Bank transfer: what you need to know

A bank transfer beats writing a check. If the recipient does not live in the same country as you, writing a check becomes more cumbersome because first, you will need to mail the person the check before they can cash it. Depending on the country’s rules on intercountry check cashing, that could also take another long process and time before the person can eventually access the money.

Bank transfer however bridges that gap because you can easily get the money directly into the person’s account. 

In this article, we will be talking about the intricacies of bank transfer and its advantages.

What is a bank transfer?

Bank transfer is therefore the process of electronically transferring money into someone else’s bank account. It could be an account of the same bank as you or a different one. Transferring to an account of a bank different from yours may attract processing or third-party charges but these are usually small and mostly negligible.

How does a bank transfer work?

You can either go into the banking hall to do the transaction with the help of a bank teller or you do it via the bank’s website or app. Indeed, some amounts of money cannot be transferred using apps or websites. They need to be done in person.

Also, transfer methods differ from bank to bank and country to country. Therefore, you will need to understand the requirements necessary to do a bank transfer through your bank, within your country, and or in the country you want to transfer to (if you are transferring to another country).

What are the documents necessary to make a bank transfer?

Whether you are sending the money via online transfer or through the bank physically, you will need to know

• The recipient’s 8-digit account number,
• The bank name and 6-digit branch sort code,
• The full name of the recipient or business name,
• The amount you want to send,
• Your own reference (your name or business name just so the person knows who is paying money into their account), and
• Whether you’d like to do an instant transfer or not.

For security reasons, some money transfer platforms will require more details about you and the recipient. Some of those details could include

• Email address
• A government-issued ID card
• Purpose of sending, etc.

What are the factors to consider for money transfers online?

• Platform security and reliability – you need to make sure the platform you want to use for the transfer is secure. You can check customers’ ratings to know the effectiveness of their services. Also, check to be sure the agency providing such a platform is licensed by the government. It does not matter how low the charges they are offering, if they are not licensed, they are not authentic for use. Beware.
   
• Speed of customer services – the rate at which a platform responds to its customer’s complaints and the efficiency in resolving such matters is important. You can know this beforehand by 
   
• Charges involved – there are two types of bank transfers and each comes with sending charges namely wire transfer and exchange rate. It is important that you know the intricacies of each to avoid unnecessary spending on your transfers.
  
  • Wire transfer – banks will charge a wire transfer fee each time you send money into or out of the UK. Each bank differs in the amount they charge.
  • Exchange rates – this is usually between 3 to 4 % of the amount you want to send. What it means is that the higher the money you want to send, the higher the charges.

You can easily work around these charges by using a money transfer platform that will charge less or not at all. All in all, you need to do your research well before choosing a platform to use.

Also, you need to know that even these platforms may charge hidden fees or higher fees depending on the country you are sending to. You should know this before choosing them.

• Ease of use – what you are trying to do is avoid unnecessary hassle. So, you should check out the ease of sending and receiving on such a platform before choosing it.
• Correct beneficiary details – as said earlier, money transfer platforms and banks will request the details of the recipient. It is therefore important that you get the details right to avoid unnecessary hassles.

Bank transfer has become easier over the years and there are a lot of legitimate platforms that offer good rates for transfer. You only need to know what it entails so that you can maximize its use.