What Is An International Bank Transfer?

What Is An International Bank Transfer? 

If you’re looking for ways to transfer money from one country to another, then there’s a good chance that you’ve heard of an international bank transfer. In this article, we look at what an international bank transfer is, and the pros and cons of performing this sort of transaction when paying staff or affiliates. 

What Is An International Bank Transfer?

 An international bank transfer is simply a method of transferring funds from one bank, in your country, to the bank of a staff member (or someone else) in another country.) It is used to pay staff or contractors, and for personal deposits. 

There are even ways to perform an international bank transfer from your computer, so it’s not necessarily a matter of spending ages in your bank in order to use this form of transfer. 

What Are the Pros of An International Bank Transfer? 

When it comes to the positive points in favour of doing an international bank transfer, the primary points you need to bear in mind are: 

• This type of transfer is considered safer than many other type of payment, because you send money directly to your affiliate or contractor’s bank account, instead of via a third party.
• International bank transfers will work between virtually any country and any other country. As long as you both have a bank account, you can, in theory, send money this way.
• If you get a written notification, via email or fax, that the money has been collected, you have proof that you have made payment.
• Once completed in your branch, the transfer itself is completed by FedWire or SWIFT, which are secure and reliable, so there is little chance of your payment going astray if you have your affiliate or contractor’s banking details correct. 

Of course, there are also drawbacks to using this type of payment. Which brings us to the next part of this article.

What Are the Cons of An International Bank Transfer? 

If you’re considering using international bank transfers as a method of paying your contractors or affiliates, then you need to remember the following: 

• While most banks will perform these types of transactions for you, very small local banks and regional credit unions might not. In that case, you may need to use a third party wire transfer service like Western Union.
• In many cases, your bank will want you to appear and request your transfer in person. That can be time consuming, so find out whether your bank has a means of speeding up the transfer process.
• You will need to have each affiliate’s personal banking details, as well as their SWIFT, BIC, or IBAN code, in order to transfer money between countries.
• This type of transfer can take several days to complete, and in some instances, can be quite costly.

Generally speaking, international bank transfers of this type are a good idea if you are just starting out as an affiliate program owner or manager, or hiring global contractors. However, as your business grows, you will probably want to look for more efficient, cost effective methods of payment.