To send a wire transfer, the information needed is the recipient’s full legal name and physical address, their bank’s wire routing number (or SWIFT/BIC code and often an IBAN for international transfers), the recipient’s account number, and the exact amount you want to send. Businesses add one more item: a Taxpayer Identification Number or Employer Identification Number once the transfer reaches $3,000. Get any digit wrong and the wire can bounce, land at the wrong bank, or settle into someone else’s account with little chance of recovery.
What You Need for a Domestic Wire
A domestic wire moves money between two U.S. bank accounts through the Federal Reserve’s Fedwire system. Before you start the request, gather these details about the person or company you’re paying:
- Recipient’s full legal name. It must match the name on the receiving account exactly. “Robert” versus “Bob,” or a missing middle initial, can be enough to trigger a rejection.
- Recipient’s physical address. Banks are required to record a street address for the beneficiary under federal recordkeeping rules.
- Receiving bank’s wire routing number. A nine-digit ABA number that identifies the bank. Many banks use a different routing number for wires than for checks or ACH, so have the recipient confirm the wire-specific number with their bank.
- Recipient’s account number. The complete account number at the receiving institution.
- Transfer amount. The exact dollar figure.
The ABA routing number is the standard identifier for banks in domestic transactions.1American Bankers Association. Routing Number Policy and Procedures Using an ACH or check routing number where the wire routing number is required is one of the most common reasons a transfer fails to post. Verify directly with the recipient’s bank rather than assuming the number on the check is correct.
What You Need for an International Wire
Cross-border wires travel through the SWIFT messaging network, which connects banks in more than 200 countries. The identifiers go beyond what a domestic wire asks for:
- Everything required for a domestic wire. Full name, address, account number, and amount.
- Receiving bank’s SWIFT/BIC code. An eight- or eleven-character code that identifies the foreign bank. Eight characters points to the institution; eleven characters points to a specific branch.
- IBAN, if the country uses one. The International Bank Account Number is standard across most of Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Africa and Asia. Where it’s used, providing it is usually required.
- Intermediary bank details, when applicable. If your bank doesn’t have a direct relationship with the receiving bank, the payment routes through one or more correspondent banks. You may need the intermediary’s SWIFT code and account number. Your bank can often identify the correct intermediary for you.
- Currency. Whether the recipient should receive the funds in their local currency or in U.S. dollars.
The SWIFT code (formally the Business Identifier Code, or BIC) follows the ISO 9362 standard and is assigned by SWIFT.2Swift. Business Identifier Code (BIC) An incorrect SWIFT code sends the wire to the wrong institution entirely. Incomplete intermediary information is another frequent cause of delays or returns, and each correction attempt usually carries its own fee.
Extra Information Required for Business Wires
When a business sends or receives a wire, banks collect additional identifying information beyond what individuals provide. Federal anti-money-laundering rules require the bank to record the business’s Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) or Employer Identification Number (EIN) for transfers of $3,000 or more.3FFIEC. BSA/AML Manual – Funds Transfers Recordkeeping If the business isn’t already a customer of the bank processing the wire, documentation requirements tighten further. For in-person requests, the person authorizing the transfer may need to present government-issued identification and provide the business’s TIN or EIN separately.
In practical terms: have the EIN, the authorized signer’s ID, and the full beneficiary details on hand before walking into a branch or opening the online portal. Business wires that stall usually stall because one of these items is missing.
How to Submit the Information to Your Bank
You can send a wire in person at a branch, over the phone, or through your bank’s online platform. Branch visits tend to allow the highest daily limits and the fewest restrictions. Online platforms are faster but often cap per-transaction or daily amounts.
Whatever the channel, the bank will verify your identity before processing anything. In person, that means a government-issued photo ID. Online, expect multi-factor authentication. Federal rules require it, and it’s the first barrier against someone sending a fraudulent wire from your account.
