N Gauge Forum

General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Newportnobby on August 24, 2026, 10:05:27 AM

Title: Has anyone in Australia made a bank transfer to the UK?
Post by: Newportnobby on August 24, 2026, 10:05:27 AM
I've supplied:-

Bank name
Account name
Account number
Sort Code

Is that enough for an Australian bank to send me a transfer please?
Title: Re: Has anyone in Australia made a bank transfer to the UK?
Post by: Bob G on August 24, 2026, 10:24:00 AM
You need to give the bank accounts IBAN code. That has bank and account details in one long code.

You can usually find that on your personal account website or talk to a real person at the bank.
Title: Re: Has anyone in Australia made a bank transfer to the UK?
Post by: Bob G on August 24, 2026, 10:25:25 AM
I know I couldn't get money sent from the US to my account, so we resorted to PayPal. That works.
Title: Re: Has anyone in Australia made a bank transfer to the UK?
Post by: Newportnobby on August 24, 2026, 11:55:54 AM
Ta muchly, Bob. I've provided the IBAN (International Banking??) code.
I hate paypal and am currently in dispute with them
Title: Re: Has anyone in Australia made a bank transfer to the UK?
Post by: jpendle on August 24, 2026, 02:52:19 PM
Quote from: Bob G on August 24, 2026, 10:25:25 AMI know I couldn't get money sent from the US to my account, so we resorted to PayPal. That works.

I send money regularly from my US account to my UK account.

You need the Swift code as well as the IBAN, and it's not cheap, $40 per transfer.

Regards,

John P
Title: Re: Has anyone in Australia made a bank transfer to the UK?
Post by: cmason on August 24, 2026, 05:04:32 PM
Hmmm - I have solved all the issues I had with international payments by using Wise (used to be called TransferWise ). You give the other party unique local bank account details in their country that Wise provides you with. They pay into that with a local transfer which is much easier for them. You then get an instant transfer to you (still in that currency). You then exchange at the time of your choosing and then transfer out to your own account using a local transfer. I move money between my UK and Japan bank accounts this way and also receive payments this way, all within minutes.

Disclaimer: I have no relationship with them except as a happy user.

From my experience they give the market exchange rate at the moment you tell them to convert and the fees are the most reasonable I have found and everything is up front an nothing is hidden. If you wnat a sign up link (where we both get benefits as a result) I will PM you one, or you can just sign up directly at wise.com.

BTW I do also use Revolut which is an alternative provider of these sort or services, and it has its fans (especially for card use abroad), however personally I have found Wise best overall and use it both for personal and business transactions (and enjoy the fact that I am not paying uunecessary fees and rate spreads to the "traditional" banking industry whose service has frankly deteriroated in recent years - I refer to all those branch closures as well as excessive fees ),

Cheers,

Colin.
Title: Re: Has anyone in Australia made a bank transfer to the UK?
Post by: Graham on August 24, 2026, 11:41:43 PM
There are a number of ways to do this.
1. bank to bank transfer the sender will need all the details of your account to receive the money, including the SWIFT code. In Australia, and if it is the first time for a transfer between the 2 accounts, it normally takes 24hrs after you load the details for it to be sent to the recipient, this gives the sender time to retract it if there is a problem. Exchange rate not the best and could be other charges.

2. PayPal, all the sender needs is the recipient PayPal account. Exchange rate not great, but no other charges. I have recently used this to pay Revolution for spares, @njee for Pendolino wheel sets and C-Rail for some new wagons, works really well.

3. Wise or Revolut cards, often the best exchange rate available, as Chris explained.
Title: Re: Has anyone in Australia made a bank transfer to the UK?
Post by: Stuart Down Under on August 25, 2026, 02:41:19 AM
I have used TorFX.com for the past 10 years. Competitive rates and works efficiently in both directions. No per transaction charge.
 :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Has anyone in Australia made a bank transfer to the UK?
Post by: cmason on August 25, 2026, 04:09:23 AM
Quote from: Graham on August 24, 2026, 11:41:43 PM3. Wise or Revolut cards, often the best exchange rate available, as Chris explained.

