The SWIFT system is an interbank system for making financial payments with the ability to transmit financial information messages. Its name is an abbreviation for the English “Community for Worldwide Interbank Financial Communications.” Today it is one of the world's leading payment systems.

Back in the last century, the world's leading banks faced the task of creating a payment system that would guarantee maximum security of financial transactions. The developments available at that time made it possible to realize the plan. The SWIFT system saw the world in 1973. Then more than 200 banks from 15 different countries became its participants.

Today it is one of the leading payment systems. More than 10 thousand financial institutions from 210 countries are involved in it. The headquarters is located in Brussels. This is especially true for transferring large amounts. The commission here is lower, and the money is credited to the account quickly. The maximum waiting time is one week.

SWIFT works mainly with US dollars and Euros. In order to use the services, there is no need to open a bank account - a transit account of one of the participating banks can be used. Most transactions have a fixed rate, minimum size which is 10 dollars. Therefore, using SWIFT to transfer small amounts is not profitable for the sender.

Sometimes receiving banks charge additional fees for depositing money and/or issuing cash.

SWIFT in Russia

In Russia SWIFT presents non-profit organization ROSSWIFT, it was founded in 1995. First Russian organization, connected to the SWIFT system was Vnesheconombank, this was in 1989. In the 90s of the last century, Russian banks gradually connected to SWIFT. Currently, Russia ranks second in terms of the number of users, with the United States in first place.

Despite this, money transfers via SWIFT is unpopular among Russians. Citizens of the country prefer to transfer money without opening an account through systems such as Unistream. This is primarily due to the lack of awareness among the population about the SWIFT system.

Sberbank offers to transfer funds in cash abroad using three systems: and via SWIFT. Here is a comparative table of tariffs for these systems.

Tariffs for international cash transfers at Sberbank

Terms of transfer	Hummingbird	MoneyGram	SWIFT
Maximum deadline for all countries	1 hour	10 minutes	2 days
Rate	1% of the transfer amount, but not less than $5 + 1% from the recipient	Fixed amount depending on the amount and country.	1% min. 15$ Max. $200
Kazakhstan 10$	5$ + 0,1$ from the recipient	2$	15$
Kazakhstan 100$	5$ + 1$ from the recipient	2$	15$
Ukraine 500$	5$ + 5$ from the recipient	8$	15$
Belarus 1 000$	10$ + 10$ from the recipient	16$	15$
USA $5,000	transfers only to Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan	150$	50$

The table clearly shows why more amount transfer, the more profitable it is to transfer it through the SWIFT system. At non-cash transfer at Sberbank the commission does not change.

SWIFT money transfers

Any individual can make a money transfer through the SWIFT system. For any money transfer, according to Russian legislation, there is a restriction: residents can send no more than $5,000 from Russia per day to a private person’s account.

If the money transfer is carried out to legal entity, the bank may ask for an invoice (invoice for payment), which indicates the purpose of the payment.

How to send

You can send a transfer with or without opening an account in a bank that works with the SWIFT system. If the account is already open and connected to online banking, transfers can be made independently.

Transfers are made to the recipient's account or without crediting to the account - payment in cash.

To make a transfer at a bank, you need to provide your passport and recipient details:

• Last name and first name (patronymic, if any) in Latin letters;
• Recipient's bank account number (20 digits).

And the recipient bank details:

• bank name,

• BIK (BIK) – 9 digits

• SWIFT/BIC (bank SWIFT code) (8 or 11 characters).

Usually sending money from an account is a little cheaper than using a bank transit account.

How to get

Before receiving a transfer, make sure that the funds have been deposited into your account. You can use Internet banking services or call the operator back. You can receive the transfer at the bank where you have an account, or at any other bank that has a transit account and is a member of the system. Naturally, you should take your passport.

The commission for receiving a transfer is usually paid in the national currency of the state in which the receiving bank is located. Funds are paid in the currency used for sending. If you were sent a large amount, notify bank employees in advance. Otherwise, the required amount may simply not be at the cash register.

