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SWIFT.

Hi, I have a question about international transfers.

As I understand it, if I transfer money from a UK bank to a foreign bank then I need their SWIFT number and account number. The SWIFT number references the country, bank, and branch, and the account number the beneficiary in that beneficiary bank.

But in one case I saw, it said the SWIFT and account number, then said "use a reference". In other words, all funds coming in were going to a particular account number, then the reference was used to send the funds to the specific individual at that reference.

Is that normal; obviously at my individual account in the UK I just use the sort code and account number - but it seems in this case the reference indicates some kind of sub-accounts?

And what is the difference between SWIFT and IBAN (is the latter just for referencing the eurozone?)

TIA.

Reply to
Andrew
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The reference you mention is just to identify the transaction on the bank statements. It could be your name, an invoice number or anything that will stop the transaction being confused with others.

If you look on your own bank statement you will see a brief description by each item. This, I believe, is the type of reference you are talking about.

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Reply to
dp

I clearly was not very detailed about this.

Something like this for example:

Beneficiary Bank: Bankas SNORAS Address: Vivulskio g.7, Vilnius, Lithuania, LT-2600 SWIFT: WHATEVER

(Intermediary Bank: UBS AG, 45 Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich, Switzerland. SWIFT: WHATEVER. Account WHATEVER)

Beneficiary: Trustcoban International Corporation Account Number : IBAN - WHATEVER. Payment details: Reference: 206xxxx

Irrespective of the currencies, all transactions go to the same IBAN number. The reference is unique for each individual / company.

So, it seems that funds are wired into one account "IBAN - WHATEVER" then the reference determines where the money goes to. Whereas, if you wire funds to be you just need my sort code and account number.

It is this one account, then the reference deciding where the funds go to that I don't understand, as it seems to imply that all funds are pooled, the distributed to "sub-accounts"???

Reply to
Andrew

Following on from your example:

1) Trustcoban has its a/c with SNORAS 2) SNORAS system identifies its customers by a/c number then currency code eg 123456789 USD or 123456789 CHF etc 3) Trustcoban has an International Bank Account Number (or IBAN) 123456789 4) Irrespective of what currency you pay, SNORAS can direct the funds to the right place based on the IBAN and Currency code. No need sort codes (this only id. the local high street branch).

Also bear in mind that each currency can only be paid in its home country hence SNORAS has its Swiss Franc (CHF) a/c with UBS (the intermediary bank). If you were paying US$ the intermediary will very likely be in NY, £ the intermediary will be in London.

Hope this helps. J

Reply to
J

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