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Ask HN: Best way to get paid for consulting jobs from US clients

8 points by famoreira ↗ HN
As a UK based freelance developer I was wondering what approach it is the most used when it's time to get paid.<p>The options seems to be:<p>1) Open a US bank account<p>2) Get paid via wire transfer<p>3) Use Paypal or similar<p>Number 1 is probably the best options for the clients but potentially hard to manage. Number 2 seems to be the best option but it can be a bit of a hassle to the clients (and also a little bit costly). Number 3 seems pretty straightforward but it's definitely the easiest option but also the most expensive.<p>I was thinking also in maybe being able to open an account in US dollars in the UK and have clients transfer the payment to this account.<p>Anyone can help out?<p>Thanks

6 comments

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yashchandra
Some international banks such as HSBC, Citi etc. have provisions where you can have multiple accounts in different countries and can transfer money to/from easily and cheaply (or even free ). The catch is that they might expect you to maintain large balances. Not sure if this works for you but just FYI.
famoreira
Thanks for that. Will definitely look into it as this would facilitate a lot.
dimitrign123
I live in Toronto, CA and have been a freelancer for a number of years and have several US-based clients.

2). Wire transfer is the most sensible option for you. Another option you do not mention is an old fashioned check :)

Definitely open a U.S. bank account.

famoreira
I will look into how to open a US bank account for a company registered elsewhere (e.g. UK). Thanks for that!
mootothemax
I use a currency broker to kill two birds with one stone. http://currencyfair.com lets me accept deposits to local bank accounts in several countries, and then get a pretty decent rate converting the money to, e.g., GBP or PLN.

Thinking about it, I'm pretty amazed that the system works so flawlessly. Their customer service is pretty hot - I discussed whether all of this was possible with them in advance and got the go-ahead. Definitely get in touch with them!

famoreira
Nice one! Will definitely look into them.

Thanks