described above.
Beneficiary's country, amount, currency, the invoice and the contract or bill, your company's and the beneficiary's details. We review the request before any documents are signed.
We select a network company and a route and prepare the documents. You sign an agency agreement with that company, which sets the execution period, and a payment order: amount, exchange rate and fee. All of this before you transfer your roubles.
You transfer roubles to the network company from your account at a Russian bank. If you need a guarantee, they wait for execution in a special escrow account, for an additional fee.
The agent sends the currency to the beneficiary under this payment order. A sub-agent is engaged only with your consent. The route does not change without a payment order.
We send you the payment confirmation, and a SWIFT confirmation on request. Then the completion certificate, the agent's report and the currency control package. The deal is not closed until the currency has been sent to the beneficiary.
If you need a guarantee, the payment goes through a special escrow account at a Russian bank: the roubles wait there until the agent sends the currency to the beneficiary and are released only upon execution. This scheme carries an additional fee, shown in the quote before the agreement.
The agent executes the payment within 3 business days: the period is written into the agency agreement.
If the beneficiary's bank accepts payment only from a specific payer, the agent engages a sub-agent. Only with your consent. Your agency agreement does not change.
For large volumes, on request, we assign an agent backed by a large exporter's surety; some companies in our network have one. It can be combined with escrow.
Tell us the rate you pay now or send your current agent’s documents. We’ll calculate the all-in cost with the FX markup and charges and look for a lower rate in our network. If there isn’t one, we’ll say so. The comparison is free.
Not for a transfer from Russia. You need a 22-character IBAN: it contains the letters GB, check digits, a bank code, the same sort code and the account number. It is not worth building it yourself: ask the supplier for a ready IBAN and BIC.
The company number, the address, the directors, the persons with significant control and the filed accounts. We use it to check the name with the form Ltd, PLC or LLP and to confirm that the company is active.
Often not. The United Kingdom prohibits its companies from providing management consulting, accounting, legal, advertising and a number of IT services to Russian clients. We review the subject of the contract before you transfer your roubles.
On bank holidays: New Year's Day, Good Friday and Easter Monday, the first and last Mondays in May, the last Monday in August, December 25 and 26. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own days.
Describe the payment. We'll reply with a proposed route and terms. We name the agent in advance, and the rate and fee go into the payment order before your roubles are debited.