Payments

SEPA to a Local EUR Account, Wise or PayPal: The Cheapest Way to Get Paid by a German Client

Author:: Editorial team, serviceexportguide.com
Verified by:: Editorial team
Published: 31 October 2026
Last modified: 31 October 2026
Fees checked on: 28 October 2026
Reading time: 10 min read

Short answer

SEPA covers 41 European countries, so a German client's SEPA transfer reaches Indian exporters only through euro account details such as Wise's.¹² PayPal charges 4.40% plus 0.35 EUR, then a conversion fee.³ On EUR 1,800, Razorpay and Karbon Business cost about 1.00 to 1.18%.⁴⁵ From October 2026 each export needs an EDF.⁶

Applies to	Rules involved	Platforms compared	Last verified
Indian freelancers and firms invoicing clients in Germany in EUR⁷	FEMA Export and Import Regulations, 2026; PA Master Direction; IGST Act sections 2(6) and 13⁶⁸⁷⁹	Razorpay, Karbon Business, Winvesta, PayPal, SEPA, Wise⁴¹⁰¹¹³¹²	31 October 2026

Invoice amountCurrencyHow the client pays

900 EUR = ₹93,742 at the reference rate for 13 November 2026 (European Central Bank data).

Estimated rupees received, on published fees

Sorted by estimated rupees received, highest first. Only providers that publish both their fee and their conversion markup for this currency and method can be estimated.

#	Provider and route	Best for	Fee (+GST)	Markup	You receive	Cost
1	Karbon BusinessLowest estimated costBank transfer to a Karbon virtual USD account	US bank transfers and marketplace payouts	₹937plus GST, rate not stated	0%	₹92,636 to ₹92,804	1.00 to 1.18%
2	RazorpayMoneySaver Export Account: bank transfer to virtual account details (Standard plan)	Local transfers from the US, UK and eurozone	₹1,000plus GST, rate not stated	0%	₹92,562 to ₹92,742	1.07 to 1.26%
3	WinvestaGlobal Collections Account, standard plan (up to 2,000 a month per currency)	Local transfers with a published per-payment fee	₹1,710	0%	₹92,032	1.82%
4	SkydoTransfer to Skydo local account details or international SWIFT account	Local bank transfers from major markets	₹2,113	0%	₹91,629	2.25%
5	PayoneerLocal bank transfer to Payoneer receiving account details	Marketplace payouts such as Amazon or Upwork	₹0no GST stated	1 to 4%	₹89,992 to ₹92,804	1.00 to 4.00%
6	PayPalInternational commercial transaction received into a PayPal account (PayPal checkout or invoice)	Clients paying by card or PayPal balance	₹4,161no GST stated	3 to 4%	₹85,997 to ₹86,893	7.31 to 8.26%

Not estimated because pricing is not fully published: Cashfree Payments, Dodo Payments, PingPong, Tazapay, TransFi, Wise.

Where a provider says GST applies to its fee but not at what rate, the range runs from no GST to 18%, the rate Skydo, Stripe and Winvesta state on their pages. Estimates use each provider's published fee, conversion markup, GST on fees and FIRA charge, checked 2026-10-28, against the reference rate. They exclude charges taken by intermediary banks and your own bank, and the rate a provider actually applies at the time of conversion. Check the provider's pricing page before you choose. The order is calculated only from these published numbers; no provider can pay to change its position, and there are no affiliate links.

German clients pay most suppliers by SEPA transfer, so the usual question is whether an Indian freelancer or agency can be paid by SEPA, through Wise, or through PayPal. A SEPA transfer cannot go straight to an Indian bank account: the European Central Bank says the SEPA region covers 41 European countries, so SEPA works for Indian exporters only when they hold euro account details from a provider such as Wise.¹² The heading on this page names SEPA in that sense, as a SEPA payment into a local euro account. For country detail and the India-Germany treaty, see receiving money from Germany to India.

How do SEPA to a local EUR account, Wise and PayPal compare for getting paid by a German client?

SEPA to a local EUR account and Wise are the same kind of route, a domestic euro transfer that a provider converts to rupees, while PayPal charges a percentage fee plus a conversion fee.¹²³ Razorpay and Winvesta also give euro account details that receive SEPA transfers.¹²¹³ Rows are ordered by estimated cost on EUR 1,800, cheapest first; options without enough published pricing to estimate follow, A to Z.⁴¹⁰¹¹³