Advantages and disadvantages of the system

The advantages of SWIFT include its scale, thanks to which the transaction can be performed from any major global bank.

Thanks to a multi-level security system, transfers are completely safe. The same applies to information messages. Their cost is less than other telecommunications messages and does not depend on distance. Copies of all transmitted communications are kept on file and may be provided in the event of legal proceedings.

Unfortunately, the SWIFT system is not perfect and has some disadvantages. These, from the client’s point of view, include: fixed rate commissions in most cases. This makes SWIFT unprofitable when transferring small amounts.

From the point of view of banks, the main disadvantage of SWIFT is its expensive membership. To join this system, you need to deposit about 200 thousand dollars, which is often unacceptable for small and medium-sized banks.

Happy translations!

When faced with the need to issue pay slips, checks or letters of credit, bank clients are faced with the need to find out the SWIFT code financial institution. This simple combination of letters and numbers allows you to identify the bank internationally. financial system and makes it more convenient to move money not only within a particular country, but also on a global scale. Let's take a closer look at what a SWIFT code is, what it is used for and how you can find it out.

SWIFT code: what is it?

In 1973, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) began its work to streamline the payment system and disseminate financial information on a global scale. The basis of such a system was a secure network, which included many banks around the world, and each of them was assigned a specific identification code.

Now all banks included in the SWIFT system can freely exchange financial information and transfer funds among themselves. Currently, over 9,000 financial institutions from 209 countries have joined the international community. To participate in it, the bank is required to provide a special commission with a license to conduct transactions in foreign currency and pay the entry fee.

After the bank is finally accepted into the system as a participant, it is given a personal code, which is unique in nature. SWIFT-code has the following distinctive features:

• Consists of 8 or 11 characters;
• The first 4 characters indicate the bank, and the rest - the country, region, city and division of the financial institution;
• U central offices banks' SWIFT-code is shorter and includes only Latin letters, while numbers are added to the codes of its branches, indicating their serial numbers.

It should be noted that the SWIFT system is used for interbank interaction only at the global level: other systems operate within the state.

If we're talking about about money transfers internationally, then this system here can be considered as the most reliable and safe option. The client only needs to know the SWIFT code and the so-called IBAN of the recipient or his identification code. The intermediary for the operation will be international bank from the financial communications community.

As for each of the countries participating in the SWIFT system, their own national group representing the community is formed on their territories. It is designed to track movements on a regional scale financial resources and information. Thus, in Russia, SWIFT is provided by the Russian National Association or (ROSSWIFT). According to recent years The Russian Federation ranks 20th in terms of traffic volumes through the SWIFT network.

How to find out the bank's SWIFT code?

The SWIFT code of a financial institution is not classified or classified information. It is widely available, and therefore anyone can not only find it out on the official website of any bank in the “Details” section, but also even decipher it. So, standard code has the following form: NNNN MM XX yyy, which can be deciphered as follows:

• NNNN – bank name;
• MM – country code;
• XX – city code;
• yyy – branch number (this part is missing in the code of central offices of banks).

For example, SWIFT-code of Sberbank of Russia looks like SABRRU**, where SABR is the international code designation for this financial institution, and RU is, respectively, the country of its registration.

If the client decides to transfer funds from one country to another, then he will have to find out the SWIFT codes of both the sending and receiving banks, as well as bank number the person to whom the funds are transferred or IBAN.

The SWIFT international interbank communications system allows you to make international payments, transfer payments, send messages about the sending and receipt of funds, as well as exchange important financial information. Very often, financial institutions use a swift code to carry out their own transactions, and not just for client money transfers.

It is worth noting that the registration of banks in the SWIFT system is voluntary. This means that financial institutions that often implement international financial transactions, are joining the global community to speed up the processes of sending and receiving information and funds, as well as to improve the security of these types of transactions.

Thus, the SWIFT code can be understood as the identifier or login of a financial institution in the global community of interbank communications. This simple combination of letters and numbers allows the bank to seamlessly conduct financial transactions at a global level.

