Receiving money via SWIFT wire transfer or T/T in Pakistan
July 18th, 2009
SWIFT Wire transfer, or T/T as its commonly called in Pakistan, is one of the safest ways to receive payment from foreign sources. SWIFT is a secure messaging standard that bank’s around the world use to send instructions to each other to make payments on their behalf. This is the basis of international wire transfer. Budding Internet entrepreneurs and freelancers may want to know how to receive money via this method so I have written this guide for them.
Obtain bank details
Each bank in the SWIFT network has its own alpha-numeric Bank Identification Code (BIC). In Pakistan this is commonly referred to as the SWIFT code and is one of the critical pieces of information that you will need to give the sender before he can remit your money.
Go to your bank branch and ask the customer service personnel to help you obtain the following information about your bank:
- Name
- Address
- SWIFT code (BIC)
Most banks in Pakistan are connected to the swift network via a correspondent bank. This correspondent bank acts on their behalf. If your bank has a correspondent bank then obtain this information about it:
- Name
- Address
- SWIFT code (BIC)
- The number of your bank’s account with them.
If the sender is an individual you can receive the money into a foreign currency or rupee account . But if the sender is a company then according to State Bank of Pakistan rules your earnings must be credited to a Pakistan rupee account. So keeping this in mind, note down your own details:
- Full name
- Address
- Bank account title
- Bank account number
- Type of account
The most critical pieces of information are your bank’s name, swift code and your own name, account number and account title.
Send the details to remitter
Once you have collected the above information send it to your client or employer. He will then need to go to his bank and seek assistance from the customer service personnel there. They will help him fill out a form drawing on the information that you sent. Some banks also offer this service online. Once the forms are filled the money will be wired to you.
Receiving the money
You will receive the money in 1-4 days time. Your bank in Pakistan will contact you when the money arrives.
If the remitter is a company you will be asked to fill out a declaration form. In this form you will need to specify what goods and services you supplied to your buyer in return for the money. Just specifying "IT services" may suffice.
Once the money is credited to your account you can ask your bank for a Proceeds Realisation Certificate (PRC). This document certifies that your earnings are legal export proceeds.
Which bank in Pakistan allows wire transfers? Which bank do you use?
Almost all banks in Pakistan allow it.
I have been trying to get the address of my intermediary bank [Citi Bank in New York]. My bank account is at Bank Alhabib Clifton, and they cannot provide me with the address because they say it is not necessary. They say the SWIFT Code is more than enough. How can I get this address? Can you help me?
Don’t worry about it. They are right. The physical address of the correspondent bank is not a critical piece of information. As long as you have the correspondent bank’s name and swift code you are good to go.
See in my post above I have mentioned this in the last paragraph under “obtain bank details”.
Salam Abdussamad Abdurrazzaq,
I might be have no time to read all the posts.
Can you please tell me which pakistani bank supports wire transfer and moneybooker.
Regards
Gohar
jani is me all banks accept krte hen wire transfer ko siwae bank al habib k.ap kisi b bank swift code k through wire transfer se conect ho skte ho….
Hello,
i have recetnly opened a bank account in barclays
lahore.
i have to recieve payments from comapnies in other countries.
last week a company from italy sent me a payment but said payment could not go through because of swift code error.
i called the bank. they said IBAN is sufficient for the transaction.
do you think the payment will go through?
if the payment does not go through can u recommend me a good bank in lahore for recieving payments in foreign currency.
regards
saad
I think you need the swift code for International money transfer.
Go with any other major bank if barclays is not cooperating with you.
I want to receive some money from Alret pay. What is the procedure use for receiving money.
Which pakistani Bank received that money?
thanks
hey can u tell me the procedure to withdrw money frm alertpay to bank
In Alert pay add your Master or Visa Card (for receiving money it works with both Debit as well as Credit Cards)
so once there verification process is completed, then receiving money from AlertPay is just a click+a few days away
No matter what currency you transfer to your visa/master card, it ll be converted to PKR as of that days official exchange rate(Unless you have account in foreign currency).
I used it for a number of times, it works nicely, and costs a very little amount, for fees check AlertPay’s FAQ.
