Whether you want to make a one off payment to someone overseas, or need to place regular telegraphic transfer (TT) payments, you’ll want to keep the charges as low as possible.

TT payments can be costly once you include fees from your own bank, potential correspondent bank costs related to the SWIFT network, and exchange rate markups. This handy guide will cover all you need to know about the likely fees involved with sending money overseas, including the Standard Chartered TT rate, transfer and correspondent bank costs.

We’ll also touch on a smart alternative to using your regular bank when sending money overseas - Wise. With Wise you can cut the costs of international payments, access the mid-market exchange rate with no markup, and avoid correspondent bank fees altogether. More on that later.

When you need to send money abroad, you might think that the best option will be to use your regular bank. However, traditional banks often don’t provide great value when it comes to international payments. Retail TT payments aren’t their core business, which makes administration expensive. Regular banks also often process cross border transactions using the SWIFT Network, which is a reliable but often slow and costly way of moving money around the globe.

Under the SWIFT network, multiple banks work on a single payment - and can all charge a fee for their part in the transaction if they want. The fees that result are often called correspondent bank charges, and can push up the cost of an international payment significantly.

It’s also common for banks to add a markup to the exchange rate which is applied for international payments. This is another extra fee, and it makes it harder to calculate the true cost of the payment.

We’ll cover this more in a moment - first, let’s take a look at a comparison of the costs of an international payment with Standard Chartered against a smart new alternative - Wise.

A cost example: Sending HKD 5000 from Hong Kong to the UK (GBP)

*Fee information correct at time of research - 25 August 2020

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When you place a transfer using Standard Chartered, you’ll be shown the exchange rate and fees which apply. As the charges vary according to the account type you hold, as well as the specific details of the transaction, it’s important to look carefully at the overall costs including correspondent bank fees and any exchange rate markup.

It’s good to know that there may be additional costs, on top of those listed above. Here are some to look out for.

If you’re sending money to an account held in a foreign currency, you’ll need to convert the money as part of the transfer. With Standard Chartered, you’ll be shown the exchange rate which will apply to your specific transfer when you set up the payment. It’s worth checking at this stage whether a markup has been added.

Exchange rate markups are common - but they’re an extra fee, which can mean you pay more than you need to for your payment. Standard Chartered don’t publish their exchange rate markups in detail online, but their terms and conditions do highlight that a markup of up to 3% is added to some foreign currency transactions.

To see if a markup applies to your payment, compare the Standard Chartered exchange rate against the mid market rate. The mid-market rate is the one you’ll find on Google, and the one the bank will have used when buying the currency in the first place.

Compare the exchange rate you can get with Standard chartered against the convenient low cost payments available with Wise. Wise uses the mid-market exchange rate with no markup, making it easy to see precisely what you’re paying - and exactly what your recipient will get in the end. More on that later.

The exact length of time it takes for your payment to arrive will depend on where you’re sending money, and how the recipient’s bank processes the payment. Payments which are sent using the SWIFT network typically take a few days, so you can expect your money to arrive in 3 to 5 business days. It’s also worth noting that there are cut off times which vary according to the type of payment. If your transfer request is received after cut off, or at a weekend, it will be processed on the next working day.

Standard Chartered Hong Kong provides international payments in a range of currencies including CNY, USD, EUR, GBP, KRW, TWD, THB, FJD and MOP². To check if your currency is available, log into your online banking or call into a local Standard Chartered branch.

Bank fees for international payments can be complex and relatively high. To avoid this, you can choose a modern alternative like Wise.

Wise payments are sent using the mid-market exchange rate with no markup - and avoid the SWIFT network, which means no correspondent bank charges to worry about. You just pay a low transparent fee when you arrange the transaction, and you can see immediately how much your recipient will get in the end.

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If you have questions about your Standard Chartered TT payment, you can get in touch using these different options³:

Sources used in the article:

Standard Chartered HK - Service Charges, pages 7 and 24

Standard Chartered HK - Telegraphic Transfers

Standard Chartered HK - Contact Us

Sources last checked on 09-September 2020.

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