Help with sending money abroad

Do you have family overseas and want to send them money or you might even be working or buying a house abroad? Whatever the reason, our International Payments service is fast, efficient and secure.

What's more, setting up and sending money in different currencies is simple through our online banking service – just view our demo on how to make international payments.

Here's a few pointers to bear in mind before setting up an international payment…

• The recipient will need to be set up
• Depending on the destination, you'll need the following information:
  • For euro payments you'll need the BIC and IBAN – these are required for euro transfers to a EU/EEA country
  • Payments sent to the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Monaco and Switzerland also require an IBAN and a BIC to be included with the payment instruction
  • For the rest of the world, the beneficiary name and bank details are needed.

And once you’ve set up a new recipient online we save the details so next time you don’t have to enter them again.

New payments and transfers
Setting up payments to International banks

Existing payments and transfers
Sending existing payments and transfers
Viewing existing payments and transfers
Deleting exisiting payments and transfers
Requesting an exchange rate illustration
How long will my international payment take to arrive

Setting up payments to International banks 

From the 'My accounts' page select the account which you want to send the payment from.

Select the ‘UK & International Payments’ tab and then select ‘International Payments’.

If you know the BIC/SWIFT code:
Select ‘I know the BIC/SWIFT code’ then click ‘Continue’.

Enter the following details:

• Recipients name
• Recipients IBAN (International Bank Account Number) or the Recipients account number
• Recipients bank Swift/BIC code.

If you don’t know the BIC/SWIFT code:
Select ‘I don’t have the BIC code’ then click ‘Continue’

Enter the following details:
Recipient’s name
Recipient’s IBAN (international Bank Account Number) or the Recipient’s account number
Recipient’s bank name and bank address

Check the details, enter your password to confirm your request and click ‘continue’.

We will contact you by phone for a quick security check using our Enhanced Internet Authentication.  Select the number you would like to be contacted on and when prompted enter the on screen confirmation code. 

If you then wish to send the new Recipient a payment straight away, click ‘Make a payment’ on the confirmation screen.

Sending an existing international payment / transfer

From the 'My accounts' select the account which you want to send the payment from.

Select the ‘UK & International payments’ tab and click the 'Make a payment' link next to your existing recipient details.

From the ‘International payments’ page, select a currency from the drop down list.  You’ll be shown the currency for the country you’re making a payment to.

Enter the amount you wish to send.

For payments and transfers, you can also provide optional additional information to help the recipient identify the purpose of the received funds, for example, the purchase of a particular plot of property.

Click the 'Continue' button.

Check the details, then click ‘Continue’

Read the international payments terms and conditions.  To proceed, tick the box to accept the terms and conditions, enter your password and click ‘continue’ to send the payment.

The reference number for your payment request is shown on the final 'Confirmation' page.  We suggest you print a copy of this page, or make a note of the reference number, for your records.

Once submitted, International payments cannot be stopped, amended or recalled.

Viewing existing international payments / transfers

From 'My accounts' select the account you wish to view.

Select the ‘UK & International Payments tab and then  select ‘International payments’.

Deleting international payments / transfers

From 'My accounts' select the account which you want to delete the payment from.

Select the ‘UK & International Payments tab and then  select ‘International payments’. Next select the ‘Delete’ link next to your existing recipient.

Request an estimate of the payment value

Our estimate gives you an idea of approximately how much foreign currency you could receive for your selected amount, plus the fee to send the payment.  Due to exchange rate variations, this is for illustrative purposes only and may not reflect the exchange rate you would receive at the time you actually send your payment.

To obtain an estimate of the payment value select your account from the 'My accounts' page.

Select the ‘UK & International Payments’ tab and then ‘International payments’.  Using the ‘International Payment Calculator’ select the country or currency and enter the amount you wish to pay and then click the ‘Get estimate’ button.

How long will my international payment take to arrive?

If you ask us to make a payment in euro to a bank in the EEA, the payment will reach the other bank no later than the next working day after we have received your payment instruction. The bank receiving the payment from us is required by law to pay it into its customer’s account on the day it receives the payment from us.

If you ask us to make a payment to a person in another currency or with an account at a bank outside the EEA, you can ask us for details about how long it will take to arrive. We will not be able to control exactly when the payment will be received by the foreign bank. This will depend on the banking practice of that country.

EU/EEA countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom