You can make and receive international payments in Online Banking, though you won’t be able to use our Mobile Banking app. Depending on the payment type, it can take between 0-4 days, with charges ranging from £0.00 to £25.00. The exact times and fees for each payment type can be found in the accordions below.
How to receive an international payment
To do this, you’ll need the following.
- Santander's BIC (Bank Identifier Code, also known as SWIFT code). Which is ABBYGB2LXXX
- your IBAN (International Bank Account Number). You can see it if you add your sort code and account number below. You’ll also find it on your statements and in Online Banking.
How to send an international payment
Make sure you have the correct details for the person you're paying, including:
- their full name and account number or IBAN
- their bank’s BIC
- any routing code or other information required by the destination country
- for Mexican peso payments, the beneficiary’s 18 digit CLABE account number.
The simplest way to send an international payment is to use Online Banking. To do this, simply:
- log onto Online Banking
- go to the 'Payments & Transfers' tab
- click 'International payments' in the left-hand menu
- follow the on-screen instructions.
If you’re sending money to companies overseas, we’ll need to send you a One Time Passcode (OTP) to the mobile phone number that’s registered for OTPs. We do this to increase your security online and help prevent fraud. You may also need your IBAN or BIC details depending on the destination of the payment.
You can sign up for Online Banking if you haven’t already done so.
Alternatively, you can send an international payment in your local branch
Please contact us
Santander customers can make 3 types of international payments:
| Payment | Description | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Electronic transfer (standard) | The fastest method of transferring money, directly to an overseas bank account. For payments in EUR and USD, funds can arrive on the same day if sent before our cut-off time. For more information on cut-off times see the Electronic transfers and electronic European transfers section. Now that the UK has left the European Economic Area (EEA), European banks are allowed to take bank fees out of payments you make to accounts in the EEA. For more information see the Electronic transfers and electronic European transfers section. You can send money to friends and family abroad from your Santander Edge current account or Santander Edge Up current account with no extra fees from us for the international payment. The bank receiving the payment may still apply charges. | £25 |
| Electronic euro transfer (non-urgent: SEPA) | This method of transferring euros takes a little longer and can only be used if the bank you’re sending the money to takes SEPA transfers. Money arrives next working day subject to cut-off times. For more information on cut-off times see the Electronic transfers and electronic European transfers section | No fee charged |
| Currency draft (cheque) | We can provide you with a currency draft (cheque) which you can then give or send to the beneficiary. | £10 |
Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), comprising all the countries of the European Union, the EEA, the UK, the British Crown Dependencies of Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man, plus Andorra, French collectives of Mayotte and Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Monaco, San Marino, Switzerland and Vatican City State/Holy See.
The fastest method of transferring money, directly to an overseas bank account. For payments in EUR and USD, funds can arrive on the same day if sent before our cut-off time.
An electronic transfer can be done through Online Banking, Telephone Banking and in our branches.
| Payment | Available currencies |
|---|---|
| Electronic transfer (urgent) | Australian dollar |
| Electronic euro transfer (non-urgent: SEPA) | Euro only |
Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), comprising all the countries of the European Union, the EEA, the UK, the British Crown Dependencies of Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man, plus Andorra, French collectives of Mayotte and Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Monaco, San Marino, Switzerland and Vatican City State/Holy See.
What are the time limits?
Depending on the currency of your payment and the channel you use to request it, there will be different cut-off times. The cut-off time is the time by which you must have submitted and fully authorised your payment instruction in order for it to be processed today.
Please note that payments are not processed on non-working days, including weekends and bank holidays, and this includes non-working days in the beneficiary country.
| Payment type | Cut-off time (branch) | Cut-off time (contact centre) | Cut-off time (online) | When the money usually arrives at the recipient’s bank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sending money within the UK by CHAPS | 3.00pm* | 1.00pm | N/A | Same working day |
| Sending money outside the UK in pounds | 3.00pm | 1.00pm | 3.00pm | Next working day |
| Sending money outside the UK not in pounds, euros or US Dollars | 3.00pm | 1.00pm | 3.00pm | May take up to 4 working days** |
| Sending money either inside or outside the UK in euros*** | 2.30pm*** | 11.30am | 11.30am | Within the EEA or the UK – same working day Outside the EEA or the UK – usually within 4 working days |
| Sending money within the SEPA in euros using non-urgent method | 3.00pm | 1.00pm | 2.30pm | Next working day |
| Sending money either inside or outside the UK in US Dollars | 3.00pm | 1.00pm | 3.00pm | Within the UK/US – same working day Outside the UK/US – usually within 4 working days |
* Please note the cut off time may be later for branches that open beyond 5.00pm.
** This will depend on the currency and destination of your payment. Please see the Frequently Asked Questions on our website or ask a member of our staff.
*** Please note that a cut off time of 1pm may apply to a small number of banks. Any payments made after this time will arrive the next working day.
How you can stop or change a payment?
To stop or change a payment contact us as soon as possible. We’ll see if we can help, although we can’t guarantee the payment will be stopped.
Charging options
The charging options available to you will depend on the destination country of your payment:
EEA payments are payments to a country in the European Economic Area*, made in any currency using SWIFT or non-urgent payments in euros using the SEPA scheme.
Now that the UK has left the European Economic Area (EEA), European banks are allowed to take bank fees out of payments you make to accounts in the EEA.
So, while we, Santander UK plc, aren't changing our charges when you send or receive payments to or from the EEA, you may find that European banks now apply charges.
For payments in EUR - Payments you send using SWIFT to an EEA beneficiary may arrive with deductions having been taken along the way, either by the beneficiary’s bank or by a correspondent bank. However deductions cannot be taken from SEPA payments. You may therefore prefer to send and request payments this way.
