What are the cheapest ways to send money from my U.S. LLC to my home country?

A typical international SWIFT wire from Mercury involves three potential fees:

1. Sending bank fee — Mercury charges $20 per outgoing international wire. 2. Intermediary (correspondent) bank fee — $15-25 if the wire passes through a correspondent bank, which is common. Mercury's partner banks may or may not have a direct SWIFT relationship with your receiving bank. 3. Receiving bank fee — your UK bank may charge $0-15 for incoming international wires. Many UK banks waive this for GBP transfers.

Additionally, if the wire is sent in USD and converted to GBP by the receiving bank, that bank's exchange rate will include a markup of 1-3% above the mid-market rate. On a $5,000 transfer, that markup alone could cost $50-150.

Total cost per wire: approximately $35-60 in explicit fees plus exchange rate markup.

Wise Business provides the lowest overall cost for regular international transfers from a U.S. LLC. The process: send a free ACH transfer from Mercury to your Wise Business account, then convert and send to your UK bank through Wise's network.

Wise's cost structure for USD to GBP: - Transfer fee: approximately 0.41% of the amount (varies slightly) - Exchange rate: mid-market rate with zero markup - Delivery time: typically 1-2 business days to UK bank accounts

For a $5,000 transfer to the UK, Wise's total fee would be approximately $20.50. Compare this to the $85-210 total cost of a SWIFT wire (fees + exchange rate markup). Over 24 transfers per year, that's a savings of roughly $1,500-4,500 annually.

Wise Business supports transfers to 80+ countries and works well for all major currencies.

OFX is a foreign exchange service that offers competitive rates for larger transfers (typically $5,000+). OFX charges no transfer fees and makes money on a small exchange rate markup (usually 0.4-1% above mid-market). For large, infrequent transfers, OFX may match or beat Wise.

Payoneer provides USD receiving accounts and multi-currency support. Payoneer's fees are generally higher than Wise (2% for currency conversion) but Payoneer has wider acceptance in certain industries (freelancing platforms, marketplaces). Payoneer also offers a prepaid Mastercard that can be used for purchases in any currency.

For most foreign LLC owners making regular transfers of $1,000-10,000, Wise provides the best combination of low fees, good exchange rates, speed, and ease of use.

Here's the recommended workflow for regular transfers from your U.S. LLC to your UK bank:

1. Maintain Mercury as your primary U.S. bank account — receive all client payments here. 2. Set up a Wise Business account linked to your LLC. 3. When you need to send money home, initiate an ACH transfer from Mercury to your Wise account. ACH transfers are free and take 1-3 business days. 4. Once funds arrive in Wise, convert USD to GBP at the mid-market rate. 5. Send GBP to your UK bank account — arrives in 1-2 business days.

Total cost: Wise's conversion fee (approximately 0.41%). Total time: 2-5 business days end-to-end.

You can also set up recurring transfers in Wise if you send the same amount on a regular schedule.

A $5,000 Mercury SWIFT can cost $85–210 once correspondent fees and the receiving bank's FX sit on top of the $20 send fee. If you want the ~$20.50 Wise path instead, we recommend Wise — ACH from Mercury for free, then convert at the mid-market rate.