Thanks for a very informative comment.
i have debit card of HBL how can i verify my account through this card.they csw/cw no i dont have that no number please sugest me an easy way
thanx
SWIFT Code for Habib Bank Limited is HABBPKKA
and enter complete account number of 14 digits after this
i want to know that which bank is directly connected to swift account. not indirectly .directly………..
That is a very good question. I have often wondered that myself. Unfortunately I have no certain answer.
If you go to the swift website at http://www.swift.com you can search for your bank’s swift code/BIC using the tool in the right sidebar. If entering your bank’s name displays its BIC that should be an indication that your bank is directly connected to the swift network.
However despite the fact that my bank faysal bank does show up in the BIC search, the personnel at my branch tell me that I have to communicate the correspondent bank information to the remitter as well. So I don’t know for sure whether this is an accurate test.
I am opening an account in Faysal Bank to get money from moneybookers through Swift bank account.
Abdussamad, can you please tell me that how much money you’ll get in your bank account, after transfering $50 from moneybookers (note $2.8 will already be deducted by MB).
Asking this as you are not sure, Faysal bank uses any intermediary bank or not.
Wire transfer is only worthwhile for amounts of at least $1,000. I suggest you wait till the amount you have is large enough to justify a wire transfer withdrawal.
Its not possible to say with certainty what amount will be deducted in bank fees. Correspondent banks can deduct nothing or they can deduct as much as $65. There is no way to say for certain beforehand.
I am not agreed with Abdussamad!!!
Atleast amount for wire transfer is $20. I have confirmed it and Host bank does not charge any fee. Fee for the wire transfer is only charged by sending bank.
I have the SWIFT Code . The sender also inisists that I sehould give him my IBAN. Why does he need an IBAN also and how do I get my IBAN Is the SWIFT code enough?
IBAN is a standard for bank account numbers that is currently only used for money transfers within Europe. Most banks in Pakistan and the rest of the world don’t follow that standard. You don’t need the IBAN.
Swift code, account number, bank name, country name etc. will suffice. You need to make it clear to the sender that it is going to be an international money transfer using the SWIFT system.
Thanks . This was a very useful information.
Hello,
I recently started learning forex trading and have my account registered with a decent forex Broker i.e. FXCM . Now I need to send deposit monet to them for trading purpose and they only accept wire transfer from Pakistan.
I opened a foriegn currency account at Habib Metropolitan Bank and requested them to remit my amount i.e. USD 2000/-. But they say that you are restricted by State Bank that any individual with personal account in Pakistan can not send money to company account outside Pakistan.
Help Please
Sincerely
Abbas
Here is the proof that you can do what you like with your money:
“These accounts are free from all Foreign Exchange restrictions. In other words, account holders have full freedom to operate on their accounts to the extent of the balance available in the accounts either for local payments in Rupees or for remittance to any country and for any purpose or for withdrawals”
The above is straight from the horse’s mouth – the website of the State Bank of Pakistan itself: http://www.sbp.org.pk/fca/index.htm
I suggest that you print out the above web page and show it to your bank personnel. Or you could ask them to browse to the SBP site but who knows whether they have Internet access or not? If they still refuse to let you send money you should investigate if other bank’s are more understanding. Do post your experience here.
I am totally disagree with your reply.It seems to be confusion arises with banker and the customer.First of all the FCM.refrence with 2002 updated upto jan,2002.The transations outward remittance restrictive in nature and there certain restrictions for example imports trade payments only go through the PKR account instead of FCY accounts and individual can be remit to individual not involve company name in terms of outward remittance.
Awaiting your reply
sayeed
I can’t make head or tails of what you’ve written. You need to work on your English language skills.
Salam Abdussamad,
I am stuck with moneybookers. I have an account with Faysal bank. I withdrawn $100 from MB to my bank account but it is returned and gave me a reason that my bank account details are incorrect.
Do you have account in Faysal Bank?
Have you made any withdrawal from your MB account to your bank account?
Also, can you give me ur mail.
Will look forward for your response. I am a kind of desperate.
Never withdrawn from MB but I have successfully received wire transfers from other companies into my Faysal Bank account. What swift code did you give MB? FAYSPKKA is the swift code I use. There are also branch specific codes like FAYSPKKA123.
Dont use moneybookers they block Pakistani accounts on flimsy pretexts and refuse to let you take out your money after locking the account. Their low rates are compensated by the fact that they steal money by allowing you to upload and receive but locking the account when there is considerable amount in the account. They will stop replying your emails when they lock your account with your money in it.
