I sent a international wire transfer, but the IBAN was incorrect. The swift code was right, but I was in a hurry and thought my bank typed everything correctly. The account holders name is correct and so is the swift, but not the iban. Will it be returned to me or should I try and cancel the payment. Any answers will help, thanks!
1 Answer
Let me shed light on what happens:
An international wire transfer which is not completely within the SEPA area (for which you don't need the SWIFT code) uses SWIFT for routing. So the transfer reaches the destination bank eventually.
There, the bank tries to find out what to do with the money. That's what it uses the IBAN for. If it cannot process the IBAN (maybe because the beneficiary account isn't with them, or the IBAN is just wrong), the transaction should be reversed.
However, if it can process the IBAN, the account holder (who isn't necessarily the one you tried to contact) gets the money.