System international transfers SWIFT was created in 1973 in Belgium. Its participants include more than ten thousand organizations around the globe, and a million transactions are carried out through the system every day. SWIFT transfer through Sberbank is one of the most convenient ways translate sum of money abroad in a short time.

After a financial organization becomes a member of the Community of Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications, it is assigned a universal code. This is a unique encryption using the formula BBBB CC LL DDD, each of the letters/numbers carries certain information:

• ВВВВ – assigned to each organization. Sberbank has SABR encoding;
• СС – country code, indicated by letters of the Latin alphabet in accordance with international standards ISO 3166, Russia – RU;
• LL – indicates the territorial location of the organization. The savings bank is coded MM;
• DDD – department code. Main Bank country has twenty-five branches throughout Russia, each of them has its own code.

The SWIFT code is required to receive a transfer from abroad; it is communicated to the payee along with the rest of the information.

Commission fee

The commission fee depends on the type of currency, method and bank.

International transfers from Sberbank in ruble equivalent are subject to a commission of 2%, the minimum amount is fifty rubles, the maximum is one and a half thousand rubles. For transfers in foreign currency, the commission fee will be 1%, the minimum amount is fifteen dollars, the maximum is two hundred dollars.

Terms and currency

Emblem of Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications

A SWIFT transfer takes from one to three business days, sometimes the time frame can be extended.

When making a transfer using SWIFT, you can choose any type of currency. If you need to top up the recipient's account in Chinese yuan or Swedish kronor, just ask the staff Savings Bank purchase a certain amount of currency, and the addressee will receive it in China or Sweden in the amount indicated on the payment receipt.

Currency transfers are also carried out on the territory of the Russian Federation, but only if there are family ties. You can confirm your relationship by providing appropriate documentation (marriage or birth certificate).

You can also transfer rubles abroad, but if the foreign bank does not have a correspondent account with Sberbank, you will need to provide the details of the domestic credit institution acting as an intermediary and the account number of the recipient bank in it.

Sum

International SWIFT transfers have no restrictions on the amount and number of payments. In Russia, in accordance with Federal Law No. 173 “On Currency Control,” it is prohibited to make transfers abroad in an amount of more than five thousand dollars within one day. An exception is made if you provide documentation of the intended purpose of the transfer (for example, payment for study or treatment).

If a Sberbank client often makes international transfers, the security service of the financial institution may request papers confirming the source of receipt of funds.

Sberbank SWIFT transfers are absolutely safe and guarantee error-free delivery to the recipient. The sent amount can be collected at a branch of a credit institution or received in an account opened with a bank. At the same time, the transfer may not reach the recipient in full, the reason is that sometimes intermediary banks withhold a commission fee. To ensure that the recipient receives the full amount, use Fullpay's flat fee, in which case the financial institution will pay all fees.

How to transfer BIC code?

To send money using the SWIFT system, you will need a passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation and documentation confirming that the transaction is carried out legally (for example, an act of delivery of goods). You will also need to provide information about the recipient, sender and intermediary (if any):

• SWIFT code for money transfer (SABRRUMM - encryption of the head office of Sberbank, additionally indicate the branch number);
• Name of the recipient bank (SBERBANK);
• Personal data of the addressee or company name;
• Addressee's account number (for countries within the European Union, the IBAN code is used);
• Full name of the correspondent bank and its international code. This data will be needed if the transfer currency differs from the currency of the state where the money is transferred.

Information for SWIFT transfer is provided at English.

If you want to withdraw a payment, you must write a statement. This can only be done until the recipient receives the amount sent. Cash will be transferred back to the sender's account, minus the commission fee.

The possibility of transferring through Sberbank Online according to the bank will be available in the near future, at at the moment transfers are carried out in offices.

How to find out the SWIFT code?

A simple and affordable option is to check the Swift code, as well as other details for the transfer, with the Savings Bank employees. Also, similar information is on the official website of the credit institution or ROSSWIFT.

