A SWIFT money transfer is a type of international wire transfer that is an electronic means of moving money from one country to another. A SWIFT money transfer begins when a person gives a bank permission to send a specific amount of money from his account to an account abroad. The person provides her bank with the SWIFT code and account number for the other bank. Electronic instructions are then sent to the other bank detailing the amount that should be posted and the account involved.

Time Frame

Transfers can appear in the recipient's account as quickly as a few hours or as long as a week.

Identification

The transfer looks like a sheet of paper with printed information, such as the sending bank's information, the parties involved in the transfer and a series of codes that describe how funds will be collected.