In Germany, payments via direct bank transfer from one account to another have been very popular for a long time. It’s cheap (usually totally fee free, if not you should consider changing your bank) and fast, even between accounts at different banks, and the option of mailing cheques around that seems to be done a lot in the UK and US is not common here.
International bank transfers, however, used to be darn expensive, with the banks charging incredible fees for sending small amounts across the border. That’s why I was pretty optimistic when I heard that the European Union ordered banks to offer direct transfers within EU countries up to 12,500 euros at the same conditions as domestic transfers, providing that the sender fills in the receiver’s IBAN (International Banking Account Number) and BIC (Bank Identification Code, also referred to as SWIFT).
Since I want to order something at a British online store, but don’t have a credit card and don’t want to spend a fortune on bank fees, I’m considering direct transfer as payment method. However, the following questions came up:
1.) I called the online store, and the staff member I talked to never heard of IBAN and BIC-SWIFT, telling me they didn’t have those numbers. Has everybody who has a standard checking account automatically those numbers as well, or does one have to apply to be assigned them?
2.) Can I transfer euros from my German checking account to a British pound sterling account with the sum being converted en route, or would the receiver have to have an account kept in euros as well? Britian is explicitly listed on the direct transfer from as one of the applicable countries, but I’m not sure about currency requirements, and the guys at my local bank branch don’t seem to know too well either.