Platform	Best for	Fee	FX markup	Settlement	FIRA	RBI PA-CB status	Source
Razorpay	Local transfers from the US, UK and eurozone	MoneySaver bank transfers: 1% plus GST, or a flat ₹1,000 below ₹1,00,000	0% on MoneySaver bank transfers, per Razorpay	T+1 for push bank transfers	FIRS emailed within 24 hours of settlement; no separate charge published	Listed PA-CB for inward and outward transactions	⁴¹⁴¹²¹⁵¹⁶
Karbon Business	US bank transfers and marketplace payouts	1% transaction fee, per its PayPal alternative page	0% (freelancer page); 0.5% to 1.0% (PayPal alternative page)	24 to 48 hours, per Karbon	FIRA for every transaction from an unnamed banking partner; cost not published	Not on the RBI list itself; its terms run export receipts under a partner the RBI lists as a PA-CB	¹⁰⁵¹⁷¹⁶
Winvesta	Local transfers with a published per-payment fee	0.99% plus a fixed fee per payment up to 2,000 a month per currency (for example $3, EUR 5, SGD 10); 18% GST on fees	Advertises 0% forex markup	USD 1 business day, EUR and GBP 2 business days after processing	Free e-FIRA within 24 hours	Says it is an online payment gateway service provider; not on RBI's PA-CB list or status tables	¹¹¹⁸¹⁹²⁰²¹¹⁶²²¹³
PayPal	Clients paying by card or PayPal balance	4.40% plus a fixed fee per international commercial transaction (for example 0.30 USD, 0.35 EUR, 0.50 SGD)	3.0% or 4.00% above the base rate; the fee page does not say which applies to INR withdrawals	Up to 5 business days to the bank	Free weekly digital FIRA from February 2026	OPGSP under its user agreement; RBI status list shows in-principle PA-CB authorisation	³²³²⁴²⁵²²¹⁶
SEPA transfer straight to an Indian bank account	Not available as a route	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable	Not applicable	SEPA covers 41 European countries; India is reached by SWIFT or through a platform's euro details	¹
Wise	Bank transfers to local account details	2 USD equivalent per transfer to the INR account (help article); free e-FIRC (receive pricing page); 18% GST on fees	Mid-market rate plus a fee that depends on the currency; no INR percentage published	INR within 1 to 2 days, per Wise	e-FIRC for each transfer within 3 working days	Listed PA-CB for inward transactions, authorised 12 March 2026	²²⁶¹⁶

Lowest published cost at EUR 1,800: Razorpay and Karbon Business at about 1.00 to 1.18%, then Winvesta at about 1.50%.⁴⁵¹¹
PayPal: about 7.29 to 8.24% at EUR 1,800, because the 4.40% fee plus 0.35 EUR is followed by a 3.0% or 4.00% conversion fee.³
Wise: not estimated, because Wise does not publish its conversion fee to INR as a percentage.²⁶

SEPA instant credit transfers reach the payee's account within ten seconds, according to the ECB, but the conversion to rupees and payout to India then follow the provider's own timing.¹²

Which RBI rule governs money from a German client?

Money from a German client for services falls under the Foreign Exchange Management (Export and Import of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2026 from 1 October 2026, whether it arrives by SEPA into a provider's account or by SWIFT to your bank.⁶ Providers that collect euros for you fall under RBI's payment aggregator rules or work through an authorised aggregator.⁸¹⁶

Rule	Best for	Plain meaning	Source
IGST Act, section 2(6)	Every exporter billing a client in Germany	Payment in convertible foreign exchange, such as EUR, is one of the five export conditions	⁷
FEMA (Export and Import of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2026, regulations 3 and 4	Every service exporter	File an Export Declaration Form (EDF) with your bank within 30 days from the end of the invoice month, or for non-software services on or before the payment date	⁶
Regulation 5, as amended on 22 September 2026	Exporters with long payment terms	Collect payment within nine months of the invoice, or twelve months if invoiced in rupees	²⁷
Master Direction on Regulation of Payment Aggregators, paragraph 11(d)	Exporters using a platform's EUR account details	A cross-border aggregator transaction is capped at ₹25 lakh	⁸
A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 84 of 29 February 2012	Every receipt	Receipts carry a five-character purpose code starting with P	²⁸

See what a SEPA transfer is for how the euro schemes work.

What does each option charge for a payment from Germany?

Each option charges for a payment from Germany in its own mix of fixed fee, percentage fee and conversion fee, and the client's SEPA transfer is a euro payment within the SEPA region.¹¹¹³ Wise's India help article describes a 2 USD equivalent fee per transfer to your Indian bank account, and its India receive pricing page describes the e-FIRC as free.²²⁶

