Getting paid in pounds as a freelancer in Africa: GBP account details in your own name, converted to US dollars on arrival, cashed out in 26 countries
Can a freelancer in Africa hold pounds? No — you can be paid in pounds, but they convert to US dollars on arrival. Here is exactly what happens.
The short answer. You can be paid in pounds, but you cannot hold them. Pound account details are issued in your own business name on request, from the Get paid screen, once you are verified. Your UK client pays them by Faster Payments exactly as they would pay any UK supplier. Pounds do not stay pounds. They are converted to US dollars on arrival, at the mid-market rate shown once on the deposit, and held as dollars. Storspay does not keep a pound balance today — we would rather tell you that here than let you find out after your first invoice. From the dollar balance: a US bank account in your name from US$5, your local bank or mobile-money wallet at 2% all-in, or another business on Storspay for free.
You can receive pounds; you cannot hold pounds. If holding the currency matters to you and your client can settle in euros instead of pounds, ask them to — euros are held as euros. Plenty of UK companies can pay by SEPA.
| You are paid in | Account details in your own name | Held in that currency? | What you end up holding |
|---|---|---|---|
| USD — US dollars | Yes | Yes | US dollars |
| EUR — euros | Yes | Yes | Euros |
| GBP — pounds | Yes | No | US dollars, converted once on arrival at the rate shown |
| CAD — Canadian dollars | Yes | No | US dollars, converted once on arrival at the rate shown |
Who this is for — and who it is not for
Storspay is for businesses, and a sole trader counts as one. If you are a freelancer or sole proprietor trading in your own name, you open a business account of the sole-trader type. You can be paid by companies abroad, and you can pay other businesses on Storspay — including other sole traders — for work they have done for you.
What Storspay is not is a personal money-transfer service. We do not open personal accounts, and every payment has to be a business transaction: an invoice, a contract, work delivered. Money to family, gifts and personal transfers are not what this is, and we would rather say so now than at verification.
How your client pays you
Pound account details are issued in your own business name on request, from the Get paid screen, once you are verified. Your UK client pays them by Faster Payments exactly as they would pay any UK supplier. Typical payers: UK agencies, studios, recruiters and startups. They send by Faster Payments transfer to details carrying your own business name, which is what contracts mean when they require payment to the contractor's own account and not a third party's.
What happens when it lands
Pounds do not stay pounds. They are converted to US dollars on arrival, at the mid-market rate shown once on the deposit, and held as dollars. Storspay does not keep a pound balance today — we would rather tell you that here than let you find out after your first invoice.
Getting the money out
From the dollar balance: a US bank account in your name from US$5, your local bank or mobile-money wallet at 2% all-in, or another business on Storspay for free. Storspay-to-Storspay payments between businesses — including two sole traders settling an invoice — are free and instant, and the payee receives the currency you paid from with no conversion.
What "Storspay to Storspay" means
If the business you are paying is also on Storspay — a company or another sole trader — the payment is free and instant, and they receive the same currency you paid from, with no conversion in between. That is how a freelancer pays a subcontractor, or an agency settles with the designer it briefed. If they are not on Storspay, it is an ordinary payout: their local bank account or mobile-money wallet, 2% all-in, with any local delivery fee shown on the same line before you confirm.
Either way the payment has to be a business one. Storspay moves money between business accounts against work, invoices and supply — not between private individuals.
The 26 countries you can cash out in
| Country | Paid out in | Cash out by |
|---|---|---|
| Argentina | ARS — peso | Bank transfer |
| Benin | XOF — West African CFA franc | Mobile money |
| Botswana | BWP — pula | Bank transfer, Mobile money |
| Brazil | BRL — real | PIX, Bank transfer (TED) |
| Burkina Faso | XOF — West African CFA franc | Mobile money |
| Cambodia | KHR — riel | Bank transfer |
| Cameroon | XAF — Central African CFA franc | Mobile money |
| Colombia | COP — peso | Bank transfer |
| Congo-Brazzaville | XAF — Central African CFA franc | Mobile money, Bank transfer |
| Côte d'Ivoire | XOF — West African CFA franc | Mobile money |
| Ecuador | USD — US dollar | Bank transfer |
| Ethiopia | ETB — birr | Bank transfer, Mobile money |
| Gabon | XAF — Central African CFA franc | Mobile money, Bank transfer |
| Ghana | GHS — cedi | Mobile money, Bank transfer |
| Kenya | KES — shilling | Mobile money, Bank transfer |
| Malawi | MWK — kwacha | Mobile money, Bank transfer |
| Mexico | MXN — peso | Bank transfer (SPEI) |
| Nigeria | NGN — naira | Bank transfer |
| Rwanda | RWF — franc | Mobile money, Bank transfer |
| Senegal | XOF — West African CFA franc | Mobile money |
| South Africa | ZAR — rand | Bank transfer |
| Sri Lanka | LKR — rupee | Bank transfer |
| Tanzania | TZS — shilling | Mobile money, Bank transfer |
| Togo | XOF — West African CFA franc | Mobile money |
| Uganda | UGX — shilling | Mobile money, Bank transfer |
| Zambia | ZMW — kwacha | Bank transfer, Mobile money |
The other three currencies
Storspay also handles US dollars, euros, Canadian dollars. The full comparison is on the currency-by-currency page.
Questions we get
Can a freelancer hold US dollars?
Yes. Dollars are held as dollars in your Storspay balance, with no conversion on arrival and no holding fee. Dollar account details in your own business name are issued as soon as you are verified.
Can a freelancer hold euros?
Yes. Euro account details are issued on request, and a SEPA deposit credits a euro balance that stays in euros until you choose to move it.
Can a freelancer hold British pounds?
No. You can be paid in pounds — pound account details are issued in your own business name and your UK client pays them by Faster Payments — but the pounds are converted to US dollars on arrival, at the mid-market rate shown once on the deposit, and held as dollars. Storspay does not keep a pound balance today.
Can a freelancer hold Canadian dollars?
No. You can be paid in Canadian dollars by Interac e-Transfer or EFT to details in your own name, but they convert to US dollars on arrival at the rate shown once, and are held as dollars.
So which currencies can I actually hold?
US dollars and euros. Those are the two Storspay holds today. Pounds and Canadian dollars can be received but are converted to dollars when they land.
Do I need a registered company?
No. A sole trader — a freelancer trading in their own name — is a business type on Storspay. You choose Sole trader at sign-up and verify with an ID document and a selfie.
Whose name is on the account details?
Yours. Details are issued in your own business name, which is what contracts mean when they say payment must go to an account in the contractor's own name and not to a third party.
Can I pay another freelancer from my balance?
Yes, if they are also on Storspay. It is free and instant, and they receive the currency you paid from with no conversion. It has to be a business payment — an invoice, a contract, work delivered. Storspay does not carry personal transfers.
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