International Payments

Take advantage of our extensive foreign exchange trading services

With First American Bank, your business can originate and receive payments internationally, helping you do more business anywhere in the world.

• When your money has to be in the right place at the right time, electronic transfers are fast and more reliable than foreign drafts.
• We can wire funds to most countries either in U.S. dollars or foreign currency.
• With Ca$hTrac, our online banking system, you can initiate these transactions while saving money and time – without sacrificing safety and security.
• In addition, your overseas customers may pay you via international wire transfer and we can convert the payment into U.S. dollars when necessary.

There are many advantages to having the ability to send and receive foreign currency when transacting internationally. Whether you are looking to negotiate better pricing with a foreign supplier or create goodwill with an overseas customer, First American Bank’s foreign exchange services can assist in managing your exchange rate risk more effectively with the following instruments:

• With spot transactions, you can purchase or sell foreign currency for delivery within two business days.
• Execute spot transactions in over 50 currencies – allowing you to pay your overseas vendors in their local currency, at a potentially lower rate of exchange.

• A forward contract enables you to purchase or sell a specific amount of foreign currency at an agreed upon exchange rate on a future date.
• These contracts can be a valuable hedge against foreign exchange risk in the rapidly changing global economy, allowing you to lock in a rate and remove the risk of future currency fluctuations.

• An option contract represents the opportunity, but not the obligation, to buy or sell currency in the future at a predetermined exchange rate.
• Options offer flexibility in the event the market moves in your favor, allowing you to let the option expire and conduct the transaction in the potentially more favorable spot market.

• Swaps help bridge timing gaps when you project having a surplus of foreign currency one day but a deficit in the same currency on another day while providing certainty over exchange rates.
• Flexible, custom structures make them ideal instruments for helping manage the value and timing of cash flows between currencies.

In addition to First American Bank’s wide variety of foreign exchange services, our online Ca$hTrac FX Module allows you to initiate and track your foreign exchange transactions quickly and easily with the following benefits:

• Send foreign denominated international wires immediately through a secure web-based system
• Access to real-time rate quotes without having to call the bank
• Beneficiary Bank and IBAN validations
• Extensive reporting capabilities including building custom queries
• Wide variety of user roles and permissions

Doing business internationally often means dealing with checks that are drawn on a foreign bank and in a foreign currency. With First American, you can turn those checks into U.S. dollars and receive your funds in a timely fashion. Keep in mind that foreign checks can be expensive and can also take a long time to clear. We recommend that you ask your customers to pay by wire, which guarantees the immediate availability of funds at a lower cost.