The oDesk Guide to Wire Transfers

Receiving Wire Transfers

Wire transfers are a well-established way to transfer funds from bank-to-bank across international borders. Most international wire transfers today use the SWIFT system.

Wire transfers are fast and reliable, but for international transactions can be very expensive, and you are the mercy of your bank (and if it uses one, its intermediary bank or banks) to determine the exchange rate you will receive. They are also quite complicated and it is imperative that you enter your bank information 100% accurately.

How much do wire transfers cost? oDesk charges $30 per wire transfer requested. This covers our bank fees and the cost of handling transaction failures. In addition, most local banks charge a fee to receive wire transfers. If your bank uses an intermediary and/or correspondent bank, it may charge an additional fee, either a flat fee or a currency spread. Fees vary widely by country, bank, and currency, so unfortunately it is difficult for us to provide guidance.

How long does it take for the funds to clear my bank account? It depends on your bank. We process all wire transfer requests the next business day. If the transfer is successful the funds could hit your account within minutes, or depending on the country could take a couple of days to arrive because of the complexities of the correspondent and intermediary bank system. Some banks impose a waiting period on funds from incoming (and especially international) wire transfers. Please contact your financial institution directly to find out their policy.

Setting up your bank account information

We have recently upgraded our interface for entering bank information for wire transfer. It is critical to make sure your bank details are 100% accurate. We strongly recommend that you ask your bank for detailed instructions.

The new Wire Transfer form looks like this:

Does your bank use an intermediary bank?

If not, then the information here is very straightforward - just enter your bank's routing number and your account number.

However, many banks do use an intermediary bank. In this case, we send the funds to the intermediary bank, who then forwards it to your local bank. There are two different ways for this exchange to happen:

1. The intermediary bank can pass the funds on to your bank directly. In this case, we need the Beneficiary Bank Routing Number (that's your local bank), which for non-US banks will be a SWIFT/BIC code, 8 or 11 alphanumeric characters.

2. Sometimes, the intermediary bank simply puts the funds in an account held by the Beneficiary Bank. In this case, we need the Beneficiary Bank Account Number, which in the case of US banks will usually be nine or ten digits. Note: this is not your bank's routing number

If you have both numbers, you can put both in there, but please pay careful attention, as this is an easy place to make a mistake!

What if you have a correspondent but no intermediary?

The terms intermediary and correspondent bank are sometimes used interchangeably. If your bank gives you a correspondent bank but no intermediary bank, enter the correspondent bank information in the intermediary section. What the bank is called doesn't matter - the important thing is the order of the banks.

What if you have an intermediary AND a correspondent bank?

Some banks use two intermediaries. The money flows from oDesk to the correspondent to the intermediary to your local bank. In this case, check the "correspondent" box and enter your correspondent bank information there. Note: be sure to double-check the bank order: the first bank in the flow should go in the correspondent section, and the second bank should go in the intermediary section.

What could go wrong?

By far the biggest source of wire transfer problems is incorrect bank details, either account numbers or correspondent bank information. If you omit your correspondent bank, your transfer is likely to fail. And note: if it fails, we may or may not learn about it right away! Please make sure your bank information is 100% correct, and double- and triple-check for typos.

Note: we cannot validate your account at the time of setup. If you enter any of the account information incorrectly, then the first time you request a withdrawal the transaction will fail.