International payment

Send money abroad from Switzerland

Transfer money easily to an account abroad. You can choose yourself how long it should take for the recipient to receive the money. Within the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), credit transfers with e-finance and the PostFinance App are free.

International payment: worldwide credit transfers made easy

  • Transfers abroad via e-finance and the PostFinance App or at a Swiss Post branch

  • Free euro credit transfers as per SEPA standard in e-finance and the PostFinance App

  • Generally credited to the recipient institution in one to two banking days

  • “Express” option for urgent credit transfers in EUR, USD, CHF, CAD, GBP, NOK, SEK, CZK, HUF, PLN, ZAR

  • Real-time tracking: keep track of payments in real time and always see the latest status of fees as well as the amount actually transferred.

  • You transfer the amount from your private account

    • Enter the foreign IBAN/account details under “Enter payment” in e-finance and enter as a payment, in case of electronic capturing until noon on a weekday the payment will be processed on the same day without additional costs
    • With an electronic standing order
    • Complete the inpayment slip for international payments and pay at a Swiss Post branch using a PostFinance Card

    Payment currency

    You decide in which currency the amount should be credited abroad. Standard procedure is for the amount to be converted into the currency of the destination country. Crediting the amount in CHF (payment currency CHF) is worthwhile only if the end beneficiary’s account abroad is a CHF account.

    Speed of international transfers

    • SEPA International payment: account credited within a maximum of one banking day as of the debit date
    • Worldwide international payment: account credited in 1-2 working days
    • International payment Express: usually on the same banking day, depending on the order time and the recipient country’s time zone. Some recipient banks may not execute the credit immediately. This is beyond PostFinance’s control.

    IBAN (International Bank Account Number) and BIC (Bank Identifier Code)

    SEPA payments can be executed exclusively with an IBAN – the BIC does not have to be provided anymore. For other transfers, the account number and the BIC or a country-specific code are mandatory. An international payment (without express) to the USA, Canada, Australia, India or China requires a country-specific code if the payment currency matches the currency of the country of the recipient bank). Countries for which the IBAN is mandatory are marked in the IBAN country list.

    PostFinance’s BIC is POFICHBEXXX

    Real-time tracking of your international payments

    Use the tracking function to keep track of your international payments in real time until they reach the recipient bank. You can also keep track of fees and the amount actually transferred at all times.

    • Keep track of outgoing international payments in e-finance in real time. To do this, select the “Tracking” function in the payment details.
    • View the status of your payment at any time and always see the latest status of fees as well as the amount actually credited to the recipient bank abroad. The display of this information is dependent on voluntary feedback from the banks involved in SWIFT’s tracking service.
    • SEPA payments are excluded from tracking.
    • This service is available free of charge to all PostFinance customers.
  • Basic costs for credit transfers in e-finance and in the PostFinance App

    Credit transfer typePrice
    Credit transfer type
    SEPA International payment
    Price
    Free of charge
    Credit transfer type

    Worldwide international payment

    Recipient receives reduced amount
    Recipient receives full amount

    Price

     

    CHF 2

    CHF 22

    Credit transfer type
    Express surcharge
    Price
    CHF 10

    Note: International payments are automatically checked to ensure that they meet SEPA requirements.

    Basic costs for inpayments at the post office counter

    Inpayment typePrice
    Inpayment type

    Inpayment with PostFinance Card,

    Recipient receives reduced amount
    Recipient receives full amount

    Price

     

    CHF 12

    CHF 32

    Inpayment type
    Express surcharge
    Price
    CHF 10

    Third-party fee regulation

    Worldwide international payment

    Recipient receives reduced amount
    Fees are incurred for credit transfers abroad, which may be charged by the banks involved. These fees are normally deducted directly from the amount. The beneficiary therefore does not receive the full credit transfer amount.

    Recipient receives full amount
    All third-party fees for transferring money to the recipient bank are payable by the client as part of a flat fee of CHF 20 (+ basic costs). The recipient bank is credited with the full amount (see credit fees).

    SEPA International payment

    Third-party fee payment is not possible as deductions from the credit transfer amount are not authorized.

    Credit fees

    Please note that recipient banks can charge their customers a fee for credits received via SEPA and for worldwide payments (irrespective of the charging option). This is beyond PostFinance’s control.

      • SEPA international payment: account credited within one banking day as of the debit date
      • Worldwide international payment: account credited in one to two working days
      • Express international payment: usually on the same banking day, depending on the order time and the recipient country’s time zone. Some recipient banks may not execute the credit immediately. This is beyond PostFinance’s control.
    • With SEPA international payments, third-party fee payment is not possible as deductions from the credit transfer amount are not authorized.

    • Recipient receives reduced amount
      Fees are incurred for credit transfers abroad, which may be charged by the banks involved. These fees are normally deducted directly from the amount. The beneficiary therefore does not receive the full credit transfer amount.

      Recipient receives full amount
      All third-party fees for transferring money to the recipient bank are payable by the client as part of a flat fee of CHF 20 (+ basic costs). The recipient bank is credited with the full amount (see credit fees).

    • Please note that certain recipient banks can charge their customers a fee for credits received via SEPA and for worldwide payments (irrespective of the charging option). This is beyond PostFinance’s control.

    • You decide in which currency the amount should be credited abroad. Standard procedure is for the amount to be converted into the currency of the destination country. Crediting the amount in CHF (payment currency CHF) is worthwhile only if the end beneficiary’s account abroad is a CHF account.

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