International payments

It's important that you check all the details, such as name and account number, are correct before making a payment. If anything is incorrect, it may result in your payment being returned. You might receive a lower amount back because of deductions made for charges or exchange rates, for example.

1. Log on to online banking
2. Add your friends and family as payees if you haven't already
3. Select 'Pay and Transfer', then choose the account you want to make the payment from
4. Enter the payment details and follow the on-screen instructions
5. If you're sending money outside the UK for the first time, authorise the transaction using your Secure Key
6. Review and confirm your payment - once complete, you'll be able to make international payments to the same payee via the app

If you haven't set up online banking yet, register now to make an international payment.

1. Log on to online banking.
2. On your app, select "Generate security code" and "Transaction security code".
3. Enter the last 4 digits of the payee's account number or IBAN followed by the full payment amount unconverted, ignoring any letters or special characters and the decimal point. For example, if you're sending £3000.15 and the IBAN code is UK64HSBC4005A678, enter 5678300015.
4. Generate your 6-digit transaction code using fingerprint or face ID, or your Mobile Banking PIN.
5. Select 'Continue' in online banking to complete your payment.

1. Press and hold the green button to turn your Secure Key on, then enter your PIN
2. When 'HSBC' displays, press the yellow button
3. Enter the last 4 digits of the payee's account number or IBAN followed by the full payment amount unconverted, ignoring any letters or special characters and the decimal point
4. Press the yellow button to generate your 6-digit transaction code
5. Log on to online banking and enter the code, then select 'Continue' to complete your payment

• Photographic identification
• Beneficiary details
• Payment details

If you're sending money to the EEA² in euros or sterling, it should reach the account the next working day. 

Sometimes, it may take longer if we need to make extra security checks to validate payments. For example, if you’re sending money to secure a property or for investment.

Payments outside the EEA can take up to 4 working days. They may take longer, depending on the destination and if the payment falls on a bank holiday.

It’s free to send money anytime if you're a Premier customer, Private Banking customer, or using a Global Money Account.

If you are making payments from a non-Global Money account, it's no extra cost to send money from HSBC to HSBC and to another bank if it's in euros and within the EEA. Otherwise, it’s £5 to any other bank if you send money online (excluding Premier and Private Banking customers). This applies to recurring and future-dated payments, too.

If you’re paying someone in the EEA², you'll be charged the fees shown above and any intermediary and agency bank charges. You can't pay charges for the other person.

From 1 January 2021, the bank you're sending the money to may apply higher charges than it did before the UK left the EU. HSBC UK charges haven't changed.

We recommend checking what charges the other bank applies. These charges may be taken from the amount you’ve sent.

If you choose the beneficiary to pay all the fees, no charges will apply.

The above charges will be deducted from the payment before we add them to the beneficiary’s account where applicable. 

If we send money to or receive money from places outside the EEA, we may use an intermediary bank. They and the receiving bank may also impose charges, which could include payments sent through, or to, another HSBC bank.

• Pay all the fees
• Share the fees with you, which means you'll pay the charge(s) in the table below 
• Ask you to pay all fees - you'll pay the charges in the table below and any intermediary and agency bank charges

You can receive money in sterling or another currency (with the exception of Global Money account, which can only currently receive sterling payments). If the money is in a different currency to the one your account is held in, we'll convert it using the most up-to-date exchange rate before crediting it to your account.

If we can, we'll take away the charges from the payment before we credit them to your account. Any charges will show in your statement.

You'll always share fees for payments you receive in euros from an EEA country or region via SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area). You'll only pay HSBC’s receiving fee, and the sender will pay all of the other charges

If you're paying into an HSBC GBP current account, excluding Global Money, payments are processed using our standard HSBC exchange rate. Plus, we’ll only change your payment into GBP when we receive it. Until then, the exchange rate is a guide only and can change at any time.

Yes, you can track international payments using the HSBC Mobile Banking app or online banking.

Mobile banking:

• Log on to the HSBC UK Mobile Banking app
• Select the 'Pay' tab
• Select 'Track global payments'

In internet banking:

• Go to the 'Move money' tab at the top of the screen
• Select 'international payment tracker'

International Payments are payments made to accounts outside of the UK. Global Transfers are currency transfers made between your globally linked HSBC accounts. Global Money is an account with a debit card that enables you to make international payments in the required currency without fees.

Sometimes international payments are rejected, and this could happen due to:

• The payment instruction having an invalid account number
• The receiving account might be closed
• The payment may not pass the receiving bank’s own checks and controls and have to be returned

This list is not exhaustive.

If the payment is returned to us or it can’t be completed, we’ll return the amount to your account using the HSBC exchange rate at that time. This means the amount we return may be more or less than the original amount.

An intermediary bank helps transfer funds to the payee bank when there’s no direct relationship between HSBC UK and the payee bank.

To set up or cancel future-dated or recurring payments in online banking, select 'Standing orders and future payments'. Then select the account the payment is coming from to view details.

You can request to cancel any time up to 23:59 (UK time) on the day before the payment is due to be made.

Currently Global Money only allows for immediate payments to be made.

We can't cancel a payment if you've asked us to make it immediately.

There aren’t any legal transfer limits in the UK, but your transfer provider may set a limit on how much you can send. These limits can be set daily, monthly, or yearly.

For most banks, international transfer limits are between £25,000 and £50,000.

With HSBC UK, you can transfer up to £50,000 online or through your mobile, and up to £10,000 (£10 million for Premier customers) if you transfer by phone.

An international money transfer is a safe, secure way to send money to a bank account in other country or region.

You can track an international money transfer using online banking or with the app.