International Bank Transfer

nik1971

Hello

I am awaiting a payment from a relative who lives abroad (within the EU) The payment left her account on Tuesday morning (3 days ago) but it still doesn't show up on my bank account. Another transfer of a much smaller amount (same country and bank) has been done on Wednesday evening and the money was in by Thursday afternoon.

Does anyone know why there is such a difference in the processing time of this two transactions? Could it be that the larger amount is handled in a different way then the smaller one?

Usually the bank would claim that it is an automatic process and there is nothing they can do about it. But if it is automatic I can't understand why the small amount arrived within a working day and the large amount is still in process.

Did anyone experience the same problems in the past?

Nik

grumbler

nik1971 wrote: »

...Usually the bank would claim that it is an automatic process and there is nothing they can do about it.

They can trace it and have to do this on the sender's request.
Almost certainly something went wrong with the first transfer, but I think it's worth waiting until Monday.

Jonni_2

Sometimes it can take up to 7 days for European transfers to complete, it all depends on the bank who is sending the money over and in part, the currency in question. Typically, if it's euro to your account in the UK (converted to GBP) then it'll take around 2 5 days. Hope this helps.

nik1971

Hello

Thank you both for your answers, yes, both payments were sent in EURO from the same bank in Austria to the same bank account in England. I was just surprised to see that the small payment arrived really quick but the larger one is still not in my bank account despite it has been sent a day earlier. I was just wondering if banks put a hold on larger amounts so they can make some interests on it, otherwise I couldn't explain the different processing times.

I have called Halifax (my bank) but they couldn't help me, just saying that I have to contact the bank in Austria which I already did anyway. They swear that the money left the account on Tuesday in the morning.

Jonni_2

Sometimes larger, cross border transfers can be scrutinised for anti-money laundering purposes. More information about that on the UK FCA website. Your best bet as the other poster (grumbler) had said is to wait until Monday and then hopefully your transfer will complete. Other than that, contact the Austrian bank as there's not alot the Halifax can do. 3 working days would be Monday next week. Fingers crossed for you.

nik1971

Update:

The money returned to the senders bank account twice. First time around 1.5 weeks ago, the money was returned on the same day it has been sent. We thought it was a simple typing error, double checked all the details and it has been sent again on Tuesday morning, went back into the senders bank account Friday afternoon.

Unfortunately no reason code or any explanation why this transfer is not going through. It has been done via SEPA so maybe that is the reason, but very unlikely because received a small payment via SEPA this week without any troubles and within a working day.

When I talked to both banks involved, nobody was able to tell me what went wrong and how to proceed.

Jonni_2

Hi Nik1971,

Wow, seems like you've a bit of a headache dealing with those banks. Personally, you'd be better off considering using a professional currency broker who would be able to handle the transaction for you, hence no hassle. Maybe eurotransfer.co.uk/austria/ - For Austrian to UK money transfers.

Shows the top currency brokers for UK and Austrian banks and related currency brokers. I guess that you could think about that as a solution if the banks are having problems getting your transaction completed. You'd probably save some money at the same time as they have better rates. Hope this helps.

nik1971

Hi Jonni

Thank you for the link, very helpful :beer:

Nik

Jonni_2

Hi Nik, no problem, I hope that the information is of some use for you! Rgds