Once you’re verified, you’ll enter the beneficiary details and the amount. The bank will show the total cost including its origination fee, and you’ll authorize the transfer. Watch the cutoff time. Fedwire itself operates from 9:00 p.m. ET the prior evening through 7:00 p.m. ET, but banks set their own customer deadlines earlier, often between 2:00 and 5:00 p.m. local time.4Federal Reserve Financial Services. Wholesale Services Operating Hours A wire submitted after the cutoff won’t go out until the next business day.
For international wires, the bank quotes a foreign exchange rate at the time you authorize. That rate locks in when you confirm and determines what the recipient actually receives in their local currency. The quoted rate typically includes a markup over the mid-market rate, which is a separate cost on top of the stated wire fee.
Costs to Expect Before You Confirm
Banks charge the sender a flat fee for each outgoing wire. Domestic outgoing fees at most banks run $25 to $45. International outgoing fees typically land between $45 and $75. These are consumer-level charges set by individual banks; the actual Fedwire cost to the bank is less than a dollar per transfer.5Federal Reserve Financial Services. Fedwire Funds Service 2026 Fee Schedules
Recipients can also be charged. Domestic incoming wire fees are common, and on international wires, intermediary banks along the chain may deduct their own fees from the transfer before it reaches the beneficiary. The recipient can end up with less than you sent, often with no advance notice of the exact deduction.
Exchange rate markups are the quietest cost. A spread of 0.5% to 1% above the mid-market rate is typical, so on a $10,000 international transfer the markup alone can run $50 to $100 beyond the wire fee. Some banks let you choose whether conversion happens on the sending or receiving end, which can shift the total.
Domestic wires sent before the bank’s cutoff generally settle the same business day.6Federal Reserve Financial Services. Fedwire Funds Service International wires typically take one to three business days, longer when the payment routes through multiple intermediaries, involves less common currencies, or triggers stricter regulatory review. Weekends and local banking holidays in the destination country don’t count toward settlement time.
Why Accuracy Matters So Much
Fedwire was built so that every payment is final and irrevocable the moment it’s processed. That finality is what makes wire transfers reliable for real estate closings and business acquisitions, and it’s also what works against you when something goes wrong. If you send a domestic wire to the wrong account, Regulation E, the federal rule that protects consumers for most electronic payments, specifically excludes Fedwire transfers.7eCFR. 12 CFR 1005.3 – Coverage You have no federal right to a refund. Your only option is to ask your bank to attempt a recall, and the receiving bank and recipient have to cooperate voluntarily.
International wires sent by consumers get better treatment because they qualify as “remittance transfers.” You have 30 minutes after making payment to cancel for a full refund, as long as the funds haven’t been picked up or deposited on the other end.8eCFR. 12 CFR 1005.34 – Procedures for Cancellation and Refund of Remittance Transfers After that window closes, your options narrow to error-resolution procedures with your bank, which also depend on cooperation at the other end.
The practical lesson is simple: double-check every digit of the routing number, SWIFT code, IBAN, and account number before you authorize. Fixing a mistake before the wire goes out costs nothing. Fixing one after can cost the full amount.
Verifying Instructions Before You Send
The information you type into the wire form is only as good as the source you got it from. Business email compromise and real estate wire fraud both work by feeding the sender wiring instructions that look legitimate but route the money to a criminal. In a real estate scheme, a hacker monitoring email between the buyer, agent, and title company sends updated wiring instructions just before closing. The buyer wires funds exactly as instructed, and the money is gone.
The single most effective defense is confirming wiring instructions through a different channel. If instructions arrive by email, call the sender at a phone number you already have on file, not a number pulled from the email. Treat any “we’ve updated our wiring instructions” message as suspicious until a live voice on a known number confirms it. Banks will never text or email asking you to wire money to resolve a security issue.
If you’ve already sent funds and suspect fraud, contact your bank immediately and ask them to request a recall. Speed is everything once the recipient has access to the funds. File a report with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) as well; in some cases IC3 can help coordinate rapid recovery of funds still sitting in the fraudulent account.9Federal Bureau of Investigation. Cyber Crime A police report and notice to any impersonated business are worth adding, but recovery odds drop sharply once the money moves.