Convert, hold and hedge currency to protect your margins
If your business imports or exports, currency movements can impact your bottom line. GSNFX helps you transact at competitive live rates, hold funds across 25+ currencies, and manage exchange rate risk.
Two ways businesses approach foreign exchange
Most businesses fall into one of two positions — sometimes both at once. GSNFX supports each with dedicated Business Foreign Exchange tools.
Trading at today's live rate
If you need to buy or sell currency and settle funds the same day or within two business days, a spot contract is the right tool. The priorities here are simple: a competitive live rate and a fast, reliable turnaround — whether you're funding your own currency account or paying a supplier directly.
Securing tomorrow's rate today
If you're expecting currency in or out over the coming months — say, staged USD receipts on a 12-month export contract — exchange rate movement between now and then can quietly erode or inflate your margin. Business Foreign Exchange hedging tools let you fix that rate in advance, so the commercial outcome you agreed to is the one you actually get.
Business Foreign Exchange, end to end
From a single spot trade to a fully documented hedging policy, every solution below is available as part of our Business Foreign Exchange service.
Spot Contracts
Buy or sell currency and settle within two business days at a competitive live rate, with a dedicated dealing contact managing turnaround.
Explore Business FXForward Contracts
Fix an exchange rate today for a transaction that settles in the future, so you can secure costs, revenue or balance sheet values in advance.
Explore risk managementFX Hedging Policy
A written, agreed policy — how often to hedge, what proportion of exposure to cover, and how far forward — tested against historical data.
See hedging policiesRisk Management
A bespoke, personal approach to reducing the impact of FX volatility, using the full range of hedging solutions available to your business.
Learn moreMarket Orders
Set a target rate and let it work 24 hours a day — orders sit "good until cancelled" and execute automatically once your rate is available.
See how it worksMulti-Currency Accounts
Hold funds across 25+ currencies in one place, so converted funds land exactly where your business needs them.
Explore accountsWhy Business Foreign Exchange matters to your margin
If your business imports or exports goods or services, movements in exchange rates will affect your profit margin — whether you notice it or not. Some businesses are focused on today: getting a competitive rate and a fast turnaround on funds, whether that's paying a supplier or receiving payment into a currency account.
Others are managing tomorrow. Picture an export contract that pays in USD over 12 months, in staged instalments, while your costs and reporting sit in GBP. Between signing that contract and being paid, GBP/USD can move meaningfully — and that movement lands directly on your margin, for better or worse.
Business Foreign Exchange lets you decide how much of that uncertainty you want to carry. You can fix rates in advance for each instalment, so the margin you priced into the contract is the margin you actually deliver — or use flexible window and open forward contracts if the exact payment dates aren't fixed yet.
Worked example
A 12-month export contract with quarterly USD instalments is exposed to GBP/USD movement over the full period. Fixing quarterly forward contracts at the outset locks in the margin agreed at signing — regardless of which way the market moves afterwards.
The trade-offs of FX hedging, honestly stated
Hedging isn't free of trade-offs. Here's a balanced view of what fixing a rate gives you — and what it costs you.
Advantages
- Secures the commercial margin priced into a contract, regardless of later rate movement.
- Provides certainty for budgeting and forecasting over longer time periods.
- Particularly valuable when your margin is a small percentage of overall contract value.
Considerations
- You won't benefit if the market later moves in your favour — you're committed to the fixed rate.
- Large favourable market moves can create collateral or variation margin requirements.
- Ties up funds that could otherwise support other areas of the business.
Good until cancelled
Market orders stay live in the market 24 hours a day until your target rate is reached and the trade executes automatically — or until you amend or cancel it yourself.
Market orders: a useful addition to any Business FX strategy
Exchange rates move around the clock, and watching them constantly isn't a good use of anyone's time. A market order lets you set the rate you want for a spot or forward contract and walk away — GSNFX's systems monitor the market for you and execute the moment your target is achievable.
It's a simple way to combine discipline with convenience: you decide the rate that works for your business in advance, rather than reacting under time pressure when a rate happens to be showing on screen.