Transferring funds to Australia

trailingspouse

I need to send some money to my daughter in Australia.

I have her bank details and SWIFT/BIC code.

I went online to my Santander account, and it asked for the SWIFT code, but also needed a 'National Clearing Code'. I asked her for it, and she's spoken to her bank - and they have no idea what this could be!!
I'm going to be ringing Santander today to see what they can do for me, but thought I would post on here to see if anyone can shed any light on it. Any ideas? Could the NCC be known by another name in Australia? Might Santander be able to do the transaction over the phone even though I can't do it online?

The lass needs the money!!

Chefbob

I have transferred money to my daughter's account in Aus a few times. I use OFX, it's quick and straightforward and, importantly, considerably cheaper (in fees and rate) of what the bank will charge you.
I can't post links, so Google "ofx gb".

There are also a number of alternatives to OFX which will provide a similar service.

PRAISETHESUN

I have transferred money to myself between UK and Aus a few times as well and I've always sworn by Transferwise, which I would highly recommend over an international bank transfer from your own bank. The high street banks typically charge an arm and a leg to transfer overseas, and the exchange rate they offer is absolute rubbish (sometimes as much as 5% worse than the interbank rate!).

To answer your question however, I'm pretty sure the NCC is the BSB number (equivalent to a sort code for UK accounts), and should only be needed for accounts which don't have an IBAN number

Chino

trailingspouse wrote: »

but thought I would post on here to see if anyone can shed any light on it. Any ideas?

Does this help?
https://www.sepaforcorporates.com/swift-for-corporates/list-ncc-national-clearing-codes/

"NCC – National Clearing Codes:
Australia:

• SWIFT MT101 – 57C://AU followed by 6 digit bank code, no spaces
• ISO20022 PAIN.001 – AUBSB (Australian Bank State Branch Code) followed by the 6 digit bank code, no spaces"

isasmurf

Natwest advises entering the BSB number in the NCC field when making payments to Australia.
https://supportcentre.natwest.com/Searchable/913245582/What-is-a-National-Clearing-Code-NCC.htm

trailingspouse

Wonderful. Disappointed that the person I spoke to at Santander didn't either know this or know where to find it out - but fingers crossed I can make the payment now. And I'll look into TransferWise et al.

Thanks all - she'll be very grateful.

System

PRAISETHESUN wrote: »

I have transferred money to myself between UK and Aus a few times as well and I've always sworn by Transferwise, which I would highly recommend over an international bank transfer from your own bank. The high street banks typically charge an arm and a leg to transfer overseas, and the exchange rate they offer is absolute rubbish (sometimes as much as 5% worse than the interbank rate!).

To answer your question however, I'm pretty sure the NCC is the BSB number (equivalent to a sort code for UK accounts), and should only be needed for accounts which don't have an IBAN number

IBAN is a EU SEPA initiative - a few third countries participate e.g. UAE but not Australia.

trailingspouse

Have transferred the money successfully to a very grateful daughter in Australia.
And I'm very grateful for the heads-up about TransferWise - saved £17 on the deal!! AND they didn't need the National Clearing Code!

JGUK

Yes I think you can open an Australian account with them as well which would then make a domestic payment into her account (for future reference)!

trailingspouse

JGUK wrote: »

Yes I think you can open an Australian account with them as well which would then make a domestic payment into her account (for future reference)!

Would that reduce any charges she might have to pay? And would we be able to use it ourselves like a 'normal' bank? (We go over there appx every couple of years, would be useful for cash withdrawals.)

PRAISETHESUN

trailingspouse wrote: »

Would that reduce any charges she might have to pay? And would we be able to use it ourselves like a 'normal' bank? (We go over there appx every couple of years, would be useful for cash withdrawals.)

https://transferwise.com/gb/borderless/

From the FAQs it looks like it's a UK-based bank account that offers accounts in multiple currencies so I would suspect that it'd count as a domestic transfer for the UK side, but for the Aussie side it would still be a foreign transfer, just without the currency conversion fees