SWIFT code of the Moscow branch of the Savings Bank at the address: st. Vavilova building 19 is designated SABRRUMM.

Swift codes for making international transfers, name and address of the representative office, as well as the region where the branch is located:

• SABRRUMM011 - Operations management;
• SABRRUMMAC1 - Altai region;
• SABRRU66 - Irkutsk region;
• SABRRU66CHT - Chita;
• SABRRUMMNA1 - Nizhny-Novgorod, Vladimir, Kirov, Mari El, Mordovia, Tatarstan, Chuvashia;
• SABRRUMMKR1 - Krasnoyarsk, Tyva, Kirov, Khakassia;
• SABRRU8K - Khabarovsk, Amur region, Sakhalin, Primorsky region;
• SABRRU8KBLG - Blagoveshchensk;
• SABRRU8KUSR - Ussuri region;
• SABRRU8KVLD - Vladivostok;
• SABRRU8KBRB - Birobidzhan;
• SABRRUMMTN1 - Tyumen, Omsk;
• SABRRUMMPC1 - Perm, Komi, Udmurtia;
• SABRRUMMSE1 - Samara, Volgograd, Saratov, Orenburg, Ulyanovsk, Penza, Astrakhan;
• SABRRUMMYA1 - Yaroslavl, Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Ivanovo, Kostroma;
• SABRRUMMMA1 - Magadan, Kamchatka, Chukotka;
• SABRRU2P - St. Petersburg, Pskov, Murmansk, Karelia;
• SABRRU2P920 - Kaliningrad;
• SABRRUMMSP1 - Stavropol, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Kalmykia, Karachay-Cherkessia, North Ossetia;
• SABRRUMMNH1 - Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, Tomsk;
• SABRRUM3 - Moscow region, Tula, Bryansk, Ryazan, Tver, Kaluga, Smolensk;
• SABRRUMMEA1 - Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Kurgan, Bashkiria;
• SABRRUMMVH1 - Voronezh, Belgorod, Lipetsk, Tambov, Orel, Kursk;
• SABRRUMMRA1 - Rostov, Krasnodar, Adygea.

If such information cannot be obtained, simply do not indicate the regional unit code and the payment will be processed through the head office.

Conclusion

The main advantage of SWIFT is its high level of security. SWIFT transfer in Sberbank has one significant drawback - a large commission fee, it is charged not only by the system, but also credit institutions, making the payment.

Rumors that Russia could be disconnected from the international interbank system for transmitting information and making payments SWIFT appeared last year, when sanctions were imposed on the country every three days. The banking community and officials did not hide their skepticism: in Russia, 600 leading banks use SWIFT, a European company earns hundreds of millions of dollars on this, and there are no recognized alternatives on the market.

Last week it became known that EU foreign ministers have returned to their previous plans and will consider the possibility of disconnecting Russia from SWIFT on Thursday, January 29. The Village is trying to figure out whether financial obstruction is dangerous and what it threatens.

What is SWIFT?

SWIFT - single international standard, a system in which banks around the world exchange information and payment data. It is used by thousands of financial institutions around the world, about 10,000 banks exchange messages using it. The system ensures the transmission of about 1.8 billion messages per year. Every day through the SWIFT network pass payment orders with a total estimated value of more than six trillion dollars.

SWIFT is headquartered in Brussels and is owned by a cooperative and is subject to Belgian law.

How does the system work?

If a bank needs to send a payment or confirmation of a transaction to another bank, it prepares such a message, encrypts it using an encryption system created by SWIFT, and sends it through a special terminal to its counterparty. The counterparty, upon receiving the document, decrypts the message and uses it for its intended purpose. They also transmit statements of correspondent accounts and carry out investigations into unclear payments.

How much do banks pay to use the system?

The cost is formed from two components - annual maintenance and commission for each payment. Annual maintenance depends on the bank's Swift payment traffic and can reach 100,000 euros per year. The cost of each payment also depends on the number of messages per month. The more messages, the cheaper each payment is. The message price is set in euros, so it can fluctuate from the ruble to euro exchange rate.

