Intermediary Bank is a financial institution that serves as middlemen that handles funds between sender’s bank and receiver’s bank in an international wire transfer. Many people think sending money abroad involves only two banks; the sender’s bank and the receiver’s bank.
However, international wire transfer is more complicated than you think. Only bankers and those that have involved in several wire transfers can understand what intermediary banks really means and how they works.
As the name implies, Intermediary banks act as middlemen between two banks when an international transfer involves two countries. In this article, we will walk you through how intermediary banks work and how to find intermediary bank information.
How does Intermediary Bank works?
Think of intermediary bank as a trusted third-party financial institution that ensures your funds cross border safely and gets to the designated bank account.
Intermediary banks are part of an international banking network known as SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication).
Must Read: Nigerian Banks and their SWIFT Codes.
Relatively, Intermediary Bank and SWIFT are closely connected but they serve different purposes in international banking. SWIFT is a telecommunication service that send messages from sender’s bank to intermediary bank.
For instance, if money is sent from United Kingdom (UK) to Nigeria, an intermediary bank will receive a SWIFT message about the incoming payment and transfer the money to the Nigeria bank.
However, it’s important to note that international wire transfer s can sometimes involves more than one intermediary banks. Each intermediary banks have their own charges and fees. So, you may want to know more information about your Intermediary bank.
Intermediary Banks Information
Many banks that offer Intermediary Bank services usually have a strong international presence. Many intermediary banks partners with several international banks to make their service and exchange seamless. For instance in Africa, Intermediary banks partner with banks like United Bank of Africa to make SWIFT International wire transfer seamless to Africans.
Some popular intermediary banks are HSBC, CitiBank, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan (Chase), Barclays, Standard Chartered Bank, BNP Paribas, Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon, UBS, and Wells Fargo.
However, in some countries like Nigeria, local banks typically do not serve as intermediary banks for global transactions because intermediary banks are usually large international banks with extensive networks and the capacity to clear multiple currencies globally.
Nigerian banks primarily rely on partnerships with foreign intermediary banks for a successful SWIFT international transactions. However, some Nigerian banks do play limited intermediary roles within Africa. Some of these banks includes; Access Bank, United Bank for Africa, and Ecobank.
Must Read: First National Bank SWIFT Code.
How to get Intermediary Bank Information for Wire Transfer
If you want to perform SWIFT International Wire Transfers, you will need at least on Intermediary Bank to facilitate the transfer. Unless you are using a bank with strong international connections you will not need an intermediary bank in your wire transfers.
For example, if you’re using CitiBank, you do not need an intermediary bank to receive an international wire transfer. However, if you’d need an intermediary bank for domestic banks, here’s how you can get the intermediary bank information;
- Ask your bank: The accurate information you can find about your intermediary bank is by getting it from your bank. Your bank can provide you with the intermediary bank details, including the bank’s name, location, and SWIFT/BIC code.
- Contact the receiver’s bank: The receiver’s bank can also provide you accurate information about the intermediary bank that’s mostly used to facilitate international wire transfer from your country to their bank.
- Find Intermediary Bank on SWIFT Network: SWIFT maintains a database of financial institutions and their associated information. You can use SWIFT's online checker or contact their customer support to find your bank’s intermediary bank information.
- Check previous transfer: If you’ve transferred to the same bank in the past, search for the transaction receipt and you can easily find the Intermediary bank information on the transaction receipt.
Must Read: Financial Intermediary and the Economy.
However, do note that you don’t necessarily have to know the Intermediary Bank information. Your bank can handle that for you because they’re already in partnership and that’s why they can help to facilitate international wire transfers.
But the most important thing is that you need provide your bank accurate information. These include the recipient’s full name and address, their bank’s name and address, their account number or IBAN (a special number for international accounts), the SWIFT code of their bank, and sometimes the reason for sending the money (this is needed in some countries).
