A telegraphic transfer form is the document your bank uses to collect the instructions it needs to move money from your account to a recipient’s account in another country. You complete it on paper at a branch or through your bank’s online portal, supplying your details, the recipient’s details, the destination bank’s identifiers, the amount, the currency, and a fee instruction. Most U.S. banks charge between $25 and $75 for an outgoing international wire, and funds typically arrive within one to five business days.
Gather Your Information First
Open the form only after you have every field ready. A missing or wrong entry can bounce the transfer back and cost you a non-refundable processing fee.
- Your full legal name as it appears on your account, the account number to be debited, and your residential address.
- The recipient’s full legal name exactly as it appears on their bank account, their physical address, and their account number.
- The receiving bank’s SWIFT/BIC code and, where the destination country uses them, the beneficiary’s IBAN.
- The amount, the currency you want to send or the recipient to receive, and your fee instruction (OUR, SHA, or BEN).
These fields are not arbitrary. Federal rules require banks to collect and retain the remitter’s name, address, the payment amount, the execution date, payment instructions, and the beneficiary’s bank identity for any funds transfer of $3,000 or more.1eCFR. 31 CFR 1010.410 – Recordkeeping Requirements for Funds Transfers The form is doing double duty as a payment instruction and a compliance record.
SWIFT/BIC Code
The SWIFT/BIC code identifies the bank and branch that holds the recipient’s account. It is either eight characters (institution only) or eleven characters (institution plus a three-character branch suffix).2Swift. Business Identifier Code An eight-character code routes to the bank’s head office, which forwards it internally. You can look up a bank’s code on the SWIFT website or ask the recipient to get it from their bank.
IBAN
An International Bank Account Number is a standardized account identifier used in over 80 countries. It is mandatory for euro payments within the Single Euro Payments Area, which covers EU and EEA members plus a few additional countries like Switzerland and Monaco.3SWIFT. White Paper on Use of IBAN in Commercial Payments Several countries outside Europe also require it, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan, and Brazil. If the destination country uses IBANs and you omit it, the receiving bank will almost certainly reject the transfer.
Choose Your Fee Instruction: OUR, SHA, or BEN
Most forms include a field for how fees are split between you and the recipient. The choice changes how much the beneficiary actually gets.
- OUR: You pay everything — your bank’s fee, any intermediary charges, and the receiving bank’s fee. The recipient gets the full amount you specified.
- SHA (shared): You pay your own bank’s outgoing fee. Intermediary and receiving bank fees come out of the transfer amount before it reaches the recipient.
- BEN (beneficiary): All fees, including your sending bank’s, are deducted from the transfer amount. The recipient receives the least.
If you are paying an invoice or a legal obligation for a specific amount, choose OUR so the beneficiary receives the full sum. SHA is the common default for personal transfers. Some destination countries or banks require OUR for certain transaction types, so check with the recipient if you are unsure. If you use OUR, confirm with your bank that its OUR option actually covers intermediary fees rather than just its own outgoing charge.
Purpose of Payment Codes
Several countries require a standardized purpose-of-payment code on every incoming wire. India, China, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Malaysia, and Kuwait are among them. The code is a short alphanumeric string that tells the destination country’s central bank why the money is being sent, with categories like business travel, foreign direct investment, tuition payments, or family remittances. If the destination country requires a code and you leave the field blank or enter the wrong one, the transfer will be held or returned. Your bank’s form may include a dropdown, or you may need to ask the recipient which code applies.
Fill In the Form
On a paper form, write in clear block capitals. Strike-throughs invite rejection. If you make a mistake, ask for a fresh form rather than crossing out and rewriting. Complete every field, even ones that look optional. A blank field forces someone in the bank’s wire room to decide whether to proceed, and the safest choice for them is always to send it back to you.
Digital forms in a bank app or website walk you through each field and usually validate entries in real time, flagging an IBAN with the wrong number of characters or a SWIFT code that matches no known bank. Let the validation help you. Before you submit, the platform shows a confirmation screen with the exchange rate, fees, and the estimated amount the recipient will receive. Read every line. Once you confirm, the bank treats your authorization as final.
Currency Selection
The form asks which currency the transfer should be sent in. You typically choose between sending in your home currency and letting the recipient’s bank convert it, or sending in the destination currency so your bank performs the conversion first. Sending in the destination currency usually gives the recipient a predictable amount, though your bank’s exchange rate may not be the most favorable. If you leave the currency unspecified, the bank may convert at whatever rate it chooses or reject the form outright.