Why has SWIFT become so popular?

The main advantage of SWIFT is the security of information transferred between banks.

Good news: individuals will not be affected; card payments are not processed through SWIFT. Problems may arise for organizations that use SWIFT to transmit information about cross-border payments through banks - these payments will be delayed and lost. President of the Association of Regional Banks "Russia", Deputy Chairman of the Duma Committee on financial market Anatoly Aksakov in an interview with Business FM is encouraging: “I wouldn’t talk about collapse. There will be no collapse, but difficulties will obviously arise.” There are no complete analogues for international payments. Within Russia, the analogues are the payment system of the Bank of Russia and the settlement systems of the largest banks.

In fact, there are alternatives to SWIFT. In 2012, all Iranian banks were disconnected from the system. The country quickly switched to the SUCRE payment system, which is used in Cuba, Ecuador, Bolivia, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

We would like to thank the press service of VTB24 Bank and Irina Popova, Vice President, Deputy Director of the Operations Department of VTB24, for their assistance in preparing the material.

Those who have ever had to deal with sending money abroad or receiving funds from other countries inevitably had questions: which system is better, and what is a SWIFT transfer in general? For those planning to work, study, or do business abroad, it is necessary to know the answer to the latter - at the moment there are simply no worthy alternatives to the S.W.I.F.T system in the world.

S.W.I.F.T system - functions, history, modern level

When it comes to transferring money to another country, one immediately remembers something that has become familiar thanks to intrusive advertising, but is no less effective and fast. Western Union and similar ones MoneyGram, Anelic, etc.. Those who have dealt with this issue seriously will name, in addition to systems instant transfers at least three ways:

1. Transfers from card to card:
2. Sending funds using electronic payment systems such as Webmoney, PerfectMoney, Neteller, etc.
3. International transfers in the SWIFT system.

At the same time, instant transfers are only good for sending to a private person; card transfers have many restrictions in different countries, For electronic systems There is no single standard yet, and their distribution is often limited to countries or regions.

SWIFT is the only transfer system that is free from all these shortcomings. Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (S.W.I.F.T) - The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications is not separate company, manufacturing or financial group. This is a real community designed to effectively solve the problems facing its members in optimizing information flows.

This is exactly how it was created in 1973, when before largest banks The issue of accelerating data exchange, which was supposed to satisfy business needs for speed of information transfer and, most importantly, money transfers, arose with particular urgency. Then in Belgium (the headquarters of the organization still operates in Brussels), representatives of more than 200 of the largest banks of the Old and New Worlds gathered to solve the problem.

Such an undertaking was doomed to success. The correctness of the chosen direction and the methods and technologies used is evidenced by the connection to the system of more 10 thousand largest financial organizations from more than 220 countries. More than a million transactions are carried out in the system every day.

SWIFT, first of all, is a system for fast and secure exchange of information messages. Because today in the world cash flows- these are information flows, the system copes well with this function - international targeted transfer of funds.

Thanks to the security, reliability and speed of data and message transfer, not only banks become clients of the system. Exchanges, insurance agencies, brokerage companies, hedge funds, etc.

Features of SWIFT transfers

Since non-cash money transfers today have turned into simple information messages that the owner of one account intends to transfer a certain amount of the cash equivalent recorded on it to the owner of another account, it was necessary to create a set of rules to ensure reliability and security.

The main one relates to the provision of information about the recipient.

What is needed to send a SWIFT transfer

Transfers in the system are made exclusively to bank accounts. Accordingly, the following set of data is required (filled in by the sender):

• Unique code of the recipient bank in the SWIFT system (analogue in the Russian banking system acts as BIC). This information allows for unambiguous identification in the electronic communications system. financial institution, to which the message is sent.

How is the SWIFT code deciphered?

• The name of the recipient bank is in accordance with international registers or agreements.
• Full name (for individuals) or the full name of the recipient company (for legal entities).
• Recipient's account number for crediting funds. Provided in the format accepted in the recipient's banking system or in the form of an international code (IBAN).
• Transfer amount and currency

Important! All data in the SWIFT system is provided in English only. There is not a single exception to this rule, even if Swift traffic goes from Russia to Belarus or from Portugal to Brazil, where Portuguese is the state language.