Just google for :
moneybookers account locked
before trusting your money to these tricksters who can lock account AFTER getting your money and refuse to return back the money either to you or the sender.. trust me I have lost 1000s of $s not hundreds and since I cant physically access them I can just advise my country fellows to be safe than sorry
@ Rehan
Thanks for your reply.
Well, they locked my account once as they find two account in my name with 2 emails so they ask me to close any one and asked for the ID verification, which i provided them and they unlock my account.
Also, their customer support is very responsive and co-operative as per my experience.
@Abdussamad:
Thanks for the reply.
Yes, i have used the same (head office branch code which i enquire through their customer spport) swift code as my branch does not have any specific code.
They rejected my first withdrawal of $14 and again rejected $100 withdrawal by saying that the Bank Account information i provided is incorrect and return the money to my MB acount.
I think i was making a mistake by also entering my branch code along with my bank account number (e.g. 00001234567890, here 0000 in the first is the branch code which i also enquire from the customer support of Faysal bank).
I once again withdrawn $100 yesterday and this time it is appearing as ‘processed’.
Let’s see what happen and please wish me good luck or please let me know, if there is any mistake i have been making in the process.
Do you know any bank in Karachi, Pakistan which could allow me to send money via TT to a company in Switzerland.
I am very tired of these all problems and need to have an instant solution.
Abbas
Any body interested in Forex can take his chance and time to send money abroad anywhere legally. If you are a resident of karachi then please goto First Women Bank Boat Basin Clifton Branch. open a foreign currency account and apply for TT later on.
Thats it
Regards
Abbas
Assalamualakam and Eid Mubarak!
Someone please let me know the charges!
I am working in Brunei Darussalam and use Western Union to Transfer money, but now i am thinking and wishing to use my personal account that is in Bank Alfalah Islamic Banking Gujrat Branch.
Don know the charges deducted on receiving amount from Pakistan.
thanks
Hi, Abdussamad Abdurrazzaq
Very nice detailed post.
Well i have an account with HMB was getting payment from them.. but not satisfied with their service coz some time the got my payment but they did not credit in my account say that we have not received fax from main branch. some time it happen they got payment in their branch system and they do not get fax from head office then i have to ask them to check system and call head office to send them fax (thats not my duty)
So which bank is perfect for wire transfer ?
Is there any risk of not getting payments?
Do banks must call account holder before crediting their account for verification?
any way to track out payments?
Thank in advance
Faisal the answers to your questions in the order you posed them:
1. I don’t think there is any bank that is perfect for wire transfer. It all depends on your experience with your bank. For instance some people might have a good experience with XYZ bank and others might hate it. Of course if your bank is really being a PITA you should switch to another.
2. Well if your bank really really screws up then your account might never get credited. It would be really rare and the absolute height of incompetence but it could happen.
3. My bank does call me before crediting my account. They only call to ask for the reason behind the transfer. Once I give them a clear answer they credit my account. There is no additional verification.
4. As mentioned above SWIFT is an encrypted messaging standard and every stage of the money transfer process is tracked and recorded. This data is available to the sender’s bank and the recipient’s bank as well so you will have to contact them. You can also ask for a printout of the SWIFT message that shows the route the money took.
does opening swift account has extra costs, how can i transfer my funds in paypal…?
aoa/Hi
i have to receive some payments via MB in my askari bank account, now I am confused how much transfer rate will b applied. I talked to the askari bank representative, he said we don’t deduct any charges , the deductions are only made by the other bank.
so please anyone tell me is transfer through MB free as stated on their site or there will by any charges, by MB or any intermediate bank
The aritcle is very much informative. Thanks a lot.
@ SHOAIB,
Yes they will not deduct any charges. The thing you have to confirm is that Asakri Bank do not use any third party/corresponding bank.
Which I hope is not the case with Asakari Bank.
Asalam Alikum Abdussamad Abdurrazzaq,
Why are you suggesting to get Correspondent Bank details, I think it is not our concern who is/are Correspondents of our bank except we are calculating fee (if any), which will be deducted from remitted amount.
Well Thank you for all information.
