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Glossary - Bank Transfers

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Means a payment between the Parties made to a nominated bank account. Bank Transfer is understood to be the generic term for domestic or international bank, credit, wire, giro and other similar transfers;

Bank wire transfers are often the most expedient method for transferring funds between bank accounts. A bank wire transfer is effected as follows:

  • The person wishing to do a transfer (or someone who he has appointed and empowered financially to act on his behalf) goes to the bank and gives the bank the order to transfer a certain amount of money. IBAN and BIC code are given as well so the bank knows where the money needs to be sent to.
  • The sending bank transmits a message, via a secure system (such as SWIFT), to the receiving bank, requesting that it effect payment according to the instructions given.
  • The message also includes settlement instructions. The actual transfer is not instantaneous: funds may take several hours or even days to move from the sender's account to the receiver's account.
  • Either the banks involved must hold a reciprocal account with each other, or the payment must be sent to a bank with such an account, a correspondent bank, for further benefit to the ultimate recipient.