South Africa
Personal
Business
Wealth

International payment solutions

Make international Payments VIA Business online

Make international payments with unrestricted transaction amounts

Tell me more

Some of the benefits

Seamless process

Make and receive international money transfers on our various payment platforms

Competitive exchange rates

Our Foreign Exchange team is readily available to assist with foreign exchange requirements

Cost transparency

View the exchange rate and transaction costs before your business makes an international payment

Payment support

We will support you throughout your payment process, which includes regulatory reporting
WHAT YOU’LL NEED

Making international payments:

  • To pay a person, you need their name, surname and full physical address
  • To pay a company, you need the company name and their full physical address
  • You also need the account number or IBAN and a valid bank SWIFT code
  • Depending on the country, you may also need to know their SORT or routing code
  • Provide a reason for your payment (BOP code) based on the exchange control requirements

Receiving international payments:

You need to provide the following account details to receive an international money transfer:

  • Account number/IBAN number: Provide your Standard Bank account number
  • Branch/SORT code: If this information is requested, please advise the sender of the universal Standard Bank Code (051001) to ensure that the branch code is not provided in the same field as your account number
  • Account type: It is recommended that you use a cheque / savings account to receive international payments
  • Standard Bank’s SWIFT address: SBZAZAJJ
PAYMENT PROCESS

Making international payments:

  • You will need the beneficiary’s name, address and bank details followed by the reason for your payment (BOP code)
  • You will be required to provide the supporting documentation as per exchange control requirements e.g. invoice, bill of lading, etc
  • You can use your pre-booked rate, or your payment can be processed at the current exchange rate
  • The payment will be processed within 2 business days

Receiving international payments:

  • Trace your incoming payments: If you’re expecting a payment, you can monitor the status of your incoming funds by providing us with your Standard Bank business account number.
  • Once-off incoming payments: 

1.    On Internet Banking
Once Standard Bank has received the funds from the sending bank, you will be contacted via SMS or email, and you will have 30 calendar days to process your transaction on Internet Banking

2.    If you don’t have Internet Banking
Once Standard Bank has received the funds from the sending bank, you will be contacted via SMS or email, and you will have 30 calendar days to provide the reason for payment (BOP code)

  • Recurring payments: If you receive funds on a regular basis from the same person for the same reason, you can set up a Standing Settlement Instruction which will enable us to automatically process your payment without contacting you for further details
  • Foreign currency payments: If funds are received in foreign currency, it will be converted into a local currency at the exchange rate at the time of providing the reason for payment, or you may instruct us to use a pre-booked deal
     
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
  • All payments that are made to foreign parties are covered by the South African Exchange Control Regulation. The Reserve Bank of South Africa controls and oversees all capital in- and outflows. The Reserve Bank designates power to authorised dealers (banks) who oversee and regulate the market on their behalf.
  • Businesses are required to justify why they need to remit money to a foreign party and may need to seek approval from the Reserve Bank for certain payments before the payment can be made.
  • Exchange control regulations cover all payments and investments abroad made by a company and loans made by overseas investors to a South African business. Exchange control regulations may be complex and can frequently change. Standard Bank has a dedicated Exchange Control team that partners with our customers to make international payments seamless and easy to understand.
  • To find out more about exchange control, click here.

Internet Banking

  • When using Internet Banking to make an international payment, it may not exceed R1.5 million. For larger value transactions, please use an alternate channel.
  • You need to increase your Electronic Account Payment (EAP) limit before making international payments.
  • You will not be able to debit a Foreign Currency (CFC) account for payment.
  • You will not have segregation of duties.

If you have questions or queries related to making international payments via Internet Banking, you can view our frequently asked questions.

See brochure

FEES

Making international payments:

  • Commission fee: Standard Bank charges a commission fee which is a small percentage of the amount you send.
  • SWIFT fee: Standard Bank charges a SWIFT fee to send international payments via the SWIFT network.
  • Beneficiary bank fees: The beneficiary’s bank charges a fee to process the incoming payment. The cost of these fees varies from bank to bank and the amount is not known to Standard Bank. You can choose to pay the beneficiary bank’s fees or have the beneficiary pay for their own bank fees. If you choose to pay, your account will be debited with a separate fee once the beneficiary bank has processed the payment.

Receiving international payments:

An international payment incurs fees from the sending bank, the beneficiary bank (Standard Bank) and an intermediary bank in the event where the payment could not be sent directly to the beneficiary bank. The sender may choose one of the following options to determine how the fees are paid:

  • SHA: The sender and the beneficiary pay their own bank fees. This is the most popular option.
  • OUR: The sender will pay both the sending and beneficiary banks fees.
  • BEN: The beneficiary will pay for both the sending bank and his/her own bank fees.

Should there be any intermediary bank fees, these will be deducted off the amount sent to the beneficiary. 

See 2024 pricing guide

HOW TO GET IT

Internet Banking

  • Sign into or register for  Internet Banking
  • Navigate to My Business Banking, then select the Transact tab and select International Payment
  • Get guidance on the BOP category and required documents from the dropdown selection
  • Enter the currency of the payment plus the amount you wish to pay. We will then give you an indicative exchange rate and estimated cost of the transaction
  • Enter the beneficiary’s details and their bank details
  • Provide any additional information for BOP reporting and South African Reserve Bank approval
  • View and accept the final exchange rate and cost of the transaction

Business Online – IBFX (For unrestricted transaction amounts)

  • Sign into or register for Business Online

Manual Payments

  • If you don’t have access to our digital platforms, you can send us a payment instruction by downloading our Bop Form. Complete the form using a PDF reader such as Adobe.