Assalam o alaikum
Does anybody know the procedure to send money to forex brokers abroad i want to send $5000 to ibfx australia. I have come to know that sending money to forex brokers from Pakistan is not allowed these days as per State Bank of Pakistan policy. First please tell me if i can send or not?
Secondly if it is possible somehow to send money abroad to a forex broker then i have two options. one is swift/wire transfer to broker account the other option is using my ubl wallet visa debit card for this purpose. wire transfer is cheaper but i wonder if i can get a visa debit card for a foreign currency account i mean i want debit card base currency to be U$D no PKR because currency conversion can cost you a lot specially in my case it can cost up to Rs.19500 for $5000.
Please reply if some one can help me out.
Thankyou.
Karbala jari hay Hussain ka sath ho ya Yazeed k sath socho!
@Ali
Thanks for Reply. Yes I guess Askari Bank do not use any third party bank.
anyhow I ll confirm
I got my money in my account, NO deductions only the $2.18 MB Fee.
and I got it within 2 days
I made the transaction on Friday and I received my money on Monday. so 2 working days, not 2 even..
Thanks all for help
Regards
Shoaib
Thanks got too much information from your article.
Hi,i am a freelancer & want to withdraw my funds through wire transfer.Plz tell me which bank will be best for this purpose or in other words which bank have least charges of wire transfer & plz also tell the amount which bank deduct as a fees of wire transfer.
Regards.
Salam bro,
Any idea, how to send/transfer money from Ireland to FC account in Pakistan. How much extra it cost ?
Cheers
Will I be able to receive payment from 2Checkout.com as a Wire transfer to my Foreign Currency account Faysal Bank or I will need a Pak rupee acount for this purpose?
Since the sender is a company you’ll need a Pak rupee account to receive the wire.
would u tell me that a bank has only one BIC for all the branches in the same country or every branch of same bank has different swift codes?? for example main branch of summit bank has a swift code but here in Islamabad its branch donot posses any code. so can i use that karachi’s branch code for Islamabad branch??
Major branches have their own swift code. Minor ones don’t. You’ll have to ask the personnel at your branch to help you out on this matter. Usually what happens is that you receive the money using the head office swift code and the bank takes care of routing the money to your account.
Please, clarify for me one thing about Pakistan Monetary System. I am from Brazil and want to learn more from you. I am trying to do some business with a Pakistan Company but they say that to send my payment to Brazil, they need the State Bank approval, is it true?
Best Regards,
Lucas
Sorry I can’t help you. I don’t work in the banking industry. I am just a consumer. I only know that I sent an outward wire transfer to a foreign company once and I didn’t have to get SBP approval.
Hi i have some questions from you…….
First of all i will like to know that by sending money through this swift code how much money will be cost above it….?(sending from pak to china)
Ok I decided to write up a new blog post answering the questions you posed as well as discussing other aspects of SWIFT wire transfer.
salam,i m going to work as a free lancer
so all from the discussion i got to know that all i need to do is open a foreign currency bank account , obtain my swift code and send the details to the sender company. rite??
A rupee account will be required not an FC account.
thanks abdussamad for the reply,
plz clarify wht details would my the free lancer companies would ask me for a wire transfer?
and i do have my account with ABL .. is it enough?
Hi…I need to know my parents are getting medical treatment in pakistan father has rupee account in bank alhabib i want to send him money from spain how much can i send him in one go and i want to know what is the limit for indivial sending? does he need to declare it why he is getting money?i donot want hassle for him because he is already sick. his account activity is normal when he will get large amount of money would bank or tax ppl make him worry.they need large amount for treatment and buying a place to live.whay do u say what is best way to keep them hassle free? please reply.
Hi respected sir.
Here i am Muhammad Hassan from Hyderabad , i am habib bank account holder, i would like to ask some information about wire transfer , i got admission in Italy so kindly please suggest me, i want to send the Euro by wire transfer , can i send 3000 Euro by wire transfer ?
Kindly please suggest me your positive regards
Best regards
Muhammad Hassan
Yes you can do that.
Hello,
I am from Karachi, Pakistan. I have newly started article writing job at freelancer.com and have earned around $115. Now I want to know about money transfer system. It supports moneybookers. I have registered myself on moneybookers. I need some information that which bank works best with moneybookers and charge less amount. I have an account at bank al-habib, but many forums says that they charge huge amount. Please suggest in which bank should i open an account.