It’s also possible that payments you receive from an EEA bank, both in foreign currency (other than SEPA payments) and in GBP, may have deductions taken before the payment reaches Santander in the UK.
For other EEA currencies we offer including Czech koruna, Danish krone, Norwegian krone, Swedish krona, Polish zloty, Hungarian forint and Romanian leu, SWIFT is the only payment method available and these payments may be subject to deductions. Payments in Pound sterling (GBP) to/from EEA countries may also be affected.
If you have any questions or concerns about the charges which could be applied within the EEA, the owner of the account held in the EEA should check with their bank as we can’t see what charges other banks will apply and are unable to advise on this.
International payments - these are payments anywhere in the world outside of the European Economic Area*, made in sterling or any other currency, using SWIFT. For these payments:
- the beneficiary can pay all the charges or
- you can pay the beneficiary’s charges in addition to your own (sender’s) charges. This option will make it more likely (although not guaranteed) that the beneficiary will receive the full amount that you send.
If you want to change the charging option from the default setting (which is that you pay the sender’s charges only), this can be found in the section ‘Expenses paid by’ in Online Banking - alternatively the telephone operator or branch staff can select the correct option for you.
* European Economic Area Countries;
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
You can ask us for a cheque in a different currency. When you do this, we’ll take the money out of your account straight away. And we’ll issue you with a type of paper cheque called a draft. So when the person getting the cheque pays it into their account, we’ll already have the money to pay it.
When you ask for a foreign-currency draft we charge you £10. You can ask in a branch, or call us on 0330 9 123 123.
We can provide currency drafts to be drawn in:
- Euros
- US dollars
- Canadian dollars
- Swiss francs.
You can ask us to cancel a cheque or draft once it’s been issued. If we do this, we'll charge you £25. If the person you’re paying hasn’t paid in the cheque after 6 months, we may cancel it.
Once a cheque is cancelled, it takes at least 5 working days for us to credit the funds back to your account. Changes in exchange rates may mean you may get back less than you originally paid.
More options
Paying by cheque can mean costs and timings you don’t want. So you may like to pay a different way. An international transfer or CHAPS payment are 2 of your options.
For more on how to make international payments, look at the top of this page.
If a cheque’s in a foreign currency you may be able pay it into your account with us. But this can mean costs and timings you don’t want. So you may like to ask the person giving you money to get it to you a different way. This could be something like an international transfer. For more on this, go to ‘How to receive an international payment’ at the top of this page.
Here's how to pay a foreign-currency cheque or draft into your account with us:
- On the back of the cheque, sign your name and write the sort code and account number you want it paid into.
- Once you're happy, send it to: Santander UK, Payments Team, PO BOX 13220, Foreign Cheques, Harlow, Essex, CM20 9UF.
Be sure to keep a copy of the cheque or draft in case you need it later. Please also note, it’s not down to us if cheques go missing in the post. Think about using recorded delivery for your cheque or keeping proof of postage.
Once we have your foreign-currency cheque or draft, we'll try to clear it either by:
- Collection – You’ll only get the money in your account once the bank paying it has the cheque or draft and sent us the money. It’s down to the cheque, banks and countries involved, but this usually takes 2-8 weeks.
- Negotiation – You’ll usually get the money in your account around 6 working days after we have the cheque.
Either way, your cheque may take longer if we need to do security checks.
Which way will my cheque go through?
We can’t always say how your cheque will go through.
- If it’s for less than £5,000 your cheque may go through by negotiation or collection.
- If it’s for more than £5,000, or in a different currency to the country it was issued in, or from a country that only accepts collection, your cheque will go through collection. For example, a USD $20,000 cheque from a US bank, or a USD $1,000 cheque from a Canadian Bank, would each go through collection.
For an update, call us on 0330 9 123 123 or go to a branch.
Either way, it may take longer for your cheque to go through if we need to do security checks. We'll convert the money from your cheque into pounds. We'll use our standard exchange rate on the date the money's paid into your account.
How much will it cost me to pay in my foreign-currency cheque or draft?
We charge you £10 to pay in a foreign-currency cheque. If it goes through by collection, the other banks we work with may also charge us ‘correspondent charges’ for processing it. We’ll take these off the final amount that goes into your account.
We can’t tell you what these charges will be because we don’t set them and won’t know what they are until we're asked to pay them for you. They can be high, and sometimes be a percentage of the cheque's value.
Stuff you need to know
It could be we get a foreign-currency cheque that we can’t put through. If this happens, we'll return it to you as soon as possible, telling you what the problem is. It could be that the correspondent charges are higher than your cheque’s value.
Up to 7 years after you’ve put in a foreign-currency cheque, we can return it to you. In this case, or if we see it’s fraud, we may take back the money we paid into your account. If exchange rates have changed, the amount we take from your account could differ from what went in.
You might ask the person who wants to pay you by cheque, to do so another way. An international transfer is quicker and cheaper. And there’s less chance it’ll be returned once it’s gone through.
Be wary of fraud
Sometimes fraudsters send our customers foreign-currency cheques, and ask that they transfer the money back to them. With this scam, once the fraudster gets the transfer, their cheque bounces. Leaving our customer out of pocket.
Our Security Team is ready, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to help protect you instantly. Please tell us if:
- you get a cheque for more than the value of any goods or services you’re selling
- the buyer asks you to return or forward any overpayment once the cheque’s cleared
- the cheque clears, but the buyer then asks for the money to be returned
- an online contact asks you to cash a foreign-currency cheque and forward them the money.