Option	Best for	Published charge on a EUR receipt	Who can sign up	Source
Razorpay	Local transfers from the US, UK and eurozone	1% plus GST per bank transfer, or ₹1,000 below ₹1,00,000; 0% FX markup	Indian businesses with Razorpay KYC; Individual and Sole Proprietorship are listed business types	⁴¹²
Karbon Business	US bank transfers and marketplace payouts	1% transaction fee	Must be incorporated under Indian law, per its forex terms	⁵¹⁷¹⁰
Winvesta	Local transfers with a published per-payment fee	0.99% plus EUR 5 per payment up to 2,000 a month; 18% GST on fees	Freelancers (PAN, Aadhaar, a marketing channel link, bank details) and businesses	¹¹²⁹¹³
PayPal	Clients paying by card or PayPal balance	4.40% plus 0.35 EUR per international commercial transaction, then a 3.0% or 4.00% conversion fee	Indian residents with a verified PAN, an Indian bank account, a purpose code and full KYC	³³⁰²³
Wise	Bank transfers to local account details	2 USD equivalent per transfer (help article); free e-FIRC (receive pricing page); 2.39 EUR per EUR Swift payment on the general business fee table; 18% GST on fees	Wise Business only: sole traders with a personal PAN, proprietorships, companies, LLPs and partnerships	²³¹³²²⁶

German clients paying by card: PayPal suits clients paying by card or PayPal balance.²³
Payment by SWIFT instead of SEPA: Wise's general business fee table lists 2.39 EUR per EUR Swift payment.³¹

Which option is cheapest at EUR 1,800, EUR 4,500 and EUR 9,000?

The cheapest option for a German client's payment changes with invoice size, because fixed fees matter more on small invoices.³³¹¹ The table works out the INR received on published fees at today's rate.

Platform	Best for	INR on EUR 1,800	INR on EUR 4,500	INR on EUR 9,000	Cost on EUR 4,500
SkydoMost INRTransfer to Skydo local account details or international SWIFT account	Local bank transfers from major markets	₹1,85,371	₹4,65,484	₹9,34,193	0.69%
Karbon BusinessBank transfer to a Karbon virtual USD account	US bank transfers and marketplace payouts	₹1,85,271 to ₹1,85,609	₹4,63,178 to ₹4,64,022	₹9,26,356 to ₹9,28,043	1.00 to 1.18%
RazorpayMoneySaver Export Account: bank transfer to virtual account details (Standard plan)	Local transfers from the US, UK and eurozone	₹1,85,271 to ₹1,85,609	₹4,63,178 to ₹4,64,022	₹9,26,356 to ₹9,28,043	1.00 to 1.18%
WinvestaGlobal Collections Account, standard plan (up to 2,000 a month per currency)	Local transfers with a published per-payment fee	₹1,84,679	₹4,62,619	₹9,25,852	1.30%
PayPalInternational commercial transaction received into a PayPal account (PayPal checkout or invoice)	Clients paying by card or PayPal balance	₹1,72,030 to ₹1,73,822	₹4,30,127 to ₹4,34,608	₹8,60,289 to ₹8,69,251	7.28 to 8.23%

Not estimated because pricing for EUR is not fully published: Wise.

Ranked by INR received on EUR 4,500. Reference rate: European Central Bank data for 13 November 2026. Fees, conversion markup, GST on fees and FIRA charges as published by each provider, checked 28 October 2026. Ranges appear where a provider publishes a range or does not state its GST rate. Intermediary bank charges are excluded. See the methodology.

For example, on published fees a EUR 1,800 bank transfer from a German client costs about 1.00 to 1.18% with Razorpay or Karbon Business and about 1.50% with Winvesta, while the same amount through PayPal costs about 7.29 to 8.24%.⁴⁵¹¹³ At EUR 4,500, Skydo's flat USD 29 fee works out to about 0.68%, and Winvesta's to about 1.30%.³³³⁴¹¹

At EUR 9,000, Skydo's fixed fee works out to about 0.35% on published fees.³³³⁴

What documents and GST apply to payments from Germany?

A payment from a German client for services is an export when all five conditions in section 2(6) of the IGST Act hold, which makes it a zero-rated supply.⁷³⁵ The place of supply is normally the recipient's location when the client is outside India.⁹

Document or rule	What it does	When	Best for
Export of services test, IGST Act section 2(6)	Five conditions: supplier in India, recipient outside India, place of supply outside India, payment in convertible foreign exchange (or INR where RBI permits), and the two not merely establishments of one person⁷	Before you invoice	Checking a new foreign client
Letter of Undertaking (LUT) in FORM GST RFD-11	Lets a registered supplier invoice exports without IGST; deemed accepted when the ARN is generated³⁶³⁵	Once for each financial year	GST-registered freelancers and firms
Export Declaration Form (EDF)	Declares the export to your authorised dealer (AD) bank; one EDF can cover a month's invoices⁶	Within 30 days from the end of the invoice month, or for non-software services on or before the payment date⁶	Every service exporter from 1 October 2026
Purpose code	Tells the bank what the receipt is for, as a five-character code starting with P²⁸	When the money arrives	Matching the receipt to the service
FIRA, FIRC or e-FIRC	Advice or certificate showing the foreign payment reached India, usually with the rate and purpose code	For each receipt, from the bank or platform	Matching each payment to its invoice
e-BRC	Self-generated by the exporter on the DGFT portal from the bank's inward remittance (IRM) data³⁷³⁸	After the bank reports the receipt	Proving realisation for GST refunds and schemes
Rule 96A, CGST Rules	IGST with interest becomes payable if payment is not received within one year of the invoice, or the FEMA period with any extension, whichever is later³⁹	Tracked per invoice	Exporters with slow-paying clients