Wire transfer is only worthwhile for amounts of $1,000 or more. For smaller amounts the fees make it too expensive. So either wait until your balance reaches that level or spend the money online.
Some of the first comments to this post are about banks. So please go through them if you can. But the bottom line is that almost all banks allow wire transfers. Which one you choose is entirely upto you.
BTW moneybookers will require verification before you can withdraw money. So be sure to take that into account. Read their help section thoroughly.
very good information.
i have a little question although the blog breifly explain everything.
My question is i have moneybooker account and amount in it, so i want to withdraw from moneybookers.com.
1- which bank do i use that gives better service and directly attached with swift network also charges less
2- or simply tell me which bank you are using and what charges apply on incoming wire transfers.
Thanks, Omer
Hey there! i am trying to add a UBL account to my account but when i am trying to enter the SWIFT address which IS “UNILPKKAXXX” shows always invalid format, but i used it in the bank which is correct, I see in another info is that the (UNILPKKA = UNILPKKAXXX)
Please tell me if i can use the UNILPKKA instead of UNILPKKAXXX.
Thanks
Thank you so much for this help full artifcal
Thank you so much for this help full article
Assalamoalikum,
Sir I want to send money in Finland’s bank whose IBAN no, Receiver’s name, bank information I already know. Please guide my how I send 250 Euros in Finland’s bank. Mean from which bank in Pakistan.
Dear Abdussamad,
A person in US wants to send me a check of $75. Can you tell me the best/easiest possible way to get the money? I have an account in Allied Bank.
mai alertpay se bnk ke thrug dollars kis trah niklwao can u guide me plzzz
Nice information to work with online customers.
Thanks Buddy
i want to know if saudi bank transfers money to pakistan so in which pakistani bank will it tranfer the amount ?
Please read the article above and the first few comments. You can receive payment in any bank in Pakistan that is connected to the swift network. Almost all of them are.
I want to pay the fee for the publication of research paper. The beneficiary is a corporate account. Now i have a question that without having any foreign currency account how i can pay the fee to UAE?Any bank in Pakistan gives this facility to transfer the money to UAE if one has no foreign currency account?
I believe there is an exception made for education. Usually this is for Pakistani students who want to take a foreign examination or attend a foreign university. I don’t know whether the publication of a research paper falls under that heading or not. You can ask banks or exchange companies in your locality. They will tell you what you need to know.
nice post, I wanted to ask you that I am currently working as a paid blogger. The company is in England which owns many websites. I write post for on of the site and get paid accordingly. Now when I went to the bank to open the account, i said that I want to open a current account in which monthly wire transfer will take place. They kept saying that you must provide with proof that you work for a company. I told them I work as a freelancer, I just write posts and get paid simple. But still I managed to open a current account in UBL with the status of un-employed and I told the approx money I will get monthly. Now i want to ask, is it alright to trust the bank that they will process the foreign money without question or will they disturb me in the verifying process ?
And secondly, what should I tell the bank when i goto open an account ?
No one cares what you do with your account.
Look at this link..
https://www.odesk.com/community/node/18602
The guy has much problem with UBL , so I wanted to ask if you have experience of wire transfer from any bank. If you have please tell which one do you use.?
This question has already been answered above.
hey can any one tell me how can I tranfer money from ubl pakistan to bank in Dubai…i went to my local UBL and NBP branches….they said it is not possible for them to do it…..can any one help me.
Please read this blog post about international wire transfers.
Get moneytransfer account
I
UBL has branches in Dubai and Sharjah.
Thanks to Abdul for excellent information sharing.
Dear Abdus Samad,
can you please tel me how can I use 2CO account for receiving home remittances.
Hello, I have a question about wire transfer. I have a bank account with SCB and I never faced a problem with any delay or high fees when withdrawing money from moneybookers to SCB. However, only recently, I withdrawed an exact amount of 152$(After withdraw fee deducation) and I recieved 11031.57 PKR. I mean if I divide the amount, then the conversion rate is as low as 72PKR=1USD I mean this is ridiculous. It can not be possible. Did they deduct any fee? If they did, why didn’t I see any significant difference previously. Can you suggest me what should I do?
