A lot of people nowadays like to travel abroad to earn money. Such a concept as a money transfer, has long and seriously entered into the everyday life of citizens of various countries. In most cases, the issue of remittance becomes acute. The choice of the transfer method, the payment of commissions - all this falls on the shoulders of a worker abroad. That is why the average person has a lot of questions. One of the most popular networks for transferring money today is the SWIFT money transfer system. But what is it and how to use it? SWIFT - what is it?
general information
SWIFT translation system - what is it? What is the history of this network? The meaning of the word SWIFT is an abbreviation by which it is necessary to understand the Community of Financial Interbank World Telecommunications. The SWIFT translation system is an international system for transmitting information and making payments. It was founded in the early seventies of the twentieth century in Belgium. The headquarters is located in Brussels. According to official figures, this network includes two hundred and twelve countries and more than ten thousand institutions. More than twenty million different transactions go through this system in one day. Among them there are interbank payments, financial messages, money transfers and others.
The SWIFT system is not only money transfers
Sending transfers and transferring any data thanks to a system such as SWIFT has become much faster. Accordingly, the cost of transactions has decreased. It takes only twenty minutes to deliver a message, and for an additional fee you can do it in five minutes. For comparison: it takes more than two hours to transmit information through a telegraph.
SWIFT - what is it? This is the largest network of international information transfer. This is absolutely reliable, efficient, safe and perfect transmission of messages, money transfers through the system. The participants in this network include brokerage firms, banks, exchanges, central depositories, dealing centers, securities companies, investment mutual funds. In the territory of the Russian Federation, there is the RossSwift association, which includes nearly six hundred users. Large credit organizations make up thirty percent of this amount, and they use this system to make almost eighty percent of all their settlements.
Benefits of Using SWIFT Translation
Transactions using the above system are profitable if the amount is more than one hundred dollars of the United States of America, since a fixed commission already begins above. If the transfer is planned for less than one hundred dollars, it is recommended to use other options for instant transfers: MoneyGram or Western Union, for example. SWIFT system - what is it? What are its benefits? The main striking difference between this network and other alternative options is the choice of a wide range of currencies, the targeting of the transfer. All this together makes working with finances much safer.
What are the disadvantages of the SWIFT system?
Naturally, any, even the best, system will have its negative sides. But if we talk about SWIFT, what are these disadvantages?
Firstly, it is necessary to say about the increased commissions in individual banks and countries. For the transfer of funds to certain countries, some banks set an additional commission. The chain of intermediary banks can already increase the cost of the transfer if the currency of the procedure differs from the national currency into which the transaction is received. Secondly, there are commissions that are levied on the recipients. Since the funds are credited to the beneficiary's account in his bank, there is a certain payment for the cash withdrawal procedure. I would also like to add that SWIFT (transfer) takes much longer (up to several days) than many other types of payments (which take an average of half an hour to a day).
What is needed for SWIFT translation?
To transfer money using this network abroad, you must have with you an identification code, passport and the following documents:
- Code - SWIFT of the bank to which the transfer will be made.
- The code for the international bank account format (IBAN), or the account number in favor of which the transaction takes place.
- Name of the company, company or full name of the recipient in whose favor the transfer of funds will be carried out.
- The name of the banking institution to which the money will go.
- The SWIFT code and name of the correspondent bank, if the currency in which the transfer is made is different from that which is considered national in the recipient country.
This type of transfer is currently offered by more or less large banks.
Who needs SWIFT translation system?
Despite the popularity of international-level money transfer systems such as Unistream, MoneyGram, Western Union, in some cases it is much more convenient to use SWIFT as an exchange network. All money transfers using this system are much cheaper and more convenient for paying for a whole range of services, be it medical care, study, booking rooms or orders, paying for purchases. SWIFT transfer is actively used to transfer money to relatives, pay for various events (participation in conferences, tours).
Who pays for the transfer?
The peculiarity of such a phenomenon as the SWIFT translation system is that the transfer is carried out at the expense of the recipients. The main consumers of such transactions are regular customers who make regular transfers. That is why a number of advantages have been developed in the form of the choice of the transfer currency, the absence of any limits on the amount (if this does not violate the laws of the country from which the transfer comes, and the one where the funds go). As mentioned above, the main positive points are based on the fact that the SWIFT system is designed to complete transactions with large amounts. Hence, low tariffs and payment at the expense of the recipient, which significantly distinguishes this network from competitors and even more so from quick transfer systems that focus on working with small amounts.
The cost of transfers in the SWIFT system
Compared to competitive international money transfer networks, SWIFT offers much cheaper transactions. However, this is really clearly visible only when sending large amounts, since there is a progressive scale of commission deductions. For example, sending one hundred dollars to the United States of America through any other system of international transfers will cost from ten to twenty dollars. And the transfer of the same amount through the SWIFT network will cost several times more expensive - up to fifty conventional units. By the way, a lot here depends on the bank that performs the transaction.
But when transferring thousands of US dollars through large MSDP, the commission will reach up to fifty dollars. Here the SWIFT money transfer system looks advantageous, which charges a commission for a similar amount of money of only ten to fifteen conventional units. The most noticeable difference is when the amounts exceed ten thousand. Here the commission in large MSDP will already be in the range from one hundred to three hundred and fifty dollars of the United States of America. But if a client would like to transfer money to a relative abroad, pay for a purchase or study, pay for a tourist trip using a network such as the international SWIFT translation system, then he will have to pay a maximum of one hundred dollars for a transaction.