To wire money to Italy, you need the recipient’s 27-character Italian IBAN, the receiving bank’s SWIFT/BIC code, and the recipient’s full legal name and address as they appear on the Italian account. You can send through your U.S. bank or through a specialist transfer service. Most transfers settle in one to three business days, and sender fees typically run between $0 and $50, though intermediary banks and exchange-rate markups can quietly add more.
What You Need Before You Send
Every wire to Italy hinges on two identifiers: the recipient’s IBAN and the bank’s SWIFT code. Without both, the payment will not go through.
The Italian IBAN
An Italian IBAN is exactly 27 characters. It begins with the country code IT, followed by two check digits, a single control letter, a five-digit bank code, a five-digit branch code, and a twelve-character account number. A single wrong character will bounce the transfer or, worse, route it to the wrong account. Ask the recipient to copy the IBAN straight from their bank statement or online banking rather than typing it from memory.
The SWIFT/BIC Code
The SWIFT code is an 8- or 11-character identifier for the receiving bank. Eight characters point to the bank’s headquarters; eleven pinpoint a specific branch. Italian banks publish their SWIFT codes on their websites, and the recipient can also find it on account statements.
Recipient Name, Address, and the Codice Fiscale
You’ll need the recipient’s full legal name exactly as it appears on the Italian account, plus their Italian address. A name mismatch is one of the most common reasons a transfer gets flagged or returned.
Italy requires a tax identification number, the codice fiscale, for most financial activity, including holding a bank account. The Italian Embassy in Washington confirms it is essential for banking, employment, property, and inheritance transactions in Italy.1Ambasciata d’Italia a Washington. Tax Code (Codice Fiscale) You don’t usually have to enter the recipient’s codice fiscale on the wire form, but if the recipient doesn’t have one, the receiving bank may hold the funds pending identity checks.
What It Actually Costs
The fee your bank quotes is only part of the price. Three separate charges can shrink what your recipient receives.
Your Bank’s Outgoing Fee
Major U.S. banks charge between $0 and $50 for an outgoing international wire. The amount depends on the bank, the account tier, and whether you initiate the wire online or in a branch. Chase, for example, charges $40 on a transfer sent in U.S. dollars but only $5 if you send in euros, and waives the fee altogether on foreign-currency transfers of $5,000 or more. Bank of America tops out at $45; Citi and Wells Fargo run up to $35 and $40 respectively. Sending online is typically $5 to $10 cheaper than doing it at a branch.
Intermediary Bank Fees
If your bank doesn’t have a direct relationship with the Italian receiving bank, the transfer passes through one or more correspondent banks. Each can deduct roughly $15 to $50. When you initiate the wire, you choose who covers those charges:
- OUR: you pay all fees, and the recipient gets the full amount.
- SHA (shared): you pay your bank’s fee; the recipient absorbs intermediary and receiving-bank charges. This is the common default.
- BEN: the recipient pays everything, deducted from the transferred amount.
If the recipient needs to receive a specific amount in full, choose OUR. It costs more upfront but avoids the surprise of a shortfall on the other end.
The Exchange Rate Markup
Italy uses the euro, so unless you’re sending to a USD-denominated account, your dollars will be converted. Banks and services rarely give you the mid-market rate. They add a markup, often 1% to 3% above the interbank rate, which acts as a hidden fee. Federal rules require remittance providers to show you the exchange rate and the total the recipient will receive before you authorize the payment, so you can compare the quoted rate against the current mid-market rate and see what you’re really paying.2eCFR. 12 CFR Part 1005 – Electronic Fund Transfers (Regulation E)
Where to Send It From
You have two practical routes: your existing bank, or a specialist money transfer service. Both need the same underlying details, but they work differently.
Through Your U.S. Bank
Traditional banks send international wires through the SWIFT messaging network. Your bank forwards a payment instruction to a correspondent bank that has a relationship with the Italian receiving bank, and the funds move down that chain. Most banks let you set up an international wire in online banking, though some require a branch visit for a first-time international transfer or for larger amounts. You’ll enter the IBAN, SWIFT code, recipient name and address, amount, and currency on the wire form.
Through a Money Transfer Service
Specialist services usually hold their own accounts in both countries. You pay into their U.S. account, and they release the equivalent in euros from their Italian account to the recipient. That sidesteps the correspondent-bank chain, which often means faster delivery and lower cost. These services generally run through apps and websites. The tradeoff is that some cap transfer size or charge percentage-based fees that add up on large sums.
How Long It Takes
International wires through SWIFT typically settle within one to three business days. The exact timing depends on the receiving bank’s processing schedule, any intermediary banks in the chain, time zone differences, and Italian bank holidays. A wire sent late Friday may not arrive until Tuesday or Wednesday.
Specialist services sometimes deliver faster because they don’t rely on correspondents, and some offer same-day or next-day delivery for an extra fee. Check the estimated delivery date the provider shows before you confirm.
Tracking the Transfer
After you submit a wire, your bank or service generates a reference number. SWIFT transfers may carry a Unique End-to-End Transaction Reference (UETR) that lets both sender and receiver follow the payment through the banking chain. You can give the number to your bank’s customer service to check status, and many banks now show real-time tracking online. Transfer services offer similar tracking numbers and status updates through email or their app, with milestones like “payment received,” “processing,” and “delivered.”
Your Rights as a Sender
Federal remittance-transfer rules in Regulation E give you real protections when you send money abroad. They apply to any provider that sends more than 500 remittance transfers a year, which covers essentially every bank and transfer service you’re likely to use.
Disclosures Before You Pay
Before you authorize payment, the provider has to show you the exchange rate, its own fees and taxes, any third-party fees it knows about, and the total amount the recipient will receive in euros. That disclosure must appear in time for you to walk away if the numbers don’t work.3Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 1005.31 Disclosures
Cancellation
You can cancel a remittance transfer within 30 minutes of paying for it, as long as the funds haven’t already been deposited to the recipient. Contact the provider with your name, phone number or address, and enough detail to identify the transfer. If you cancel in time, the provider must refund the full amount, including fees and taxes, within three business days.4eCFR. 12 CFR 1005.34 – Procedures for Cancellation and Refund of Remittance Transfers
Errors
If the recipient gets the wrong amount, the money arrives after the disclosed date, or it never arrives at all, you can file an error claim. Covered errors also include incorrect charges to you and computational mistakes by the provider. The provider must investigate and either fix the error or explain why it believes none occurred.5eCFR. 12 CFR 1005.33 – Procedures for Resolving Errors
Reporting Rules That May Apply
Two federal reporting rules can come into play when you move money internationally.
Under the Bank Secrecy Act, financial institutions must file a Currency Transaction Report on any single-day currency transaction over $10,000.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 US Code 5313 – Reports on Domestic Coins and Currency Transactions Your bank files it, not you. Splitting a transfer to stay just under $10,000 to avoid the report is itself a federal crime. If you need to send $15,000, send $15,000.
If you hold or have signature authority over foreign financial accounts whose combined value exceeds $10,000 at any point in the year, you must file a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) with FinCEN.7FinCEN.gov. Report Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts The threshold is total across all foreign accounts, not per account. The FBAR is due April 15 for the prior calendar year, with an automatic extension to October 15.8IRS. Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) Most people sending money to someone else’s Italian account don’t need to file. If you own property in Italy and maintain an Italian account to pay expenses there, the rule likely applies to you.