The Naora community is international. The members who join the programme come from Europe, from North America, from Asia, from the Middle East, from the range of countries and financial contexts that the global professional class inhabits. The payment infrastructure needs to work for all of them, in the currencies they use, through the payment channels their banks and their card issuers support. Here is exactly what works.
Bank transfer is available in three currencies: Euro, US Dollar, and British Pound Sterling. The member who prefers the directness of the international bank transfer, the SWIFT transfer from their account to the Naora escrow account or the membership payment account, uses the currency that is most practical for their financial situation. European members typically use Euro.
North American members typically use USD. UK and Commonwealth members typically use GBP. The currency is fixed at the time of the transfer and the amount is the published rate in the chosen currency. No currency conversion is applied by Naora at the point of payment.
Credit Cards
Credit card payments are accepted via Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. The credit card payment is processed in Euro at the published rate and the member’s card issuer applies their standard foreign transaction fee if the card is not denominated in Euro.
For members whose card is denominated in USD or GBP, the card issuer’s exchange rate applies at the time of the transaction. Members who prefer to avoid the card issuer’s exchange rate can use the bank transfer option in their preferred currency to fix the rate at the published EUR, USD, or GBP equivalent.
American Express is accepted for both the membership fee and the leg fee escrow payment. The Amex acceptance is specifically relevant for the members whose professional expense management uses American Express as the primary card, the corporate card holder, the points accumulator, the member whose financial architecture has Amex at its centre and who benefits from the reward structure that the Amex payment produces on a transaction of this size.
The practical guidance: use the bank transfer in your preferred currency if the transaction size justifies the time the transfer takes and if avoiding the card issuer’s exchange rate is a priority. Use the credit card if the immediacy of the transaction and the rewards programme of your card make the card the more practical option. Both produce the same outcome: the membership is active, the escrow is funded, the Circle is open. The method is the member’s choice.