Purpose codes depend on the service: P0802 for software consultancy and implementation, P1006 for business and management consultancy, P1014 for engineering services.⁴⁰²⁸ The purpose code finder narrows the choice.

What changes in 2026 for exporters paid from Germany?

The 2026 changes for exporters paid from Germany are the FEMA export regulations from 1 October 2026, the EDF for every service export and the nine-month realisation period.⁶²⁷

Change	From	What it means	Best for
FEMA (Export and Import of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2026	1 October 2026	Replace the 2015 export regulations for goods and services⁶	Every exporter
EDF for all services	1 October 2026	Every exporter of services gives an EDF to the AD bank, not only software exporters⁶	Freelancers and agencies new to the EDF
Realisation period	1 October 2026	Nine months from the invoice date, or twelve months if invoiced or settled in rupees²⁷	Exporters with long payment terms
GST Council recommendation on condition (v) of section 2(6)	Recommended 8 October 2026	A recommendation only; it needs a change in the law and is not in force⁴¹	Exporters billing a related foreign entity
PA-CB cap and list	Master Direction of 15 September 2025	Each cross-border aggregator transaction is capped at ₹25 lakh; RBI's list as on 16 October 2026 names the authorised entities⁸¹⁶	Anyone choosing a payment platform
Software exports	1 October 2026	SOFTEX circulars superseded; the EDF covers software exports⁴²⁶	Developers and IT firms billing German clients

See the EDF for service exporters and confirm your own position with a chartered accountant.

How did we verify this?

We checked this page against the sources below on 31 October 2026. Provider fees, conversion markups and RBI payment aggregator (PA-CB) status were checked on 28 October 2026. Rupee amounts use European Central Bank reference rates for 13 November 2026. Read our methodology or report an error.

Frequently asked questions

How can I receive payments from my German client in India?+

A German client can pay you by SEPA transfer to euro account details from a provider such as Wise, Razorpay or Winvesta, through PayPal, or by SWIFT wire to your Indian bank.²¹²¹³³ The provider converts the euros and pays rupees into your Indian account.

Can a German client send a SEPA transfer directly to my Indian bank account?+

A German client cannot send a SEPA transfer directly to an Indian bank account, because the SEPA region covers 41 European countries.¹ Your client can pay by SEPA to euro account details from a provider, or by SWIFT wire to your Indian bank, which reports the receipt with a purpose code.²⁸

Is Wise or PayPal cheaper for payments from Germany?+

PayPal costs about 7.29 to 8.24% on EUR 1,800 on published fees, from its 4.40% fee, fixed fee and conversion fee.³ Wise charges a 2 USD equivalent per transfer (India help article; its India receive pricing page describes a free e-FIRC) but does not publish its INR conversion fee as a percentage, so compare the rupees each quotes.²²⁶

Which purpose code applies to software work for a German client?+

Software work for a German client is usually reported under P0802, Software consultancy/implementation (other than those covered in SOFTEX form), or P0807, Off-site Software Exports.⁴⁰ Whether P0802 or P0807 is preferred after SOFTEX ended is unclear, so ask your bank.⁴²

Do I charge GST on an invoice to a company in Germany?+

You do not charge GST on an invoice to a company in Germany when the supply meets all five export conditions in section 2(6) of the IGST Act, because exports are zero-rated.⁷³⁵ A registered supplier files a Letter of Undertaking in FORM GST RFD-11 each financial year.³⁶

How fast does a SEPA payment from Germany reach my Indian bank account?+

A SEPA instant credit transfer reaches the provider's euro account within ten seconds, according to the ECB.¹ Payout to India then depends on the provider: Wise says INR reaches the Indian bank within 1 to 2 days, and Razorpay settles push bank transfers on T+1.²¹²

Does the EDF apply to invoices for German clients from October 2026?+

The Export Declaration Form applies to every service export from 1 October 2026, including invoices to German clients.⁶ It is due within 30 days from the end of the invoice month, and payment must be realised within nine months of the invoice date.⁶²⁷

This page is general information for Indian service exporters, not tax or legal advice. Rules change and outcomes depend on your facts, so confirm with a chartered accountant before acting.

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