Most currency advice is written as though every transaction is GBP/EUR or GBP/USD.
Those pairs are deep, liquid and cheap to trade. Spreads are tight, forwards are readily available years out, and the mechanics are frictionless.
Businesses trading with India, Nigeria, Brazil, Indonesia, Egypt, Vietnam or dozens of other markets are in a different environment — and the differences aren't just about price.
What changes
Spreads are wider, sometimes much wider. Less liquidity means a bigger gap between buying and selling. Where a major pair might cost tens of basis points, a thinly traded currency can cost multiples of that. Some of that is legitimate market cost rather than provider margin, which makes it harder to benchmark — but it's still worth asking for the figure in basis points.
Volatility is higher. Smaller economies with less diversified exports, more dependence on commodity prices, and thinner currency reserves can see larger and faster moves than major pairs. Devaluations happen, sometimes abruptly.
Forwards may be limited or unavailable. Forward markets exist for most tradeable currencies but may be shorter-dated, more expensive, or simply not offered for smaller amounts. For some currencies, the market works through non-deliverable forwards — a cash-settled contract that references the rate without the currency actually changing hands. These are useful but more complex, and worth understanding properly before using one.
Some currencies are restricted. This is the one that catches people out. Several currencies are not freely convertible: moving money in or out requires documentation, central bank approval, or compliance with specific local rules. Payments can be delayed, require supporting trade documents, or be subject to local limits that have nothing to do with your provider.
Documentation is heavier. Purpose-of-payment codes, supporting invoices, contracts and sometimes import licences may be required before a payment can be processed. Incomplete documentation is the most common reason these payments stall.
What doesn't change
The underlying principles are identical, and it's worth saying so clearly:
You still have exposure between agreeing a price and paying it
It still affects your margin
You still need to know what a 10% move does to your numbers
You still shouldn't be converting at whatever rate appears on the day
The tools available may be fewer and more expensive. The need for a decision is the same.
Practical approaches
Consider whether you need the local currency at all. Many suppliers in emerging markets will invoice in dollars, and frequently prefer to. If your Vietnamese or Indian supplier accepts dollars, you've converted an illiquid exposure into a liquid one — GBP/USD, which is cheap and easy to hedge.
That's often the single most useful move available, and it costs nothing but a conversation. Ask the supplier. Many will say yes because dollars are easier for them too.
Where local currency is required, plan the documentation first. Find out before the first payment what's needed: purpose codes, invoice formats, contract copies, registration requirements. A payment that stalls in compliance for ten days because a field was blank is a supplier relationship problem, not just an administrative one.
Build a buffer into pricing rather than relying on hedging. Where forward cover is expensive or unavailable, pricing with a wider margin for currency movement is a legitimate and sometimes the only strategy. It's less elegant than hedging and more honest than hoping.
Diversify where the exposure is strategic. If a large share of your cost base sits in one volatile currency, that's an economic exposure as much as a transaction one. Dual sourcing across different currency zones reduces it structurally — a supply chain decision rather than a treasury one, but worth raising with whoever owns sourcing.
Ask providers specifically about your corridors. This matters more here than anywhere. A provider can be excellent on European payments and have no meaningful capability in West Africa or South Asia. Generic competence is not the same as practical experience in a specific corridor, and the difference shows up in whether your payment arrives on time.
The question to ask before expanding into a new market
If you're considering sourcing from or selling into a new country, three questions belong in the assessment alongside price and quality:
Is the currency freely convertible, and what documentation do payments require?
Can we hedge it, how far out, and at what cost?
What would a 20% devaluation do to this arrangement?
That third figure sounds dramatic. It has happened in several markets within the last decade, and businesses that had thought about it beforehand handled it very differently from those that hadn't.
The honest summary
Trading outside the major currencies is entirely manageable, and plenty of businesses do it successfully for years.
What it requires is accepting that the environment is different: higher costs, more documentation, fewer tools, and a greater need to ask questions in advance rather than discovering the answers mid-payment.
The businesses that struggle are the ones that assume a payment to Lagos works like a payment to Lisbon.
William Fuller, Co-Founder of Orbis Exchange Group contact on 0203 918 5622
Ben James, Co-Founder of Orbis Exchange Group contact on 0203 918 5621