Guide: how long does an international transfer take for SMEs

Knowing how long an international transfer takes to arrive is one of the million-dollar questions, and the answer isn’t unique: it can range from a few seconds to more than a week. It all depends on the system used, the countries involved, and the banks that participate along the way.

Sending times for an international transfer

Imagine you want to send a package. Would you use the same service to send it to the city next door as to send it to another continent? Probably not. With money, something similar happens.

In the world of finance, there are mainly two “courier services”: the SEPA system for moving money around Europe and the SWIFT network for the rest of the world. Each has its own rules, speeds, and costs, and the choice isn’t yours, but depends on where the account that will receive the money is located.

SEPA, SEPA Instant, or SWIFT?

To give you a clear idea, think of SEPA as a European high-speed highway and SWIFT as a network of international roads that sometimes needs to pass through several customs checkpoints.

• SEPA transfers: These are the bread and butter within the Single Euro Payments Area. If you send money from Spain to Germany, for example, the process is very agile. Normally, the money will be at its destination in one business day.

• SEPA Instant transfers: This is the “express” version. The money arrives in less than 10 seconds, and works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, holidays included. It’s ideal for urgent payments, but both banks (yours and the recipient’s) must be compatible with this system.

• SWIFT transfers: When the money has to leave the SEPA zone (for example, from Spain to the United States), the SWIFT network comes into play. Here the journey is longer, because the money usually makes stops at “intermediary banks”. That’s why it typically takes between 2 and 5 business days.

This image sums it up perfectly:

As you can see, the speed difference is enormous. Moving money within the European ecosystem is much faster and simpler than when the operation becomes global.

To make it even clearer, here’s a table that summarizes the main characteristics of each system.

Comparison of international transfer systems

This table will help you see at a glance which system is most suitable for each situation.

Transfer Type	Estimated Timeframe	Geographic Zone	Ideal For
SEPA	1 business day	36 countries in the SEPA zone	Recurring and standard payments within Europe.
SEPA Instant	Less than 10 seconds	SEPA countries with compatible banks	Urgent or immediate payments, 24/7.
SWIFT	2-5 business days	More than 200 countries	Transfers to anywhere in the world outside Europe.

In summary, if your transfer is within Europe, SEPA and its instant version are your best allies for their speed and low cost. For any other destination, SWIFT is the network that will make the operation possible, although it may require a bit more patience.

Payments in Europe thanks to the SEPA system

When you have to move money within Europe, the SEPA system (the Single Euro Payments Area) has been a game-changer. Imagine that SEPA is like a great financial highway that connects 36 countries in the zone, making a transfer from Spain to Germany as easy and fast as if you were doing it between two neighborhoods in your own city.

This network eliminated the old banking borders at a stroke. By unifying the rules of the game, it has made sending euros from one country to another a super predictable and agile process. The key to all this is that all banks “speak the same language”, which reduces waiting times to a minimum.

The key difference: standard SEPA vs. instant SEPA

Now, not all SEPA transfers travel at the same speed. There are two main types, and the time difference is enormous:

• Standard SEPA transfer (SCT): This is the traditional one. By law, the money must be in the destination account at most one business day after your bank sends it. So, if you make the payment on Monday morning, it’s most likely available on Tuesday.

• Instant SEPA transfer (SCT Inst): The “express” version. With this type, the money arrives in the other account in less than 10 seconds. It doesn’t matter if it’s the middle of the night, Sunday, or a holiday. However, for it to work, both your bank and the recipient’s must offer this service.

Thanks to SEPA regulation, timelines within the eurozone are very reliable. While a transfer outside the EU can take up to 5 days, a standard SEPA one doesn’t exceed one business day. The volume is impressive: in Spain alone, the SNCE system processed more than 3.424 billion payments in a year. And instant ones aren’t far behind, already exceeding 1.556 billion annual operations that are completed in those record 10 seconds.

The importance of not making mistakes with the format

The engine that makes all this work so well is standardization, and at the center of everything is the SEPA XML file. It’s the universal language that all banks in the network understand.

