What is SWIFT?
- Last updated on July 1, 2024 at 9:46 AM
SWIFT stands for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication.
It's a network that helps financial institutions move money internationally when it's not possible to make the payment directly from one bank to another.
For example, if you send money from France to Italy, the transfer is made via SEPA ─ so the money is moved between banks directly, and usually in just a couple of days.
If you make a transfer from the UK to the US, this would be considered an international (SWIFT) payment.
This is because there's no way to send money directly from a UK bank to a US one, so the transfer is sent from one intermediary bank to another until it reaches the recipient bank.