International Money Transfers

Information you need to send an International Money Transfer (IMT)

Things to know before you send an IMT through NetBank

Information on Bank Codes (including BICs) and International Account Numbers (including IBANs)

After you have sent an IMT

 

Information you need to send an International Money Transfer (IMT)

Q. What information do I need to send money overseas?

A. To send an IMT you need:

• The Bank Identification Code (BIC) or bank code (this varies by country, in the US it may be the ACH code, India an IFSC, the UK a sort code), name and address of the overseas bank you are transferring to
• The recipient's name, address and account number
• The amount and currency you wish to send
• If you are sending money to certain countries, you may also need an International Bank Account Number (IBAN) and a Bank Identification Code (BIC). Your recipient will need to provide you with their IBAN.

You can also include the recipient’s email address in the transfer to notify them that the payment has been sent.

Q. Will my IMT be received in the same currency I sent it?

A. If you are sending an IMT in the local currency of the country it is being sent to (for example US Dollars to the US), the payment is unlikely to be converted. If the IMT is being sent in a currency that is not the local currency of the country, (for example US Dollars to Vietnam) then the likelihood of it being converted is higher. Please note that when sending an IMT, we cannot guarantee that it will be received in the currency sent.

We recommend that you select "Do not convert" tick box when sending your payment via NetBank. We will pass on these instructions, but it is possible, depending on the country, that a financial institution may decide or be required to convert your payment to the local currency (or another currency).

Please also ask your recipient to get details from their bank on what is needed for the money to be received in that currency (for example a specific intermediary bank for the money to be sent through).

IMTs with more complex instructions (for example those involving an intermediary bank) may require the IMT to be sent through a branch.

Q. How do I send an International Money Transfer (IMT) so that the money is received in Australian Dollars?

A. We cannot guarantee any payment will be received in Australian Dollars. This is because your money passes through other banks on the way to the recipient and these banks may convert the money.

For the best chance of having your money received in Australian dollars, please ask your recipient to get details from their bank on what is needed for the money to be received in AUD (for example a specific intermediary bank for the money to be sent through).

We also recommend that you select “Do not convert” tick box when sending your payment via NetBank.

Please note, more complex instructions may require the payment to be initiated through a branch.

Q. Where can I send an IMT to?

A. Through the Commonwealth Bank, you can send an IMT to over 200 countries, including :

Albania	Egypt	Korea, Republic of (South)	Panama
Algeria	El Salvador	Kuwait	Papua New Guinea
Andorra	Eritrea	Lao, Peoples Democratic Rep	Paraguay
Antigua and Barbuda	Estonia	Latvia	Peru
Argentina	Ethiopia	Lebanon	Philippines
Australia	Fiji	Lesotho	Poland
Austria	Finland	Liechtenstein	Portugal
Azerbaijan	France	Lithuania	Puerto Rico
Bahamas	French Polynesia	Luxembourg	Qatar
Bahrain	Georgia	Macau	Reunion
Bangladesh	Germany	Macedonia	Romania
Barbados	Ghana	Madagascar	Russia
Belarus	Gibraltar	Malawi	Saint Kitts and Nevis
Belgium	Greece	Malaysia	Saint Lucia
Belize	Greenland	Maldives	Saint Vincent and Grenadines
Bermuda	Grenada	Mali	Samoa
Bolivia	Guadeloupe	Malta	San Marino
Bosnia-Herzegovina	Guam	Marshall Islands	Saudi Arabia
Botswana	Guatemala	Martinique	Serbia, republic of
Brazil	Guernsey	Mauritius	Seychelles
Brunei Darussalam	Guyana	Mexico	Sierra Leone
Bulgaria	Holy See (Vatican City State)	Moldova	Singapore
Cambodia	Hong Kong	Monaco	Slovakia
Cameroon	Hungary	Mongolia	Slovenia
Canada	Iceland	Montenegro	Solomon Islands
Cayman Islands	India	Montserrat	South Africa
Chile	Indonesia	Morocco	Spain
China	Iraq	Mozambique	Sri Lanka
Colombia	Ireland	Myanmar	Sudan
Cook Islands	Isle of Man	Namibia	Swaziland
Costa Rica	Israel	Nauru	Sweden
Croatia	Italy	Nepal	Switzerland
Cuba	Ivory Coast	Netherlands	Syrian Arab Republic
Cyprus	Jamaica	Netherlands Antilles	Tahiti
Czech Republic	Japan	New Caledonia	Taiwan
Denmark	Jersey	New Zealand	Tajikistan
Djibouti	Jordan	Nigeria	Tanzania
Dominica	Kazakhstan	Norway	Thailand
Dominica Republic	Kenya	Oman	Timor Leste
East Timor (see Timor Leste)	Kiribati	Pakistan	Togo
Ecuador	Korea, Dem Republic of (North)	Palestine	Tonga

 

Q. How much does an IMT cost?

The cost to send an IMT differs, depending on whether you send it through NetBank or through a Branch.