Thanks
Correspondent banks who help route the money to its destination can deduct an arbitrary amount. So the amount deducted is not due to exchange rate differences but because of correspondent banks. That is why I have clearly written in the blog post above that you only use wire transfer for amounts of $1000 or more. For smaller amounts ask for a cheque.
abdusammad mere pas hbl ka debit card hai main us k through apne alertpay account ko kaise verify kar sakta hon.
Consult alert pay help section.
i have mezan bank account when i added dat to moneybookers they asked me about account number i m confused as after giving swift code of mezan bank which is MEZNPKKA it does not describes the branch.. now kindly guide me in the section of account number should i give only my account number or also my branch code?? thanks Smile waiting for ur reply
You should contact meezan bank for this information. Usually what happens is that you enter your bank account number and the swift code of your branch or, failing that, head office. The head office then takes care of routing the money to your account.
aslam o alykum,
Sir! could you tell me how i can send money to a tradeing compny in china they accsept money by T.T while i have non account in any bank,and how many days after money will be transfer,and how much money now days cost for 270$ for send to china.i never send before money by T.T plz help me and if they will not send me goods then how i will return my money ? which shorty will be in this matter ?>
$250 is too low for wire transfers. SWIFT Wire transfers are only worthwhile for payments of $1000 or more. You could try western union instead. More on outgoing wire transfers.
i have no any bank account how i can send money to china there from i am buying some goods they said first send money there is a compny there
Dear Sir ,
I need to send fund over 5000 USD from Pakistan to USA. It is a commercial trade and i have a wire transfer information of this company.
Please suggest me the name of Bank or agent with a simpler procedure and requirement .
I am newer to the online market and dont know the methods for remittance.
Thanks
All I know about outgoing wire transfers.
i want to transfer USD50 via telegraphic transfer to Malaysian university but no one is willing to transfer below USD100. can you please name the institution which can help me in transferring USD50 via telegraphic transfer?
hi i want to tranfer money to pakistan. from international standard bank. it take tranfer code. Can help me.
Nope I can’t help you. Only your bank can help you.
Hey what is the limit of transfer of usd from foreign country to Pakistan in an individual account. What are the requirement I need to fulfil before getting the money. Also tell the procedure to follow if the amount of remmittance is in million of USD?
Again, ask your banking institution for this sort of info. I am just an ordinary consumer with a blog on the web who decided to write about his limited experience with Wire transfers
I have started a IT base business. in this I business use to provide research base services to international university student. and the also get educational material from web site.
So please tell me that how could I receive payments from abroad against providing of above mentioned services. and what kind of bank account I will have to open and is there any law and regulations restriction of State Bank of Pakistan to receive money in Pakistan from abroad…
Well that depends on the payment method’s acceptable to your clients. Westerners are very spoiled and will not change payment methods. Anyway I suggest checking out this article I wrote before about two payment processors:
Payment processors
BTW no restrictions from SBP. On the contrary our govt., like most govts, encourages exports.
Aslam o Alikum
i want to verify my account on Alertpay.com. for that purpose bank wire of amount $50 i have to deposit in Bank account of Alertpay.please guide me from which bank i can send this money? either it is neccesary to send from my HBL account or can i can send from other instition ?
Please go through the previous comments, and my replies to them, for the answer to your question.
Hello All of my Pakistani Friends,
I am in this E-Commerce & Banking System round the Globe for 11 years.
I Feel Really happy to see our Pakistani Youth is now getting in a the GLobal World to find the best way out of making money.
Receiving money from Foregin Banks is always remains a problem, even the major problem is the staff sitting in the Bank doesn’t know Them Selves what they are talking about or how they can solve the problem
Just to Advise you one major role, Always Ask the Bank these details which u can forward to the sender party.
You need: Bic or Swift
you need Account number of yours, make sure u ask the bank the correct nummber and sequence to be used.
you need Bank Address Complete
and your Account name correctly Appearing
and Always use Private banks, if u will use government regulated banks the staff will always give you headache like State bank Permission etc.
Private Banks Normally are Best as they are motivated and they some fear that a complain of them can cost them there jobs been taken.
for Money bookers firstly dont use money bookers as they eat your money.
but in Pakistani Banks Always
Askari bank
Barclays bank
Bank Al habib
HSBC
These Banks are best
What about MCB. Whenever the company send me my payments, there are always rate issues. I always receive less amount.
It’s probably because of the correspondent bank.