SWIFT/BIC codes in Croatia

SWIFT/BIC codes in Croatia

This overview covers 49 banks and financial institutions in Croatia. A SWIFT code shows every bank in the chain which institution is meant to get an international payment.

Each bank is listed with its own page with the head office code and if there are any, branch codes. The rest of this page explain the structure of the codes, the cost of transfers and how to avoid mistakes.

Most SWIFT codes in Croatia: Zagrebacka Banka Dd

Among the 49 institutions we list, Zagrebacka Banka Dd has the most SWIFT/BIC codes of all banks in Croatia. Its main office uses ZABAHR2XXXX; that is usually the right code for a transfer.

Many codes usually means that the bank registers branches and departments separately – it says nothing about the size of the bank as such. Unless the recipient asks for a branch, ZABAHR2XXXX is fine for a payment to Zagrebacka Banka Dd.

What a sender needs to pay you in Croatia

If you are waiting for money from abroad in Croatia, send the payer all details at once. That means: your name exactly as it appears on the account, your IBAN or account number, the BIC of your bank and sometimes your postal address.

The code of your bank appears in the list on this page. You can add your bank’s name and city as well because some forms have separate fields for it.

Expect that the amount credited is smaller than the amount on the sender’s receipt. Fees for incoming transfers vary from bank to bank; check the price list of your bank. Agree with the sender who covers the fees.

Paying in euros to Croatia

Since Croatia is in SEPA, a euro transfer to an account in Croatia normally only needs the IBAN. Many banks do not require the BIC in that case.

You still need a SWIFT code when sending non-euro payments or transfers from countries outside SEPA. Euro payments within SEPA usually arrive by the next business day or faster with instant payments. Provided no conversion is involved, the transfer tends to be cheap.

Bank or transfer service for Croatia?

What you pay for a transfer to Croatia has more than one component. On top of a fixed fee, correspondent banks may deduct a charge, and when the money is converted the bank usually applies a less favourable rate than the actual market rate.

The markup on the rate is often the biggest part of the cost, even though it is not listed as a fee. Check the rate you are offered against the mid-market rate, the midpoint you see on financial news sites; the gap is what conversion costs you.

For many routes, a transfer service is cheaper than a bank, mainly because of the rate. GoldexPay compares what recipients in Croatia receive with different providers, which makes the cheapest option easy to spot.

Croatia and the Euro

The national currency of Croatia is the Euro (EUR). A payment in a foreign currency will be exchanged into EUR before it reaches the account – and the bank that does it picks the rate.

Who converts the money matters: every bank has its own margin. In many cases it is cheaper to send EUR straight away via a provider with a good rate so the receiving bank does not need to convert again. On larger amounts, a seemingly small gap in the rate can be worth more than the fee.

Verifying a SWIFT code from Croatia

The safest source for a SWIFT code is the bank details provided by the recipient. A wrong code may lead to a delay, a returned payment or additional charges.

The directory on GoldexPay is based on publicly available sources and is updated regularly. Institutions reorganise, change names and retire codes. For any payment of any size, confirm the BIC with the recipient. GoldexPay is an independent comparison site and has no link to the banks in this list.

Watch out for invoices containing changed bank details – a common fraud method. A real SWIFT code tells you nothing about who owns the account – scammers use the codes of real banks.

How SWIFT codes from Croatia are built

A SWIFT code is either 8 or 11 characters long and follows a fixed pattern. The first four letters identify the bank, the fifth and sixth characters are the country code and the next two give the location.

You can recognise a bank code from Croatia by the fifth and sixth characters. When those two letters point to another country, you are looking at a bank somewhere else.

The long version ends in three characters for a branch – XXX stands for the head office. For most transfers the head office code is what you need unless the recipient asks for a specific branch.

Transfer times to Croatia

There is no single delivery time for payments to Croatia: many land within a day. Public holidays in Croatia or in the sending country add extra days, because banks do not process payments on those days.

When a payment takes longer than expected, ask the sender to contact their own bank and ask for the status or the UETR. Keep your transfer receipt until the recipient confirms; a bank needs it to start a trace.