Find out more about the processing times for a bank transaction

Why is there a delay between sending a transfer and receiving a payment?

First, it is important to understand what a financial transaction involves in order to understand why it cannot be instantaneous.

A financial transaction is, above all, an exchange of information between two institutions holding funds on behalf of third parties in order to carry out a transfer. It is an operation that must be reliable, unique, secure and complete. The consequences of an error can be particularly serious.

What are the different types of transfer and the associated processing times?

Financial institutions generally classify transactions into four main types, which are themselves divided into two categories.

These are:

• Account-to-account transfers:  These are transfers between two accounts belonging to the sender of the funds at the same bank. These transfers are instant regardless of the value date, provided that the account being debited has a sufficient balance.
  
• Domestic transfers: this is a transfer between two accounts in the same country and the same currency, held at two different banks. These transfers take between 1 and 3 working days. In most cases, the recipient is credited the morning after the transfer is sent.
  Domestic transfers made between two accounts at the same bank are generally completed within a few minutes.
  
• SEPA transfers: these are European payments denominated in euros, sent by a bank able to carry out this type of operation and received by a bank that accepts SEPA (more or less all European banks). The processing time is the same as for a domestic transfer. It should not take more than 3 working days.
  
• International transfers: here, the transfer takes place between two banks located in two different countries that have not signed any specific agreement, and not necessarily in the same currency. This can take between 1 and 5 working days.

These payments include:

• Instant or Express transfers: often charged by the bank when made in the afternoon, the order is executed with no processing delay. Please note that a euro express transfer falls outside the scope of the SEPA agreement.
  Among other things, using instant transfers makes it possible to complete domestic transactions on the same working day.
  
• Delayed transfers: this is the most common use of a transfer; the order is executed on a given date, often the day after the order is requested, but this can be set to a time chosen by the sender of the funds.

My transaction has not arrived on time — why?

Assuming your account has a sufficient balance and has indeed been debited, there are a thousand possible reasons for a delay in crediting the funds. We list the most common reasons here, though this is by no means exhaustive.

The most common error concerns your recipient’s bank details. This may relate to the name, address or IBAN of your recipient. If there is not a perfect match between all three, the receiving bank is entitled to refuse the funds. The consequence of this refusal is that the payment is returned within 2-3 working days.

Please note that fees may apply in the event of returned funds, particularly for international transfers.

The processing time can also be affected by the internal checks carried out by financial institutions. During a financial transaction, regardless of the amount, financial institutions may carry out a number of checks. As long as these checks have not been validated, the transaction remains pending.

The main reasons for these checks are: an unusual transaction amount, a new source of funds, the country of origin, the recipient’s name, or the destination country.

In the event of a block, banks are entitled to request clarifications and additional information. This can take up to a week.

Finally, the presence of an intermediary bank can affect the timing of your transaction. This is particularly the case for payments denominated in US dollars. A bank then acts as a bridge between the sender’s bank and the final recipient. This is unavoidable, but some institutions are slower than others in this processing, which can delay your transactions by several days.

What can be done to reduce the risk of delays?

Sharing information with the institutions involved in the transaction is key to keeping delays to a minimum. When you carry out a financial transaction that falls outside the usual pattern, your bank is required to carry out checks.

If your advisor has been informed of the transaction and has the information needed to validate it, they will process it as soon as it is received. Among other things, they will be able to ask you the necessary questions ahead of the transaction and thereby avoid any hold-up by clearing the obstacles one by one. For example, they can inform their colleagues in case of absence or answer the counterparty’s questions without having to come back to you.

If they do not have the information beforehand, they must get in touch with you, which they will do as soon as they have a moment. This can be within 5 minutes or within two days.

To reduce delays, we therefore recommend sending a message with supporting documentation or an explanation to your bank advisor as soon as you carry out or expect a transaction that falls outside your usual pattern (first Swiss salary, property transaction, management of your 2nd pillar pension, etc.).

So what impact does b-sharpe have on transaction times?

b-sharpe is a currency exchange intermediary and therefore a financial intermediary. We are consequently subject to the same regulations as banking institutions.

We do everything possible to reduce the processing time of your transaction as much as possible. Transactions processed before midday are settled with same-day value for all transactions in CHF and EUR. We process your transactions within a period not exceeding 12 business hours between receipt of your funds and the issuance of the countervalue payment.  

We remain dependent on banking timeframes, however, so the delay can vary between 1 and 3 days, even though the payment is made within minutes of receiving your funds.

Furthermore, as an intermediary, we are entitled to ask you for additional information regarding the economic background of your transactions. Without a response from you, the transaction will remain pending on our end.

Using b-sharpe therefore has very little impact on the timing of a standard bank transaction, while allowing you to benefit from particularly attractive exchange rates.

Generally, our clients are credited within 24 hours of their transaction being sent.