SWIFT/BIC codes in Austria: banks starting with H

Austria: banks and their SWIFT/BIC codes

For Austria our database holds 1191 SWIFT/BIC codes from 822 banks. A BIC shows the banks handling a transfer which institution is meant to get an international payment.

Pick the bank below to view its head office code and any branch codes, plus practical notes for sending and receiving money. The rest of this page explain the structure of the codes, what transfers cost and how to avoid mistakes.

Euro payments to Austria: is a BIC needed?

Austria belongs to the SEPA area. For a standard euro transfer from another SEPA country, the IBAN is usually enough.

A SWIFT code still come into play when the currency is not euros and when the money comes from outside SEPA. Euro payments within SEPA usually arrive within one business day. Provided no conversion is involved, a SEPA transfer tends to be inexpensive.

Transfer times to Austria

How quickly a payment arrives in Austria is determined by a few things: the currency, the number of banks in between, cut-off times and differences in time zone. Bank holidays in Austria or in the sending country add extra days to the journey.

Many banks are connected to SWIFT gpi. Each gpi transfer carries a unique transaction reference, the UETR. Money transfer services often show tracking in their app, which makes it easier to see where the money is.

Receiving money in Austria from abroad

A sender in another country needs a few details from you – incomplete details often cause delays. In practice that means: your name as your bank knows it, your IBAN or account number, the SWIFT/BIC code of your bank and usually your postal address.

Your bank’s code appears in our list. It helps to include the name and city of your bank as well.

Expect that the incoming amount is below the amount on the sender’s receipt. Correspondent banks can take a fee, and when currencies differ, an exchange rate margin comes on top. On invoices, agree how the fees are split to avoid a shortfall.

SWIFT codes in Austria: banks under :letter

This filter narrows the list to banks in Austria starting with :letter. The figures for Austria mentioned here apply to all 822 banks.

If the bank you need is missing under :letter, try the full list – the registered name can differ from the name people use. The full overview for Austria is available when you cannot find the bank here.

Verifying a SWIFT code from Austria

The most reliable source for the BIC is the recipient’s own bank details – an invoice, a statement or a screenshot from online banking. When the code you were given does not match our list, do not guess: check with the recipient or the bank.

We collect SWIFT/BIC codes from publicly available data and check our list from time to time. Institutions reorganise, change names and retire codes, and no directory catches every change immediately. Before a payment that matters, check the code with the recipient. GoldexPay is an independent comparison site and is not affiliated with the banks listed.

Be wary of payment requests containing a new account – a common fraud method. Before paying, confirm a change of bank details through a separate channel on a number you know.

Unicredit Bank Austria AG and its SWIFT codes

Of all banks we list for Austria, Unicredit Bank Austria AG is listed with the largest number of SWIFT codes. Its head office code is BKAUATWWXXX – the code most transfers need.

The number of codes tells you something about how it registers branches and services than about how big it is. Unless the recipient asks for a branch, the head office code BKAUATWWXXX works for a payment to Unicredit Bank Austria AG.

Paying in EUR: what conversion costs you

Austria uses the Euro. When you pay money in a different currency, it gets converted somewhere along the way.

Who converts the money makes a difference. Check what EUR the recipient gets with different services. Exchange rates change during the day, so a quote is usually valid only briefly.

How SWIFT codes from Austria are built

Each SWIFT/BIC code has eight or eleven characters, always in the same order. It starts with four letters for the bank, then a two-letter country code and two characters for the location.

No matter which bank, all Austria codes have the same fifth and sixth letters: the ISO code of the country. When the country letters do not match Austria, you are looking at a bank in another country – worth double-checking.

The last three characters, if present, stand for a specific branch; XXX is used for the head office. Use a branch code only when the recipient’s bank asks for it; otherwise the head office code is the safe choice.

Sending money to Austria for less

The price of a transfer to Austria is made up of more than one component, and the fee on your screen is only one of them. On top of the fee, correspondent banks may take a cut, and when the money is converted the bank often uses a less favourable rate than the real market rate.

The markup on the rate is often the largest part of the cost, even though it is not listed as a fee. A simple test: put the offered rate against the mid-market rate and work out the difference on your amount.

Money transfer services frequently offer a rate near the mid-market rate with clearer fees. On GoldexPay we compare the amount that arrives in Austria with different providers, which makes the cheapest option easy to spot.