A closer look at Shopify’s multi-currency features in Canada

Shopify has been a godsend for ecommerce sellers in Canada who want to cater to an international audience. Not only do they offer multi-language storefronts for localized experiences and provide tax compliance for global sales, but they also offer an extensive multi-currency payments system.

This article will go over how the multi-currency payments system works, how to set it up, and how Wise can be the cost-effective alternative you need to send and receive international payments with the mid-market exchange rate.

How does Shopify’s multi-currency feature work?

So, what does the multi-currency feature entail? Shopify implemented this feature to accommodate consumers and business owners, allowing customers to shop in their local currency and entrepreneurs to offer convenient payment options. Selling in multiple currencies isn’t typically an easy feat, especially if you consider all the currency exchange issues you might run into.

With a built-in Shopify currency selector, sellers can cater to localized markets and enjoy much happier shoppers—improving conversion rates. They don’t have to land on your site and worry about converting CAD to USD, for example. They can simply browse in their currency thanks to the geolocation auto-conversion.

The rates will reflect the current exchange rates, and sellers will still receive funds in their local currency—in this case, Canadian dollars. The best part is that it isn’t just the product prices that get converted; it’s the taxes, discounts, shipping costs, and refund costs as well. That way, you’ll have a comprehensive experience across the board.

In Canada, sellers can receive both CAD and USD, but the catch is that there’s an international currency payout fee for non-local currencies. If you were to receive your funds in USD, you’d be charged a 1.25% payout fee as a Shopify Plus plan or a 1.50% payout fee under all other Shopify plans.¹

How to set up the multi-currency feature on Shopify

To transform your business into a multi-currency Shopify store, start by heading over to your Shopify dashboard:

1. From the ‘Markets’ tab, click ‘Add market.’
2. Click ‘Add country/region’ and select all the options you want to add to your store.
3. Under each country/region, you can go to ‘Products and pricing’ to manage the pricing to your liking. Make sure you select the ‘Show prices to customers in their currency’ checkbox.
4. You can choose to manually set the exchange rate or stick to the Dynamic approach default which uses the exchange rate at the time of the order placement.
5. Navigate to the Payments tab on the left-hand menu bar and manage your local payment methods

There are also all sorts of other ways you can customize the localized experience, including setting up unique URLs for each market you sell to, automatic redirects to localized URLs, or even providing a country selector using the Geolocation app. Customers can also pay for any duties and taxes owed during the checkout process.

When a payment is initiated, it’ll come with a 2% Shopify currency conversion fee charged to you. In other countries and regions, the fee is 2% as well, whereas it stands at 1.5% in the US.² There might also be foreign transaction fees charged to your international customers by their credit card issuer or bank, which is out of your control.

Use the Wise Business account with Shopify to enjoy the mid-market exchange rate

The good news is that you can go even more international when you connect a Wise Business account to Shopify to accept payments. Wise is a fintech company that lets users send and receive money globally for less. With a multi-currency business account, you can

• send money to over 160 countries and
• get local account details in over 10 currencies,
• receive and hold money in over 20 currencies, so you have access to various funds whenever you need them.

Wise uses the mid-market exchange rate for every transfer you make. It’s the fairest rate on the market (the one you see on Google) without any markups, so you can avoid all those hidden, unfair charges. Each transfer comes with minimal fees starting at just 0.33%^*. This way, you can pay less for your international transactions compared to using Shopify or a bank.

Wise Business also offers various business-specific tools, including built-in international invoicing, its very own API to automate your payroll, and integrations with top software such as Quickbooks, Oracle NetSuite, FreeAgent, and more. Need to manage your company spend? The Wise debit card is available for you and your employees, where you can manage all your team expenses in one place.

All of these worthwhile features are available on one platform— you only pay a one time registration fee of 42 CAD.

Final thoughts on the Shopify multi-currency feature

Once you learn how to change currencies on Shopify and navigate the multi-currency features for your store, selling to an international audience becomes ten times easier. You won’t have to hassle your customers to convert your currency into theirs, and you won’t be tasked with the burden of admin and losing money from every exchange.

When you sign up for a Wise Business account, you’ll have the added benefit of using the mid-market rate and managing and holding multiple currencies in one place. With all the available business tools, you’ll enjoy a collection of tools that make running an online business much smoother.

About the author:
	Piyush is an expert in finance topics for the Canadian market, covering everything you need to live without borders. He creates high quality content to help you make the best cross-border decisions. You can read more useful articles on his author profile.