Submit the Form
In Person at a Branch
Hand the completed form to a bank officer, who will ask for a valid government-issued photo ID such as a passport or driver’s license. The officer reviews the form for completeness, keys it into the wire system, and debits your account. For transfers of $3,000 or more, the bank must verify your identity and retain records under the Bank Secrecy Act’s funds transfer rules.4Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. FFIEC BSA/AML Manual – Funds Transfers Recordkeeping
Online
Online submissions require multi-factor authentication, usually a one-time code sent to your phone or generated by a security token. After you authenticate, a final confirmation screen appears. Clicking confirm debits your account and initiates the wire. You cannot reverse it after this point except through the cancellation process below.
Review the Pre-Payment Disclosure
Before you authorize an international wire, the bank must give you a written disclosure showing the transfer amount, all fees charged by the provider, any taxes collected, the exchange rate (rounded to at least two decimal places), and the total the recipient will receive in their local currency.5Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR 1005.31 – Disclosures The disclosure must also flag that additional third-party fees from intermediary or receiving banks may further reduce the amount received.
This is your last chance to verify the numbers before committing. Compare the exchange rate against an independent source. If the bank’s rate is noticeably worse, you can walk away without penalty; you have not authorized anything yet.
Cancel Within 30 Minutes If Something Is Wrong
Federal law gives you 30 minutes after payment to cancel a remittance transfer and receive a full refund, including all fees and taxes, at no additional cost.6eCFR. 12 CFR 1005.34 – Procedures for Cancellation and Refund of Remittance Transfers To cancel, contact your bank by phone or in person and provide enough information to identify the transfer, including your name, phone number or address, and the confirmation number. The bank must process the refund within three business days. The right disappears once the recipient has picked up or received the funds, so act fast if you spot a mistake.
If you find a problem after the 30 minutes have passed, you can still file a notice of error with your bank within 180 days of the disclosed availability date. The bank has 90 days to investigate.7eCFR. 12 CFR 1005.33 – Procedures for Resolving Errors
What Happens After You Submit
Once the bank processes the transfer, it generates a payment message carrying a unique end-to-end transaction reference (UETR) that tracks the payment through the correspondent banking network.8Swift. What Is a Unique End-to-End Transaction Reference (UETR)? Keep the reference number the bank gives you. You will need it to trace the funds if anything goes wrong.
Most international wires arrive within one to five business days. Transfers through the SWIFT gpi network are faster, with roughly half credited within 30 minutes. Delays happen when intermediary banks hold the transfer for compliance screening, when time zone gaps push processing to the next business day, or when required information like a purpose-of-payment code is missing.
Unless you chose OUR, intermediary banks along the payment chain may deduct their own processing fees from the amount before passing it on. A wire routed through two correspondent banks could lose $15 to $30 before it reaches the beneficiary’s account, and the receiving bank may charge a separate incoming wire fee on top.
Larger Transfers and What Your Bank May Ask
Banks must collect and retain detailed records for any wire transfer of $3,000 or more, including identity verification for customers who are not established account holders.1eCFR. 31 CFR 1010.410 – Recordkeeping Requirements for Funds Transfers This is separate from the $10,000 currency transaction reporting threshold, which applies to cash deposits and withdrawals, not to wire transfers.9Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Currency Transaction Reports Reference Guide
Large wires routinely trigger internal anti-money-laundering alerts regardless of any specific dollar threshold. The bank may ask you to explain the purpose of the transfer, describe your relationship with the recipient, and provide supporting documents such as an invoice, sales contract, or gift letter. Answering quickly keeps the transfer moving. Vague answers can result in the wire being held by the compliance department or reported as suspicious activity.
Sending or receiving an international transfer does not by itself create a tax obligation, but separate reporting rules can still apply to you. If you hold foreign financial accounts whose combined balance exceeds $10,000 at any point in the year, you must file an FBAR.10Internal Revenue Service. Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) If you receive gifts or bequests totaling more than $100,000 during the year from a nonresident alien or foreign estate, you must report them on IRS Form 3520.11Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 3520 Neither filing means tax is owed on the transfer, but the penalties for missing them are steep, so check whether they apply before the deadline.