John Fellows Blog

Everything You Need To Know About Wiring Money Overseas

I’m getting a lot of feedback from people trying to send international wire transfers.

A reader wrote this week to say:

“I went to my bank branch to initiate a wire transfer on Monday. The teller had to call over the branch manager to help with the paperwork. Once the manager saw I was transferring money to Panama, she told me they wouldn’t be able to do the wire transfer. When I asked why not, she said because investing in Panama is too risky.”

A similar tale from another reader:

“I tried to wire money to Panama for a property purchase, and the teller told me they couldn’t do the wire because they didn’t have a branch in Germany. The Panama bank uses a German bank as their intermediary, but isn’t that what they (an intermediary bank) are there for—to accept international transfers?”

I share the frustration these and the other readers I’ve been hearing from are feeling. Recently, two Los Islotes investors tried to wire money for their lot purchases. The first client’s funds never made it because they were rejected by the Panama bank’s intermediary bank and returned to the client almost two weeks after the wire had been initiated.

The second client’s funds arrived the next day, after having passed through the same intermediary bank.

The difference? Who knows?

Every Bank Is Different and So Are Their Processes

Every bank has its own way of handling wires, but wiring money from one money-center bank to another money-center bank should be straightforward regardless of the banks involved as minimal information is required. However, sending money from a non-money-center bank, as the first reader I quote above was trying to do, to another non-money-center bank in a foreign country is a different story.

This is why banks work with intermediary or correspondent banks, to facilitate international transfers of funds. Unfortunately, this means another layer of information, including the recipient bank’s account number with the intermediary bank. If any of the information is missing or not included in the instructions in the expected format, the wire can be rejected, as it was for my Los Islotes buyer.

Most folks don’t send international wires on a regular basis, and, even if you do, it’s hard to keep up with all the particulars.

The easiest strategy these days is to initiate a wire online. The trouble is that online systems don’t work when ...

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