Most often, all the necessary information is provided by the bank’s official website.

SWIFT codes of Sberbank of Russia

This is how the SWIFT codes of Sberbank divisions are presented on the official website

All data must be provided without errors. Otherwise, the processing of the transfer may slow down significantly, especially if several intermediaries are involved in the chain (for example, when counterparty banks are not participants in the system). A more unpleasant situation is also possible - the payment will be lost and searching for it will cost the correspondent a significant amount.

If the transfer currency and the national currency in the recipient’s country do not match, the transfer is carried out with the participation of a correspondent bank. In this case, the SWIFT code and the name of this financial organization are added to the list of information required for the transfer of funds.

The design features also include the fact that the system allows you to withdraw a payment or return it for adjustment, but the loss of time and money will be very noticeable. Such actions are available only until the funds are issued to the recipient.

Transfer currency

There are no current restrictions on the currencies used in the system. This sets SWIFT apart from all other transfer systems operating either in national currencies, or in the most common world ones (most often in dollars and euros).

An international SWIFT transfer can use any currencies on the sender and recipient sides. In fact, when registering a transfer, an order is made to exchange the sender’s currency for the recipient’s currency.

Transfer deadlines

The time it takes for an information message to pass through the system, as a rule, does not exceed 20 minutes. Funds are not credited to the recipient's account during this time only due to multiple confirmations of receipt of messages between system participants (especially if the route includes intermediary banks and correspondent banks). In addition, the procedure for crediting funds to end-user accounts is determined by the internal regulations of the recipient bank.

As a result, it takes from 1 to 5 business days to complete a SWIFT transfer. Experts say that, in general, the transaction is completely completed in 2-3 days.

The situation is much more complicated with the recall or the need to correct the data specified in the translation. Such an operation can take up to 30 days. The maximum loss of time occurs when an error is detected already at the stage of the message passing through intermediary banks.

Amount restrictions

There are no restrictions on transfer amounts in the system. However, participating banks must comply with the current legislation of the states in whose legal framework they operate.

For example, in Russia there is a limit on the amount sent to foreign correspondents by a resident of the Russian Federation within one trading day(for more details, see the text and comments to Law No. 1783-FZ). In equivalent, it cannot exceed $5000. Participating banks from Russia will limit the amount of Swift transfer exactly at this level, or will require documentary evidence intended purpose transfer.

Transfer fees

In terms of commission levels, the SWIFT system is one of the most profitable - it does not have fixed tariffs. The authority to determine the amount of payment is delegated to the participating banks. As a result, in most cases the commission percentage is even lower than for transferring funds in instant transfer systems. However, this is only true when the established interest rate— all participants in the system agree on a minimum commission amount.

IN different banks commissions are:

• 0.1-2% (minimum 10-60 dollars) – for sending a transfer;
• 20-100 dollars for chargeback or request to send it.

It is not difficult to calculate that a transfer becomes profitable only when the commission percentage exceeds the amount of the minimum payment. For example, for Sberbank (transfer in US dollars is paid at the rate of 2% but not less than $15) the limit is $75.

Additional commissions with the participation of intermediary banks cannot be excluded. The final amount will be announced only by the operator at the time of sending.

A special feature of the system is that the commission is paid by the recipient. Accordingly, if it is necessary for the correspondent to receive a certain amount, the amount of payment will have to be increased taking into account commission payments.

Who is this made for?

The specifics of payments determine the main advantages of SWIFT transfers:

• Security and reliability with transfer to bank accounts;
• High speed of information messages and transactions;
• No restrictions on transfer amounts and the use of currencies;
• Favorable commissions for significant amounts and payment at the expense of the recipient.

All this suggests that the system was developed by bank specialists for regular clients working with large sums. Actually, S.W.I.F.T. that is what it is.