Started charging clients in 3 currencies to stop losing money on exchange rates and it actually worked
Six months ago I was in Medellin and watched my bank take $47 in fees and bad exchange rates off a single $1,200 payment from a client in Germany. That was the third time that month. So I did something simple. I opened a Wise account and started sending invoices in the client's own currency instead of always in USD. German client pays in euros, UK client pays in pounds, US ones still pay dollars. My bank fees went from around $140 a month down to almost nothing because the money sits in each currency until I actually need it. When I got to Lisbon in March I just spent the euros I already had instead of converting everything twice. The weird part is clients seem happier too, like one guy said it felt more professional to get an invoice in pounds. Has anyone else done the multi currency thing, and did you pick Wise or something else? I'm wondering if I should bother with a fourth currency for a new client in Canada.
It's kind of like how nobody carries traveler's checks anymore, you know? The whole point of money is it should move where you are, not get taxed every time it crosses a border. I do the same thing with a euro account and a pound one and honestly the mental shift matters more than the fees, you stop thinking of everything in dollars first. For Canada I'd say sure, open a CAD one too, it's free and takes ten minutes, but only if that client pays regularly, otherwise it just sits there.