NetBank: Up to $22

Branch: $30 for customers and non-customers

Other fees:

• Cost to trace an IMT- $25
• Cancellation fee- $25
• Change of details on the IMT- $25              

 

Things to know before you send an IMT through NetBank

Q. Can I transfer money to overseas accounts via NetBank?

A. You can use our International Money Transfers function, located under the 'transfers' tab. You can send money to over 200 countries, in more than 30 different currencies.

Q. Why am I prompted to answer my identification questions or enter a NetCode SMS when I make an IMT?

A. This is a security measure for your protection.

Q. What accounts can I use to send an IMT through NetBank?

A. IMTs can be sent from most Commonwealth Bank transaction, savings and business accounts.

It is not possible to make an IMT through NetBank from a:

• Foreign Currency Account
• Credit Card
• Home Loan or Personal Loan
• Term Deposit
• Passbook
• NetBank saver
• Jointly operated accounts which require more than one signature to operate


To link an account to NetBank, please call the NetBank Help Desk on 13 2221 (option 4), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week or visit any Commonwealth Bank branch.

Q. What is my IMT daily withdrawal limit, and how can I change this limit?

A. Your IMT daily withdrawal limit is the maximum amount of money expressed in Australian dollars you can send as IMTs per day.

You can increase this limit by telephoning the NetBank Help Desk on 13 2221 (option 4), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If you request the Bank to establish or increase your IMT daily limit, your liability for unauthorised transactions may increase.

Q. Why can't I perform an IMT?

A. To send an International Money Transfer through NetBank, you need to:

1. Register for a NetCode as provided in the Bank’s Electronic Banking Terms and Conditions. You can register for NetCode SMS (accessible only to Australian mobile phones) or NetCode Token.
2. /span>Activate the International Money Transfer service in NetBank. A default limit of $0 per customer per day applies to International Money Transfers (IMTs) using NetBank.  Your IMT daily withdrawal limit is the maximum amount you can send as International Money Transfers within any 24 hour period.


Your daily withdrawal limit will initially be set at $5,000 but you can request that this be increased up to $50,000. If you do, your liability for unauthorised transactions may also increase.

To arrange this, please contact our NetBank Help Desk on 13 2221 (option 4), 7 days a week.  

If you are overseas, you can call us 24/7 reverse charges +61 2 9999 3283.

If you wish to make IMTs for amounts greater than the current maximum Daily Withdrawal Limits using NetBank, we suggest that you perform these transactions at your local branch.

You can change your Daily Withdrawal Limit anytime on NetBank. All you need to do is to select the ‘my info’ tab, then select 'my NetBank limits' to reduce the limit for International

Q. When are NetBank International Money Transfers (IMT) processed, and how long will my transfer take to reach the recipient?

A. You can complete an IMT online via NetBank at any time. International Money Transfers performed on a weekend or public/bank holiday, or after currency cut-off times on a Bank business day, will be processed the following Bank business day. Your transaction will be seen as 'PENDING' in your International Address Book History. The next day, the status will change to 'SENT' if you have sufficient funds in your nominated debit account or 'REJECTED', if you have insufficient funds in your nominated debit account.

Under normal circumstances your money should arrive at the overseas bank of the recipient within 2 business days. However, we cannot guarantee this timeframe as there may be delays due to the banking practices of the overseas bank or country.

Q. How can I see the details of an IMT I have made?

A. Use the IMT Transaction History page to view IMTs you have submitted via NetBank. It includes transfers that are completed, pending (still being processed), and rejected.

Q. What happens if I send an International Money Transfer (IMT) to Vietnam through NetBank?

A. When sending money to Vietnam the sender has 3 options how the recipient will receive the funds:

1.  Crediting their account with any bank in Vietnam
2.  Holding and collecting the money at branch of Commonwealth Bank or an agent bank; or
3.  Delivery to the recipient


Please note, these options for receiving funds need to be specified by the sender and are only applicable when the funds are sent in Vietnamese Dong.

Q. For Vietnamese payments, what happens if the money is being delivered to the recipient?

A. Once the money has been received by our subsidiary Vietnamese bank, the recipient is contacted via the phone number entered on the IMT by the sender to confirm the time they would like funds to be delivered to the address. An unmarked vehicle will then transfer the money from the bank to the recipient

The recipient will need to provide Identification when receiving their money. The Cash Transit officer, will match the ID number from the NetBank IMT remittance to the National ID or Passport number.

