Transfer the amount from your business account

• Electronically in e-finance as an international payment or as an electronic payment order (EPO). 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
• As an inpayment at a post office using the Giro international form (possible only with 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.

Transfer duration

• Giro international SEPA: within a maximum of one banking day from the debit date
• Giro international: within one to two banking days from the debit date
• “URGENT” option: generally on the same day; carried out as quickly as possible. PostFinance has no influence on transactions being carried out instantly by the recipient institution.

Info hotline

If you have any questions regarding Giro international, please call +41 58 667 97 67.

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

In accordance with the SEPA standard, euro credit transfers can be executed only with an IBAN. For other credit transfers, the account number and the BIC or a country-specific code are mandatory. A Giro international (without urgent) to the USA, Canada, Australia, India and 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.

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.

Third-party fees

Fees may be charged by involved banks for Giro international transactions. The client may choose from the following fee rules:

• Fees paid by the recipient/shared cost: Fees are charged to the beneficiary, i.e. fees are deducted from the amount. The beneficiary therefore does not receive the full transfer amount.
• Fees charged to the client/our cost: 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 price). The recipient bank is credited with the full amount.

No third-party fees are chargeable for Giro international SEPA.

Credit fees

For both Giro international and Giro international SEPA, recipient banks can charge their customers a fee for incoming payments – regardless of the fee option. This is beyond PostFinance’s control.

International payment transactions and SEPA