The simplest analogue of the SWIFT system is a messenger. Same as you message your friends and co-workers, banks exchange messages via SWIFT payment orders.
The abbreviation SWIFT stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications. This community has been operating since 1973 in accordance with Belgian law.
The payment system was co-founded by 239 banks from 15 countries. The community-developed the payment system has become the leading international system in the field of financial telecommunications. It provides fast, secure and absolutely reliable transfer of financial messages around the world.
It is a paid service and it is quite expensive, up to 200 thousand euros for connecting each new bank client. The cost of annual maintenance is about 10 thousand euros.HSBC is a part of the system that provides their clients with international payment services.
SWIFT Payments
Transfers usually take from 1 to 4 working days. But it all depends on destination, time zones, national holidays and if there are intermediary banks, etc.
Also, when you send or receive money, before crediting them to your account, they will pass anti-fraud and anti-laundry checking procedures.
If HSBC has no direct relationships with the bank you are sending money to, your transfer route will pass through an intermediary bank, so the transfer process can take a longer time.
In order to send money via the system, you need to provide the following information:
- Full name of beneficiary;
- Full address of beneficiary (including city, region and country);
- Full name and address of the beneficiary’s bank;
- SWIFT/BIC of recipients bank;
- IBAN or account number of beneficiary.
Sometimes you will need to provide a full name of HSBC UK and SWIFT code HSBC.
SWIFT Codes and Their Usage
SWIFT codes are used to identify your bank, they are also known as BIC. BIC stands for Bank Identifier Code and it is another name for SWIFT. You can think about BIC this way: it is the directions that you give to a friend who wants to find a place where you live, and IBAN, or account number, is a number of your apartment.
It consists of 8-11 characters and by these characters you can have an idea where you are sending your money to.
For example, the BIC code of HSBC is HBUKGB4BXXX.
- HBUK — means HSBC and it is unique for every bank;
- GB — stands for Great Britain. For the United States it would be US, DE for Germany and FR for France;
- 4B — means location and consists of letters and digits;
- XXX — means branch. In this case, XXX means it is a Head Office.
Is There One Identical SWIFT Code for All HSBC Branches in the UK?
No, different branches of HSBC in the UK have different SWIFT/BIC codes. As we mentioned earlier, the characters of the Head Office is HBUKGB4BXXX.
The BIC of the HSBC branch that is located in Sheffield on a Silver Street Head is HBUKGB4B72A.
Branch on 10 Queen Street Place in London has the following BIC — HBUKGB22IMC.
You can find your branch BIC on the Internet and there are a lot of websites that provide such information. But we recommend you to check your HSBC branch BIC on HSBC official website or to call your local branch. Also, you can check your HSBC branch BIC in mobile banking app, online banking or in banking statements.
Conclusion
When making an international transfer, you may be asked to enter a SWIFT code. If the SWIFT code was not specified when filling out the international transfer form, a error message will appear asking you to enter it.
It is very important not to make a mistake in writing the name and surname of the beneficiary, since the payment may be delayed because of such errors, but, frankly, banking systems first of all look at such identifiers as the SWIFT code. This helps financial institutions communicate with each other and payments reach the beneficiaries faster.
Disclaimer: This article contains sponsored marketing content. It is intended for promotional purposes and should not be considered as an endorsement or recommendation by our website. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and exercise their own judgment before making any decisions based on the information provided in this article.
