Additional information for SWIFT payments
Some countries require additional information sent with payments. This needs to be provided by the sender of the payment or it may not be successfully credited to the beneficiary account. These are regulatory requirements within the beneficiary countries, and failure to comply risks the payment being delayed or rejected.
Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian payments
We want to make it easier for members who want to help those in need. That’s why we’re refunding our £20 charge for payments to Ukraine.
We’ve placed restrictions on payments to and from Russia and Belarus. You cannot make SWIFT payments to accounts in these countries, and SWIFT payments from these countries are likely to be rejected.
You cannot make or receive payments in Russian or Belarusian Rubles to or from any country.
The information each country requires when you send a SWIFT payment
All banks in Albania are required to accept and process payment instructions with IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
All payments sent to Australia must have a BSB (Bank State Branch) code. This is a 6 digit number that identifies banks and branches across Australia. If a BSB code is not included, the payment will be delayed and could be declined.
All banks in Azerbaijan are required to accept and process payment instructions with IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
All banks in Bahrain are required to accept and process payment instructions with IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
All banks in Bosnia and Herzegovina are required to accept and process payment instructions with IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
All payments sent to Brazil must include a beneficiary IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
Brazilian Boleto payments of BRL 250,000 or more need to be accompanied with payer and beneficiary tax ID.
All payments must have a payment purpose included. If a payment purpose is not included, the payment will be delayed and could be declined.
All banks in Costa Rica are required to accept and process payment instructions with IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
All banks in Dominican Republic are required to accept and process payment instructions with IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
All banks in El Salvador are required to accept and process payment instructions with IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
All banks in Faroe Islands are required to accept and process payment instructions with IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
All banks in Georgia are required to accept and process payment instructions with IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
All banks in Greenland are required to accept and process payment instructions with IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
Following recent regulatory requirements imposed by Indian banks, the following information needs to be provided with the payment in order for the successful processing of inbound INR payments:
- Remitter and Beneficiary relationship.
- What is the nature of the payment to the beneficiary by the remitter?
- Type of beneficiary account held with beneficiary bank (for example, savings, NRE or NRO).
- Whether this payment is towards expenses of branch, liaison or project office. Additional data may also be required in the form of a unique identification number provided by local authority (Reserve Bank of India) to the beneficiary.
- If payment is invoiced or service based.
It is strongly recommended that as much information regarding the purpose of the payment (including all the above details) is included within the payment instruction.
All payments must have a payment purpose included. If a payment purpose is not included, the payment will be delayed and could be declined.
All banks in Iraq are required to accept and process payment instructions with IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
All banks in Israel are required to accept and process payment instructions with IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
All banks in Jordan are required to accept and process payment instructions only with a valid IBAN. All payments must have a purpose code included and this should be obtained by the receiving bank.
All banks in Kuwait are required to accept and process payment instructions with IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
All banks in Lebanon are required to accept and process payment instructions with IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
All payments must have a payment purpose included. If a payment purpose is not included, the payment will be delayed and could be declined.
All banks in Mauritania are required to accept and process payment instructions with IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
All banks in Mauritius are required to accept and process payment instructions with IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
All payments must have a 18 digit Clabe number. If a clabe number is not included, the payment will be delayed and could be declined.
All banks in Moldova are required to accept and process payment instructions with IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
All banks in Montenegro are required to accept and process payment instructions with IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
All banks in North Macedonia are required to accept and process payment instructions with IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
All banks in Pakistan are required to accept and process payment instructions with IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
All banks in Palestine are required to accept and process payment instructions with IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
All banks in Poland are required to accept and process payment instructions with IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
All payments sent to Qatar must include a relevant IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected and you may incur additional processing charges.
The Saudi Monetary Fund has instructed all Financial Institutions to ensure all payments into Saudi Arabia quote the beneficiary’s IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected.
IBAN Breakdown:
- The Country Code is a 2 letter code which identifies the country in which the account was issued.
- The Check Digit is a 2 digit code which enables validation of the IBAN.
- The Bank Identifier Code is a 2 digit code which is used to identify where the IBAN account is held (45 is used for SAAB).
- The Account Number is an 18 digit code which identifies the account into which the funds should be transferred (six leading zeros will be added to the SAAB Account Number, as SAAB has 12 digit account numbers).
All banks in the Seychelles are required to accept and process payment instructions with IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
All banks in the Slovak Republic are required to accept and process payment instructions with IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
Following mandatory governmental requirement for payments being received in Thailand, any SWIFT payment to Thailand will require the purpose of the payment to be applied within the payment instruction. For example if the payment is a salary payment you are required to enter this information within the Reference/Further Payment Details section. Supporting documents (i.e. invoice, salary slip) are required for payments over 5,000,000.00 THB, showing the purpose of the fund transfer as per bank of Thailand's regulation.
It is important to note that if the purpose of the payment and support documents (if required) is not included then the payment will be returned by the Overseas Bank.
All banks in Tunisia are required to accept and process payment instructions with IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
All banks in Turkey are required to accept and process payment instructions with IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
All payments sent to United Arab Emirates (UAE) must include a relevant IBAN. This is a regulatory requirement and failure to comply risks your payment being delayed or rejected. Please check with your beneficiary for information on IBAN details.
NEW: The electronic funds transfer system provided by the Central Bank of UAE (UAEFTS) expedites payment and returns processing times for domestic electronic payments. As part of this service, the UAE Bank regulations state that the inclusion of a code referencing the purpose of payment to the beneficiary account is required for all UAE payments.
Some payments sent to United States of America (USA) require information like routing details or an ABA number. Check what information the beneficiary bank needs before making the payment. If these are not included, the payment will be delayed and could be declined.