Q. How long does it take for the money to be received?

A. If the sender has selected the beneficiaries account to be credited, then in most cases, if the payment is made prior to the currency cut-off time then payments should be credited same day (although this is subject to the processes of our Correspondent and the Beneficiary bank which may vary), it is recommended that clients be advised to allow 2-5 days for payment credit in their recipient’s account. 

If the sender has selected for the funds to be held for collected by the recipient at a branch of Commonwealth Bank Vietnam or an agent bank and the money is received by the Vietnamese bank prior to 5.30 pm Vietnam time (8.30 pm Sydney time), the recipient will be contacted within 1 hour of receipt of the NetBank IMT payment. A second attempt to contact the recipient will be made within 24 hours, and a third attempt will be within 48 hours of receipt. If the recipient cannot be contacted within 48 hours the NetBank IMT payment will be returned to the sender.

Q. When is my IMT reflected in my account balance, and how can I confirm that it has been sent?

A. If you submit an IMT before currency cut-off times on a Bank business day, the amount of the transfer plus any fees will be debited from your account immediately and your account balance available and account transaction history will be updated by the next Bank business day.

If you submit an IMT after currency cut-off times on a Bank business day, on a weekend or public/bank holiday, the amount of the transfer plus any fees will be debited from your account the following Bank business day.

To check whether your IMT has been processed, view the International Money Transfers history page, which lists the status of the transfers you have submitted. The status will be one of the following: 'Sent', 'Pending' (waiting to be processed), or 'Rejected'.

Q. What is the 'international address book'?

A. The 'international address book' lists the account details of recipients you have previously sent money to. You can use it to automatically enter their details when making an International Money Transfer rather than manually entering them each time.

This address book is completely separate from your NetBank address book and its entries will not appear there, or vice versa.

Q. Why has the sequence of screens changed for NetBank IMTs?

A. We want to help you get more out of NetBank IMTs. So we’ve taken your comments on board and developed an even better online banking experience for you.

We have:

• Reduced the amount of information that you need to input.
• Reduced the number of screens by displaying the recipient personal and banking details on the same screen.
• New delivery methods for payments to Vietnam (for local Vietnamese currency only). The delivery method can be one of the following: ‘Credit Account’, ‘Hold at Branch’, or ‘Home Delivery’.

Q. Will the change in sequence of the NetBank IMT screens impact my recipients’ saved in my ‘International address book’?

A. No. The 'International address book' lists the account details of beneficiaries you have previously sent money to. You can use it to automatically enter their details when making an International Money Transfer rather than manually entering them each time.

This address book is completely separate from your NetBank address book and its entries will not appear there, or vice versa.

Information on Bank Codes (including BICs) and International Account Numbers (including IBANs)

Q. What is a Bank Code?

A. A Bank Code is a series of numbers which is used to identify banks around the world. It is equivalent to Australia's 'BSB' code, and can be between 3 and 23 digits depending on the country of the bank and the type of code it is.

A Bank Code may be known as:

• BSB
• BIC (Bank Identification Code)
• CHIPS (Clearing House Inter-Bank Payment System) – US and Canada only
• NCC (National Clearing Code)
• BSC (Bank Sort Code)

You should obtain the Bank Code from your recipient, or you can search for it in the 'Recipients details' page of the NetBank International Money Transfer.

Please note: do not enter spaces or hyphens when entering the Bank Code in NetBank

Q. What is a Bank Identification Code (BIC) / SWIFT code?

A. A BIC is one of the most common forms of bank code used to identify individual banks.

SWIFT code/ address and a BIC are the same thing and are interchangeable terms. SWIFT is the process the Commonwealth Bank uses to send money overseas (similar to BPay used for domestic payments) and a BIC is the code that the SWIFT system uses to identify banks worldwide.

A BIC will either have 8 or 11 digits, depending on the bank you are sending the IMT to. An example of a BIC is as seen below

Q. What is an International Bank Account Number (IBAN)?

A. An IBAN is used in some countries to uniquely identify a customer’s bank account. The IBAN consists of an alphabetical country code, followed by two check digits, and then up to thirty five characters for the bank account number. For payments being sent from Australia to an IBAN mandatory country, an IBAN must be included.

An example of an IBAN and its components follows:

Do not enter hyphens or spaces (e.g. enter GB 12 CPBK 0892 9965 0449 91 as GB12CPBK08929965044991).

Q. How do I obtain an IBAN?

A. You should ask your recipient for their IBAN if the money is going to an IBAN mandatory country.

Q. Why do I need to include an IBAN in an IMT to certain countries?

A. In certain countries, an IBAN must be provided to send an IMT. For those not listed, the IBAN may be optional or not required (for example the USA).

If the IBAN is missing or incorrect, a charge may be applied by the receiving bank and your IMT may be rejected. These charges may be deducted from your payment or charged back to you.