For an SME, generating this file without errors is vital. A silly mistake, like a mistyped IBAN or a reference that doesn’t match, can make the bank return the entire batch of payments. This means delays of several days and a real cash flow mess.

This is where technology comes into play. If your company manages payroll, supplier payments, or customer direct debits, using a tool that converts a simple Excel file into a validated SEPA XML file is a lifesaver. It not only saves you a lot of time, but, most importantly, minimizes human errors, which are the cause of many delays. If you want to know more about how this system works, you can check out our guide on SEPA bank transfers.

What about SWIFT transfers outside Europe?

When your money needs to travel beyond the SEPA zone, things change. It no longer goes on the European highway, but gets on a plane for an international flight, often with stops. This system is the famous SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication), the global network that connects banks in more than 200 countries.

Unlike SEPA, which is a direct payment system, SWIFT is more like a super-secure messaging network. Think that your bank doesn’t send the money itself, but an encrypted message to another bank that says: “hey, pay this amount to this person, I’ll cover it”. It’s an incredibly robust and reliable method, but, logically, it has more steps.

The money’s route: the journey and intermediary banks

The million-dollar question, “how long does an international transfer SWIFT take to arrive?”, has a very Galician answer: it depends. And it depends mainly on intermediary banks or correspondents.

Imagine that your bank in Spain doesn’t have a direct agreement with your cousin’s bank in Australia. The money can’t go in a straight line. Instead, it has to make “stops” at one or several banks with which both have relationships. Each stop adds time, because each institution has to receive, verify, and forward the funds.

A SWIFT transfer is like a flight with stops. Each intermediary bank is an airport where the money “lands”, goes through control, and “reboards”. If one of those stops hits a local holiday or is in a time zone that has already closed, the journey stops until the next business day.

This chain of intermediaries is the main reason why timelines lengthen, moving in a range of 2 to 5 business days on average.

Other factors that can delay the journey

In addition to the route the money follows, there are other details that can add hours or even days to the wait.

• Currency conversion: If you send euros to an account in the United States that operates in dollars, at some point along the way the conversion has to be made. This step isn’t automatic and depends on when and how the bank in charge manages it.

• Security controls (compliance): Every international transfer is scrutinized. Banks are required by law to review operations to prevent money laundering and other illegal activities (known as AML controls). If any data from the sender or recipient raises the slightest doubt, the transfer is frozen for an agent to review manually.

• Data accuracy: This is where the SWIFT/BIC code (Bank Identifier Code) becomes the protagonist. It’s, to put it simply, the exact address of the destination bank. A simple error in this code, in the account number, or in the beneficiary’s name is a guarantee of delay. The system won’t know where to send the money, and the transfer could end up in limbo or, worse, be returned, incurring extra costs.

Why does money sometimes get delayed? The most common reasons

Even in the age of immediacy, sometimes money seems to take an unexpected detour. Understanding why a transfer gets stuck is the first step to prevent it from happening again. And most of the time, the culprits aren’t major system failures, but small details that escape us.

The million-dollar question, “how long does an international transfer take to arrive?”, depends on all the gears fitting together perfectly. A simple error can jam the entire mechanism, turning an operation that should take hours into a wait of several days. Let’s see what the most frequent obstacles are.

Errors in recipient data: the classic that never fails

This is, without a doubt, the most common reason for delay and, fortunately, the easiest to avoid. It only takes a single misplaced digit in the IBAN, a letter that’s off in the beneficiary’s name, or an incorrect SWIFT code for the automated systems not to know where to direct the funds.

Think of it like sending a letter with a misspelled address. In the best case, the system will detect the error and return your money. In the worst case, the transfer will be left in limbo, waiting for someone to review it manually, something that can take days.

• Incorrect IBAN or account number: The system simply won’t find the destination account.
• Beneficiary name doesn’t match: Banks check everything. If the name isn’t exactly the same as the account holder’s, they can reject the operation for security reasons.
• Incorrect SWIFT/BIC code: This is like sending the money to the wrong bank. Recovering it afterward is a long and tedious process.