    Take a look at this guide for assistance on how to fill in the BoP form. 

  • Email your signed and completed BoP form along with your supporting documentation to [email protected] ·
  • Please note: You need to have an existing email indemnity on record for us to complete your request 
  • WHAT YOU’LL NEED
  • PAYMENT PROCESS
  • WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
  • FEES
  • HOW TO GET IT

Making international payments:

  • To pay a person, you need their name, surname and full physical address
  • To pay a company, you need the company name and their full physical address
  • You also need the account number or IBAN and a valid bank SWIFT code
  • Depending on the country, you may also need to know their SORT or routing code
  • Provide a reason for your payment (BOP code) based on the exchange control requirements

Receiving international payments:

You need to provide the following account details to receive an international money transfer:

  • Account number/IBAN number: Provide your Standard Bank account number
  • Branch/SORT code: If this information is requested, please advise the sender of the universal Standard Bank Code (051001) to ensure that the branch code is not provided in the same field as your account number
  • Account type: It is recommended that you use a cheque / savings account to receive international payments
  • Standard Bank’s SWIFT address: SBZAZAJJ

Making international payments:

  • You will need the beneficiary’s name, address and bank details followed by the reason for your payment (BOP code)
  • You will be required to provide the supporting documentation as per exchange control requirements e.g. invoice, bill of lading, etc
  • You can use your pre-booked rate, or your payment can be processed at the current exchange rate
  • The payment will be processed within 2 business days

Receiving international payments:

  • Trace your incoming payments: If you’re expecting a payment, you can monitor the status of your incoming funds by providing us with your Standard Bank business account number.
  • Once-off incoming payments: 

1.    On Internet Banking
Once Standard Bank has received the funds from the sending bank, you will be contacted via SMS or email, and you will have 30 calendar days to process your transaction on Internet Banking

2.    If you don’t have Internet Banking
Once Standard Bank has received the funds from the sending bank, you will be contacted via SMS or email, and you will have 30 calendar days to provide the reason for payment (BOP code)

  • Recurring payments: If you receive funds on a regular basis from the same person for the same reason, you can set up a Standing Settlement Instruction which will enable us to automatically process your payment without contacting you for further details
  • Foreign currency payments: If funds are received in foreign currency, it will be converted into a local currency at the exchange rate at the time of providing the reason for payment, or you may instruct us to use a pre-booked deal
     
  • All payments that are made to foreign parties are covered by the South African Exchange Control Regulation. The Reserve Bank of South Africa controls and oversees all capital in- and outflows. The Reserve Bank designates power to authorised dealers (banks) who oversee and regulate the market on their behalf.
  • Businesses are required to justify why they need to remit money to a foreign party and may need to seek approval from the Reserve Bank for certain payments before the payment can be made.
  • Exchange control regulations cover all payments and investments abroad made by a company and loans made by overseas investors to a South African business. Exchange control regulations may be complex and can frequently change. Standard Bank has a dedicated Exchange Control team that partners with our customers to make international payments seamless and easy to understand.
  • To find out more about exchange control, click here.

Internet Banking

  • When using Internet Banking to make an international payment, it may not exceed R1.5 million. For larger value transactions, please use an alternate channel.
  • You need to increase your Electronic Account Payment (EAP) limit before making international payments.
  • You will not be able to debit a Foreign Currency (CFC) account for payment.
  • You will not have segregation of duties.

If you have questions or queries related to making international payments via Internet Banking, you can view our frequently asked questions.

See brochure

Making international payments:

  • Commission fee: Standard Bank charges a commission fee which is a small percentage of the amount you send.
  • SWIFT fee: Standard Bank charges a SWIFT fee to send international payments via the SWIFT network.
  • Beneficiary bank fees: The beneficiary’s bank charges a fee to process the incoming payment. The cost of these fees varies from bank to bank and the amount is not known to Standard Bank. You can choose to pay the beneficiary bank’s fees or have the beneficiary pay for their own bank fees. If you choose to pay, your account will be debited with a separate fee once the beneficiary bank has processed the payment.

Receiving international payments:

An international payment incurs fees from the sending bank, the beneficiary bank (Standard Bank) and an intermediary bank in the event where the payment could not be sent directly to the beneficiary bank. The sender may choose one of the following options to determine how the fees are paid:

  • SHA: The sender and the beneficiary pay their own bank fees. This is the most popular option.
  • OUR: The sender will pay both the sending and beneficiary banks fees.
  • BEN: The beneficiary will pay for both the sending bank and his/her own bank fees.

Should there be any intermediary bank fees, these will be deducted off the amount sent to the beneficiary. 

See 2024 pricing guide

Internet Banking

  • Sign into or register for  Internet Banking
  • Navigate to My Business Banking, then select the Transact tab and select International Payment
  • Get guidance on the BOP category and required documents from the dropdown selection
  • Enter the currency of the payment plus the amount you wish to pay. We will then give you an indicative exchange rate and estimated cost of the transaction
  • Enter the beneficiary’s details and their bank details
  • Provide any additional information for BOP reporting and South African Reserve Bank approval
  • View and accept the final exchange rate and cost of the transaction

Business Online – IBFX (For unrestricted transaction amounts)

  • Sign into or register for Business Online

Manual Payments

  • If you don’t have access to our digital platforms, you can send us a payment instruction by downloading our Bop Form. Complete the form using a PDF reader such as Adobe.

    Take a look at this guide for assistance on how to fill in the BoP form. 

  • Email your signed and completed BoP form along with your supporting documentation to [email protected] ·
  • Please note: You need to have an existing email indemnity on record for us to complete your request 
View our brochure

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