An IBAN is required for the following countries:

Country	Number of characters	Examples of an IBAN (DO NOT include spaces or hyphens)
Austria	20	AT611904300234573201
Belgium	16	BE68539007547034
Bosnia and Herzegovina	20	BA391290079401028494
Bulgaria	22	BG80BNBG96611020345678
Croatia	21	HR1210010051863000160
Cyprus	28	CY17002001280000001200527600
Czech Republic	24	CZ6508000000192000145399
Denmark	18	DK5000400440116243
Estonia	20	EE382200221020145685
Finland	18	FI2112345600000785
France	27	FR1420041010050500013M02606
Germany	22	DE89370400440532013000
Greece	27	GR1601101250000000012300695
Hungary	28	HU42117730161111101800000000
Ireland	22	IE29AIBK93115212345678
Italy	27	IT60X0542811101000000123456
Luxembourg	20	LU280019400644750000
Macedonia	19	MK07300000000042425
Malta	31	MT84MALT011000012345MTLCAST001S
Mauritius	30	MU56BOMM0101123456789101000000
Netherlands	18	NL91ABNA0417164300
Norway	15	NO9386011117947
Poland	28	PL27114020040000300201355387
Portugal	25	PT50000201231234567890154
Saudi Arabia	24	SA0380000000608010167519
Serbia and Montenegro	22	CS73260005601001611379
Slovak Republic	24	SK3112000000198742637541
Slovenia	19	SI56191000000123438
Spain	24	ES8023100001180000012345
Sweden	24	SE3550000000054910000003
Switzerland	21	CH3900700115201849173

 

The following countries recommend using an IBAN:
 

Andorra Faroe Islands French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gibraltar Greenland Guadeloupe Guernsey, C.I. (France) Guernsey, C.I. (UK) Holy See (Vatican City State) Iceland Isle of Man (France) Isle of Man (UK) Jersey, C.I. (France) Jersey, C.I. (UK)

Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Martinique Mayotte Monaco New Caledonia Reunion Islands Romania Saint Pierre & Miquelon San Marino Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands Tunisia United Kingdom Wallis and Futuna Islands

After you have sent an IMT

Q. Why did my recipient not receive the full amount I sent through an IMT?

A. When you send an IMT, the money passes through one or more banks on the way to the recipient bank (the bank where the money is to end up). Each bank your money passes through may deduct a certain amount from the amount sent as a processing fee.

Unfortunately the amounts deducted are out of our control and not able to be determined prior to sending the money.

If a specific amount is required to be received, we suggest you send a little bit more money to cover these potential costs.

Q. What can I do if the recipient claims they haven't received the funds?

A. An International Money Transfer (IMT) will normally be received in 2 to 5 business days, but can take longer depending on the country and the bank you are sending the IMT to.

If the recipient has not received the IMT, you can request a trace be placed on the IMT. This trace will let you know the status of your IMT and whether there are any problems. A trace can be placed by telephoning the NetBank Help Desk on 13 2828, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week or alternatively, visiting a branch.

The Commonwealth Bank will charge AUD$20.00 (AUD$25.00 for non-customers) to setup a trace. Overseas banks involved in tracing your IMT may also charge a service fee, which will be passed back to you. Follow-ups may also be needed, depending on the branch and the country the money is being sent to. This will cost AUD$10.00 per follow-up.

Please note: You can also include the recipient’s email address in the transfer to notify them that the payment has been sent.

Receiving an IMT from overseas

Q. What is the BIC/ SWIFT Code for my CBA account?

A. The Commonwealth Bank's BIC/ SWIFT Code is: CTBAAU2S

For further information on what you need to receive money from overseas into your Commonwealth Bank Account, please click here.

Q. What do I need to receive money from overseas into my Commonwealth Bank Account?

A. To receive an IMT in your Commonwealth Bank account, you will need to give the sender the following details:

• Bank: Commonwealth Bank of Australia
• BIC/ SWIFT Code: CTBAAU2S
• BSB / Account Number: If you do not have these, please call 13 2221 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) or visit a branch
• Recipient Name and Address (cannot be a PO Box): Your name and street address

Q. How to transfer money from the US and Canada

A. For international money transfers in USD from the US or Canada, the following information is required:

• Agent Bank: BNY Mellon
• ABA: 021 0000 18
• SWIFT Address: IRVTUS3N

Please note that all funds transferred into a Commonwealth Bank account will be charged an acceptance fee.

IBAN: IBANs are not used in Australia, but for some payments being received into Australia from IBAN mandatory countries the sender may need to provide an IBAN. To satisfy this requirement, your Commonwealth Bank BSB and account number should be combined and given to the sender. Note no spaces, dashes or hyphens should be used.

For example: 06200011111111 (BSB)(ACCT number)