International payments

1. International payment

A cross-border payment order must be filled out in case you wish to make a payment to a foreign country or in a foreign currency to another Estonian bank.

Cross-border euro payments from a Member State of the European Union or the European Economic Area to another Member State are less expensive and easier to make as SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) payments.

For executing a cross-border payment order, it is very important to fill out all compulsory payment data fields. In case of inaccuracies, a payment may remain in correspondent banks or may be returned to the remitter, minus the amount of the bank charges.

Important information for transmission of payment order

The speed and deadlines of execution of payments and the amount of bank charges depend on the choice of the type of cross-border payment.

Type of payment

An ordinary payment, incl. SEPA payment, is transmitted to the beneficiary’s bank/correspondent bank on the second settlement day (T+1), if the payment is presented to the bank before 18.00.

An express payment (EUR, USD) is transmitted to the beneficiary’s bank/correspondent bank on the settlement day (T+0), if the payment is presented to the bank before 15.00.

We guarantee the highest priority for the processing of payments only at our correspondence bank. The speed of execution of payments at interim banks depends on the settlement deadlines and rules established at them.

Costs of bank charges related to cross-border payment order

Shared costs (SHA) – the transmitter pays the costs charged by its bank, the beneficiary pays the costs charged by all other banks (correspondent bank, beneficiary’s bank).

In the states of the European Economic Area, the bank charges are generally paid by sharing costs (SHA) and a provider of the payment service (remitter’s bank, correspondent bank, beneficiary’s bank) may not reduce the transferred amount by the bank charges. Cross-border payments in the currencies of the European Economic Area, if the beneficiary’s bank and the remitter's bank are located in the European Economic Area, can be originated only with the 'shared costs' type of bank charges (SHA).

Full amount to the beneficiary (OUR) – all costs (incl. those of interim correspondent banks) are covered by the remitter.

Full-amount-to-beneficiary (OUR) payments can be made only to third countries and/or if payments are not in euros or a currency of a Member State of the European Economic Area. The remitter’s bank cannot, however, guarantee that the payment will reach the beneficiary’s bank account in full, but can guarantee that it will be re-transferred in full from its correspondent account.

Information of the beneficiary

full name or designation of the beneficiary;

address of the beneficiary;
the beneficiary’s IBAN (International Bank Account Number) or account number at the beneficiary’s bank;

IBAN corresponds to the international account number standard.

Information of the beneficiary’s bank

exact name of the beneficiary’s bank (unabbreviated);

address (at least the city and country of the place of location of the bank);

the beneficiary’s bank’s BIC (Bank Identification Code) or SWIFT code, which is a combination of letters and numbers, comprising 8-11 characters (BIC of Berbank AS is SBMBEE22).

Information of the correspondent bank

name of the correspondent bank

address (at least the city and country of the place of location of the bank);

BIC code of the correspondent bank

2. SEPA payment

SEPA payment is an all-European ordinary payment that is intended for making euro payments on uniform conditions. The international bank account number IBAN and BIC code of the beneficiary’s bank is compulsory in case of intra-European euro payments.

Conditions of SEPA payment:

    the payment currency is EUR;
    the remitter’s bank and beneficiary’s bank are located in the Member States of the European Union or the European Economic Area and have joined the SEPA payment scheme;
    the payment data include the correct IBAN and BIC code;
    the payment is an ordinary payment (T+1);
    the remitter and beneficiary share the costs of bank charges (SHA).

3. Incoming international payment

We transfer the incoming cross-border payment to the beneficiary’s settlement account on the same settlement day, if the payment has reached our correspondent bank by 18.00 at the latest.

For the incoming cross-border payment, your partner should be notified of the following information:

Information of the beneficiary

full name or designation of the beneficiary;

address of the beneficiary,

the beneficiary’s IBAN (International Bank Account Number) or account number at the beneficiary’s bank;

Information of the beneficiary’s bank

Berbank AS, 12 Pärnu mnt. 10148 Tallinn, Estonia, BIC/SWIFT code SBMBEE22.

Information of the correspondent bank (see the appropriate section "About Bank")