Georgetown University partners with Flywire to provide a fast, secure way for foreign suppliers to submit international wire transfer payments. Foreign suppliers can be paid either in their local currency or in USD, regardless of whether their contract with the university is denominated in a foreign currency or in USD.
Flywire allows the university to:
Send funds electronically to nearly any country, bank, and in most currencies
Save on bank fees and ensure the best exchange rates with Flywire’s Best Price Guarantee
Choosing a Payout Currency
When registering as a supplier, the supplier will be presented with the option to choose their payout currency, either the local currency or USD. USD has been enabled for all countries. The supplier should choose the option that conforms to the currency in which their bank account is denominated.
As a default, Flywire encourages suppliers to receive payments in their local currency rather than USD. This is because international payment processors like Flywire have extensive global banking networks and bank accounts located all over the world in your suppliers’ destination currencies. This allows for a streamlined, faster, and cheaper experience. To send USD abroad, you increase the chances of intermediary banks being used, who each want their slice of the pie, potentially resulting in your supplier receiving less than expected. It is also more costly to Georgetown to pay out USD than it is to pay out in the local currencies.
Process Overview
Suppliers who provide non-US bank account information, either at registration or afterwards via the supplier record management portal, will be listed in GMS with an “International Wire” as their default payment method. If all required information to set up a Flywire profile has been provided and all information is valid, the supplier will be active and ready to pay immediately via “International Wire” using Flywire. If Flywire requires any additional information to establish a profile and make the supplier active to receive payments, the supplier will receive an email from suppliercare@georgetown.edu asking to provide additional information and/or resolve any invalid pieces of data. The supplier record will remain listed as inactive in GMS until the Flywire profile is activated.
Once approved in GMS the invoice will be settled in the next payment cycle. Settlement takes place daily. A paid status in GMS does not mean that the supplier has been paid but the date payment was initiated. Payments to Canada and much of Europe will typically be resolved within 2-3 days, while payments to other areas may take longer. Additionally, certain countries require specific action by payees before the funds will be released, so a precise estimate of the time to completion can be difficult. .
We currently have a $20 threshold (or the equivalent in a foreign currency) for international wire transfers. Any invoice valued at less than $20 that is to be paid by international wire will be held for settlement until the value of all invoices for this supplier equals or exceeds the threshold amount.
If your supplier works with and/or requires an intermediary bank, more common in exotic markets, please email payeesupport@flywire.com with the details of that intermediary bank before completing their bank account information. This ensures a better, and faster payment experience for the supplier and greatly reduces the chance of a bounced or returned payment.
Please note that the foreign exchange rates typically referred to in online publications are bank-to-bank (prime) rates, and that retail customers (like Georgetown and its suppliers) never receive those rates. Part of the reason Georgetown engaged with Flywire is that by aggregating many transfers, Flywire receives much better rates, and passes on some of that savings to Georgetown and its suppliers.
Georgetown pays all Flywire flat processing fees. With respect to the foreign exchange premium, the party that bears the burden depends on what currency the contract (and therefore payment) is denominated in:
If the contract/payment is in USD, and the supplier elects to receive payment in a foreign currency, then the supplier “pays” the foreign exchange premium, by receiving a transfer that is less than the prime rate.
If the contract/payment is in a foreign currency, then Georgetown “pays” the foreign exchange premium by paying more from its USD-denominated account than the prime rate, to make sure that the supplier receives the whole amount of the transfer in the foreign currency.
Additional Support
For GMS related questions: Claudette Richardson, Manager of Payments & Settlement / Jon Hendrix, Director of Accounts Payable