One of the key things about what I wanted to say on Wise was that it does not even need to involve their card. To collect money it just generates bank account details in the sending parties country's banking system that you share with them (I suppose you could call it a kind of "collection account") so that they only need make a domestic transfer. And to send money it is similarly super simple,

Cheers,

Colin.
Title: Re: Has anyone in Australia made a bank transfer to the UK?
Post by: Newportnobby on August 25, 2026, 09:00:51 AM
It doesn't help that a certain Australian Moderator and myself are Luddites :-[
Title: Re: Has anyone in Australia made a bank transfer to the UK?
Post by: Bealman on August 25, 2026, 09:21:01 AM
I'll come clean. I've never tried the IBAN code yet. When I got out of the doc's it was very cold and pouring down. It's winter here, remember.

Went home instead  ;D
Title: Re: Has anyone in Australia made a bank transfer to the UK?
Post by: Newportnobby on August 25, 2026, 10:39:17 AM
Quote from: Bealman on August 25, 2026, 09:21:01 AMI'll come clean. I've never tried the IBAN code yet. When I got out of the doc's it was very cold and pouring down. It's winter here, remember.

Went home instead  ;D

Wimp :unimpressed:
Title: Re: Has anyone in Australia made a bank transfer to the UK?
Post by: ntpntpntp on August 25, 2026, 10:48:04 AM
I used bank transfers 20-30 years ago for dealings with friends and shops in Germany, but the cost was stupid. I could use online banking (I use that for domestic bills and transfers),  but mostly I find Paypal much much easier :)
Title: Re: Has anyone in Australia made a bank transfer to the UK?
Post by: Newportnobby on August 25, 2026, 04:15:07 PM
Just for general info, according to Natwest the SWIFT code is now a BIC

A BIC (sometimes referred to as SWIFT code) is a unique set of characters, being either 8 or 11 numbers and letters. This enables easy identification of financial institutions (e.g. banks) when carrying out international transactions.
Title: Re: Has anyone in Australia made a bank transfer to the UK?
Post by: Bob G on August 25, 2026, 04:56:42 PM
Quote from: Newportnobby on August 25, 2026, 04:15:07 PMJust for general info, according to Natwest the SWIFT code is now a BIC

A BIC (sometimes referred to as SWIFT code) is a unique set of characters, being either 8 or 11 numbers and letters. This enables easy identification of financial institutions (e.g. banks) when carrying out international transactions.

Some countries, and the finance departments in companies in those countries, have different names and even different codes.

Getting paid by a South African company proved quite difficult, and don't even expect any company in the U $ of A to even pretend to recognise your bank account, let alone want to part with their own dollar$.

Just personal experience  ;)
Title: Re: Has anyone in Australia made a bank transfer to the UK?
Post by: Newportnobby on August 28, 2026, 10:06:06 AM
@Bealman managed a transfer using Western Union. It cost him £5.29 (10 Aus $)*
Maybe he could tell us all what info was needed to do this.

* No idea if this is a flat fee or is a percentage of the amount transferred
Title: Re: Has anyone in Australia made a bank transfer to the UK?
Post by: Bealman on August 28, 2026, 10:15:16 AM
Everything. Including what's hidden in your grandmother's wardrobe, or under the floorboards :D
Title: Re: Has anyone in Australia made a bank transfer to the UK?
Post by: Newportnobby on August 28, 2026, 10:27:08 AM
So, that was my full name and address, name of bank, account name, account number, sort code, IBAN number and BIC (SWIFT) number. Maybe this might help someone in the future (like George :smiley-laughing: )
My inside leg measurement was not asked for :no:
Title: Re: Has anyone in Australia made a bank transfer to the UK?
Post by: Bealman on August 29, 2026, 04:30:37 AM
Yep, all of that. As you are aware, it was a right carry on.
Title: Re: Has anyone in Australia made a bank transfer to the UK?
Post by: Bealman on August 29, 2026, 04:32:00 AM
As far as I know, the $10 was a flat fee.