Bank of Aland PLC SWIFT/BIC code

SWIFT/BIC code of Bank of Aland PLC

AABAFI22 and AABAFI22XXX are the short and the long form of the same bank identifier, and both lead to Bank of Aland PLC in Mariehamn. A BIC has a single purpose: it makes sure that a cross-border transfer ends up at the right bank. You will need it mostly when dealing with transfers between countries and payments in foreign currencies.

Further down we go through the practical side: receiving money at Bank of Aland PLC, paying someone in another country and how to verify a SWIFT code before you hit send. The BIC identifies an institution, never a single account; the IBAN or account number does that.

Transfer times and tracking a payment to Bank of Aland PLC

A SWIFT payment typically needs one to a few business days, depending on the currency, the route and the banks involved. Payments made late in the day or just before weekends and holidays often go out a business day later. Extra checks on larger or unusual payments can also cause some delay.

Many banks use SWIFT gpi. Every payment carries a unique reference, the UETR that banks can use to trace it. Specialist transfer services often show tracking online so you can see where the money is.

A delayed transfer is investigated from the sending side. Ask the sender for a copy of the payment confirmation including the reference.

Choosing between the 2 SWIFT codes of Bank of Aland PLC

Bank of Aland PLC has 2 separate SWIFT/BIC codes. One of them is the head office code; the rest belong to branches or departments.

For most incoming transfers, the head office code AABAFI22XXX is what you need. Branch codes are only needed if the recipient’s bank explicitly asks for it.

The best way is to take the code straight from the account holder’s bank details. Branch codes are more likely to be retired than the head office code when a bank merges or closes offices.

About this information

We gather bank codes using public sources and update them from time to time. Banks reorganise, change names and change codes. Figures such as the number of codes are from our directory.

Treat our directory here as a handy check. GoldexPay has no connection to Bank of Aland PLC. Spotted an error? Tell us through the contact page so we can correct it.

How to check AABAFI22 before you pay

The best place to find the right code remains a document from the bank itself, such as a statement or the account details in online banking. If the code you have differs from AABAFI22 or AABAFI22XXX, stop and ask.

A wrong SWIFT code can cause delays, a payment being sent back or extra fees. Remember the account number: a mistake there is more difficult to undo than a wrong code.

Many banking apps check the structure of an IBAN and sometimes look up the BIC automatically. Where available, a name check on the recipient adds an extra layer of safety. When you pay someone new, some people start with a small test amount before sending the rest.

Receiving money from abroad at Bank of Aland PLC

Someone abroad who wants to pay you needs several details from you, and missing ones are a common cause of delays. That means: your name exactly as it appears on the account, your IBAN or account number, the SWIFT/BIC code AABAFI22XXX and usually your address.

The sender’s bank may also ask for the bank address of Bank of Aland PLC. Check the details before you send them – a sender rarely spots a mistake in someone else’s details.

What lands in your account can be lower than the amount sent. Charges on incoming payments vary per bank – the price list of Bank of Aland PLC tells you what applies. For business payments, you can agree who bears the costs.

Protect yourself against fake payment requests

Stay alert when someone suddenly wants you to pay into another account or a bank in another country. The fact that AABAFI22 exists does not mean that a request mentioning it is genuine; criminals use the codes of real banks too.

Before paying, confirm changed bank details through a phone call. Be suspicious of time pressure, odd spelling or an email address that differs by one letter. Acted too fast? Call your bank without delay and ask them to start a recall; also report it to the police.

Recipients can be targeted as well: a classic trick is a buyer who pays too much and then sends a request to refund the difference to another account. A payment confirmation from the sender proves nothing – check your own account.

Paying someone abroad from your Bank of Aland PLC account

When you transfer money to another country via Bank of Aland PLC, the fee you see is rarely all of what you pay. Besides the transfer fee, banks in between may take a cut, and when currencies are converted the bank usually applies a rate that is less favourable than the real market rate.

Banks do not show the margin on the rate separately. A simple test: set the rate you get next to the mid-market rate for the same moment and look at the difference.

For a lot of currency pairs, a transfer service turns out to be cheaper than a bank, mainly because of the exchange rate. On GoldexPay you can compare the amount that arrives with different services, which makes the cheapest option easy to spot. You can always use your account at Bank of Aland PLC as the source of the money, while a cheaper service handles the conversion.

Paying Bank of Aland PLC in euros within SEPA

Because Finland is part of SEPA, a euro payment to Bank of Aland PLC from within the SEPA area usually only needs an IBAN. Most banking apps do not require the BIC for these payments.

A SWIFT code like AABAFI22 does matter for payments in other currencies, and for transfers from outside SEPA. If a payment form has a field for the BIC anyway, adding AABAFI22 does no harm.

Instant euro transfers are widely supported across SEPA. Fees for SEPA payments are generally low.

Euro (EUR) and conversion costs

The local currency in Finland is the Euro (EUR). A payment in a foreign currency is converted into EUR on its way to Bank of Aland PLC. Every conversion eats into the amount – usually through the rate rather than a fee.

Who converts the payment makes a difference, because each party uses its own rate. Sending the money already in EUR usually avoids a second conversion by Bank of Aland PLC – as long as your own rate is good.

The rate for EUR fluctuates constantly. With bigger transfers, even seemingly small gap in the rate adds up quickly.

AABAFI22 or AABAFI22XXX – which one to use?

Each SWIFT/BIC code has the same eight core characters: four letters for the bank, two letters for the country and two characters for the location. Together, those parts form AABAFI22.

XXX at the end of AABAFI22XXX is not a placeholder or an error: it stands for the main office of Bank of Aland PLC. Some forms insist on 11 characters, and then you simply add XXX behind AABAFI22.

Type the code as one block, in upper case and without spaces, exactly as shown here. Look out for the letter O and the digit 0 and I versus 1.