The best defense against these failures is double-checking. Before hitting “confirm”, review each piece of data letter by letter. To be even safer, you can use online tools. For example, there are several websites to validate an IBAN online and put your mind at ease before processing the payment.

Cutoff time, holidays, and the calendar

Banks don’t work 24/7, at least not for all their operations. Each institution has a “cutoff time”: if you send a transfer after that time, it won’t be processed until the next business day. That’s why, if you order the shipment on Friday late afternoon, it’s almost certain your money won’t move until Monday morning.

And to this you have to add holidays and time differences, which are a classic of international transfers.

• Local holidays: A holiday in your country, in the destination country, or even in an intermediary bank’s country can completely paralyze the operation.
• Weekends: Forget it. Standard transfers (both SEPA and SWIFT) only travel on business days.
• Time differences: If you send money to the United States in the afternoon from Spain, it’s very likely that by the time the order arrives there, the American bank has already closed its doors.

Security controls and regulatory compliance

Finally, we mustn’t forget that all transfers, especially those that cross borders, go through very strict security filters. Their goal is to prevent money laundering and other illegal activities. If your operation raises the slightest suspicion, it will be held for manual review.

What can trigger these alarms?

• An unusually high amount or one that doesn’t fit your transaction history.
• The sender’s or recipient’s name being on some watchlist.
• Missing information or some document that justifies where the money comes from.

Although these controls are totally necessary, they can add between 24 and 72 hours extra to the process while a bank manager verifies that everything is in order. The key here is to plan ahead and, if the amount is significant, have the documentation on hand in case they ask for it.

How to track a payment and what to do if it doesn’t arrive on time

You’ve hit “send” and now the patience game begins. Although most international transfers arrive without problems, knowing what to do if the money is delayed will save you a lot of nerves and help you resolve everything much faster.

The key piece to not lose track of your money is the tracking code. In SWIFT transfers, this identifier is called UETR (Unique End-to-end Transaction Reference). Think of it as the tracking number of a package: it allows you to know exactly where your money is at each stage of the journey. Ask your bank for it as soon as the operation is underway.

First steps if the money hasn’t arrived

If the expected timeframe has passed and the recipient still has zero in their account, don’t panic. The first thing is to take a deep breath and follow a logical action plan to avoid shooting in the dark.

Before picking up the phone, gather all the information about the transfer. Having this data on hand is crucial.

• The transfer receipt: The receipt the bank gave you.
• Complete data: Name and account number of the sender (you) and recipient.
• Exact date and time: When did you order the shipment?
• The tracking code: The UETR, in case it’s a SWIFT transfer.

With all this ready, comes the big question: who do I call?

The golden rule is very simple: the one who sends the money is the one who must contact their bank. It’s your bank that initiated the entire process and, therefore, has access to the complete traceability of the payment. The recipient’s bank, for privacy reasons, won’t be able to give you any information.

Your step-by-step action plan

If you have to deal with a delay, don’t improvise. Follow these steps to manage the situation like a professional:

1. Contact your bank: Call your manager or customer service. Explain the situation calmly and give them all the data you’ve prepared. Being clear and direct is your best weapon.

2. Ask for the transfer status: Provide the tracking code (UETR) and ask at what exact point the money is. Did it leave your bank? Is it held at an intermediary bank? Has it been rejected for some reason?

3. Request a formal investigation: If the answer you get isn’t clear or doesn’t solve anything, demand that they open a “SWIFT investigation”. This is a standard procedure to track the money through the entire network of correspondent banks.

Understanding how this type of tracking works is fundamental. To get a clearer idea, you can consult a package tracking guide that, although focused on courier services, perfectly explains the universal logic of tracking codes and communication between intermediaries.

And one last piece of advice: be proactive. Always note the name of the person you speak with and the reference number of your case. Following up periodically shows that you’re on top of the matter and usually helps everything move faster.

