There are plenty of reasons why you might need to transfer money abroad. You could be a business sending international payments to freelancers and contractors or settling invoices. You could be making a foreign property purchase on your dream holiday home or sending a payment abroad for your destination wedding. Perhaps you’re living abroad and sending some funds as a gift back home – or maybe it’s something else entirely.
Whatever your reasons, sending money internationally is more accessible than ever these days, with digital transfer providers allowing 24/7 access to money transfers at the tap of a few buttons on your smartphone. Realistically, you could get your money to your recipient in a matter of minutes. That being said, being prepared for the details and information you need to provide to transfer your money abroad is a good idea to ensure you have a seamless, straightforward transaction with no unnecessary delays.
In this article, we’ll cover exactly what details you’ll need to have to hand to easily transfer your money abroad.
Before diving into the details you need to transfer money abroad, you may want to think about how you’ll get your funds to your recipient.
How to transfer money abroad have two main options, use a bank, or use a money transfer provider. In almost every case, you’ll find a cheaper, faster solution to sending your money abroad with a specialist money transfer provider than your bank.
We’ve covered more details on finding the best way to send money abroad elsewhere, but our top recommendation is to always compare providers whenever you’re sending money abroad to find the best service for your specific transfer needs.
As the sender, the details you’ll need to provide to send your money abroad depends on the payment method you are using.
Transferring money abroad via bank transfer is one of the most popular payment methods. For this, you’ll need to provide the following:
If you are transferring money abroad using a debit or a credit card, you’ll need to enter your card details to initiate the transfer. These include:
You’ll also need to enter the sum you are sending, when you would like the transfer to be made, and what currency you are converting to.
As well as providing your own details to pay for your international money transfer, you also need a number of details to get your money to your recipient. This includes:
You’ll need the full name of your recipient as it appears on their bank account. This can be an individual or a business, depending on what you are sending the money for.
You will need to supply the bank account number that corresponds to the account you are sending the funds to.
The six digit sort code is what is used to route money transfers between financial institutions and identifies the recipient’s bank.
An IBAN (International Bank Account Number) is used for international money transfers and provides a more accurate way of locating the recipient’s account abroad.
BIC (Bank Identifier Code) and SWIFT (Society for World Interbank Financial Telecommunication) codes are used to route international money transfers to financial institutions. These codes indicate which bank and country a payment is being sent to.
You may need to supply the name and address of your recipient’s bank.
In some cases, you may also be asked to provide a PAYEE reference, which enables your recipient to know where the funds entering their account have come from.
If you are using a money transfer service for the first time, you may need to provide additional details to verify your identity. This could include:
Additionally, sending large sums of money can also require additional details. The exact sum that can trigger the need for these extra details really depends on the provider you are using, as the maximum sending limit and capabilities of each provider can vary by a large margin.
People sending large sums of money, such as for a property purchase abroad, may need to supply:
It’s a good idea to be prepared with all the details you need to start your money transfer abroad ahead of time to prevent unnecessary delays and complications. First decide what transfer provider you’re using – our comparison engine is a good place to start – then decide how you want to pay for your transfer. Provided you have your recipient’s details to hand, you should be able to set up your transfer within a couple of minutes.
Elliott is a former investment banker with a 20 year career in the city of London.
During this time he held senior roles at ABN Amro, Societe Generale, Marex Financial and Natixis bank, specialising in commodity derivatives and options market-making.
During this time, Elliott’s client list included Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, Schroders Asset Management, and the Pennsylvania State Public School Employees Retirement System, amongst others.
Yasmin Purnell is a Content Writer and Editor for MoneyTransfers.com. Having over 5 years’ experience writing across a range of industries including finance, insurance, and travel, Yasmin joined the team with a mission to make international money transfers and everything they encompass accessible to all.