Essential information
Q. What do I need to know before requesting a foreign transaction?
A. All foreign transactions are done at your own risk. By this, we mean that we do everything that we can to get the funds to the receiver with the information that you have provided. The Co-operative Bank can not be held responsible if the information you have supplied is insufficient or incorrect or if there is a delay caused by the foreign banks. When we process a foreign transaction, if all the information you have given us is correct your transfer will usually be received within 5 working days. However funds may sometimes be delayed by the banking practices of other countries.
Please make sure that both the BIC (Bank Identifier Code) and IBAN (International Banking Account Number) are provided where possible. If they are available for your transfer and not quoted then there can be additional charges from the overseas banks.
Under EU directive, payments made within the EU to Euro accounts not quoting a valid BIC and IBAN can be rejected and this could incur additional costs as the payment will need to be processed manually.
You will also need to agree to the following declaration for SWIFT or structured payment transfers to any country.
Declaration
We may need to disclose limited information to third parties where reasonably necessary. This is for the purposes of the prevention and detection of crime, prosecution of offenders, for the purposes of national security or where required by law. This may mean that the information could be transferred to countries that do not provide the same level of data protection as the UK.
Q. How do I request a foreign transaction?
A. You can request a foreign transfer one of three ways:
- Telephone – Please call our customer services on 08457 212 212 Find out about our call charges
- Branch – Please bring sufficient proof of ID
- Letter\fax – All written requests must be signed by at least one of the account holders. The fax number is 01695 53397. You can post requests to:
Foreign Services
PO BOX 200
Skelmersdale
WN8 6YA
Please note that we can only accept telephone requests up to £10,000 or equivalent. Any requests over this must be accompanied by a signed fax or letter.
Q. What happens if the details are incorrect?
A. It is very important to make sure that all details provided are correct. If any details are incorrect, the beneficiary bank can reject the transfer, even for a very slight error like a spelling mistake on the account name. The beneficiary bank will contact us to inform us of the problem or return the transfer to us. We will then need to contact you to obtain the correct details before re-sending the transfer or contacting the beneficiary bank with the correct details.
This process can cause delays and incur further charges. We will make our own charge of £20 for dealing with the query and the foreign bank can also make a charge.
Q. How can I cancel the transfer?
A. Once your transfer has been done we are unable to stop it. If we need to recall your transfer or send an amendment to change the details, you will be charged a fee of £20 and there can also be further charges from the foreign bank. We cannot guarantee that the recall or amendment will be successful as the beneficiary bank is not obliged to return the funds.
If the transfer was sent in foreign currency, you could also be subject to exchange rate loss if the payment is recalled and paid back to your account.