Keys to optimizing your international payments and avoiding surprises

The best way to ensure that an international transfer arrives on time is, without a doubt, anticipation. Sometimes, small details in planning make the difference between a payment that completes in 24 hours and another that gets blocked for an entire week. Knowing how long an international transfer takes to arrive depends, to a large extent, on how well you manage the entire process from the start.

The first step, and the simplest, is to always have the calendar on hand. Banks only process standard transfers on business days, so if you send money on Friday afternoon, it’s most likely it won’t move from your account until Monday. To this you have to add holidays, which is a detail many overlook: check not only those in your country, but also those in the destination country. An unexpected holiday can add days of stoppage that you hadn’t anticipated.

Practical tips to speed up your shipments

Beyond planning, accuracy when entering data and choosing the correct shipping method are crucial for everything to go smoothly.

• Watch the cutoff time. All banks have a deadline for processing the day’s shipments. Find out what yours is and try to always make your payments before that time. If you do, you ensure the order goes out that same day.

• Use the type of transfer you need. If you’re going to send money within the SEPA zone and you’re in a hurry, instant transfer is your best ally. If you want to go deeper, we have a guide on the advantages of instant transfers. For payments outside Europe, the key is that all SWIFT network data (like the BIC code) are impeccable.

• Check the data two (or three) times. It seems obvious, but a simple error in the IBAN or a misplaced letter in the beneficiary’s name is the number one cause of delays and returns. Take an extra minute to check each detail before pressing the confirm button.

A tip for SMEs: automation is your best friend to avoid human error. If you manage batches of supplier payments or payroll on a recurring basis, automatically generating SEPA files from a simple Excel not only saves you valuable time, but almost completely eliminates the risk of making typographical errors.

In the end, getting your international payments to flow smoothly is a mix of good planning, accuracy, and using the right tools. If you anticipate possible obstacles, your transfers will arrive at their destination exactly when they need to, without surprises or last-minute calls.

Resolving the most common questions about timelines

Although the theory is clear, in practice the same questions always arise. Let’s give them a direct answer so you have a quick and useful guide always on hand.

Why does a transfer to the United States take so long compared to one to France?

It’s a matter of infrastructure. Think of it this way: a shipment to France uses the European financial “highway”, the SEPA zone. It’s a system designed to be incredibly efficient within its borders, guaranteeing that the money arrives, at the latest, in 1 business day.

On the other hand, a transfer to the United States moves through the SWIFT network, which is more like a network of international roads. The money has to make “stops” at several intermediary banks, go through currency conversion (from euros to dollars), and pass security controls both in Europe and the U.S. Each of those steps adds time, which is why it can take several days.

I made a mistake with the data, can I cancel the transfer?

Here speed is key. If you’ve made a SEPA instant transfer, the answer is no. Once sent, it’s irreversible by its very nature.

For standard transfers, both SEPA and SWIFT, you have a small window of opportunity. If you contact your bank right after giving the order, it’s very likely they can stop it before it’s processed. If the money has already left your account, things get quite complicated and it no longer depends only on your bank, but on the cooperation of the destination bank, which usually incurs extra costs.

Most delays and problems we encounter when asking how long an international transfer takes to arrive stem from a simple human error when entering data. Check the IBAN and name twice before hitting confirm.

What does the bank mean when my transfer is “in process”?

It simply means that your bank has received the order, but the money hasn’t yet begun its journey. It might be waiting for the bank’s “cutoff time” to process all the day’s payments, or perhaps it’s been temporarily held for an internal security review.

If you see this status for longer than usual (for example, more than a day for a normal SEPA transfer), it doesn’t hurt to contact your bank to make sure there isn’t any problem blocking it.

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At ConversorSEPA, we eliminate the risk of human error by automating the creation of your SEPA batches directly from an Excel file. You ensure that your payments are processed correctly the first time, avoiding the typical delays that cost time and money. Try our tool for free and optimize your transfers.

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