Swift SWIFT/BIC code

SWIFT/BIC code of Swift

SWHQHKHH and SWHQHKHHXXX are two ways of writing the same bank identifier, and both lead to Swift in Hong Kong. A BIC has a single purpose: it ensures that an international payment reaches the right bank. It comes up mainly when dealing with payments that cross a border or a currency.

Further down you will find the practical questions: money coming in from abroad, paying someone in another country and how to check a SWIFT code before you confirm a payment. A SWIFT code identifies a bank or branch, not a single account; the IBAN or account number does that.

Swift: head office code versus branch codes

Our database contains 2 SWIFT/BIC codes for Swift. Next to the head office code SWHQHKHHXXX, there are codes for regional offices and specialised units.

If nobody asks you for a branch code, use SWHQHKHHXXX or its short form SWHQHKHH. When you receive a specific code, stick to it rather than replacing it for the head office code.

If you are not sure, check with the recipient which code their bank gave them. Branch codes are sometimes changed or retired when banks reorganise.

What a transfer from Swift abroad really costs

An international bank payment can cost rather more than the listed fee. There is the fee for the transfer itself, possibly charges from correspondent banks along the way and, most importantly, the margin on the exchange rate when the money is converted.

Many banks do not list their exchange rate markup as a cost. Compare the rate you are offered with the mid-market rate, the midpoint between buy and sell rates you see on financial sites. The difference is your real conversion cost.

For many routes, a specialist provider is less expensive than a bank. GoldexPay lists these services side by side, showing the amount the recipient gets. You can always use your account at Swift, while a cheaper service handles the conversion.

Before you send: check the Swift code

The most reliable source for a SWIFT code is the bank details provided by the recipient – an invoice, a statement or a screenshot from online banking. Check it with SWHQHKHH on this page; if they differ, ask before you pay.

An incorrect BIC may lead to delays, a payment being sent back or additional charges along the way. A mistake in the account number can be more serious; check it just as carefully.

A format check in your banking app only tells you that the code exists. Some banks now compare the payee name with the account before you confirm; take any warning seriously. A small test payment is worth it for a large first payment, even if it costs an extra fee.

Sending HKD to Swift

The national currency of Hong Kong SAR China is the Hong Kong Dollar (HKD). A payment in a foreign currency will be exchanged into HKD. Each conversion eats into something – usually through the rate rather than a fee.

Which bank converts the money makes a difference, because each party uses its own rate. Often you pay less if you send HKD straight away through a provider that converts near the mid-market rate, so that the receiving bank does not need to convert again.

Rates for HKD move during the day. For regular payments, small differences in the rate make a real difference over a year.

Why Swift has an 8- and an 11-character code

Every SWIFT/BIC code has the same eight core characters: four letters for the bank, two letters for the country and a two-character location code. That gives you SWHQHKHH, the short form of the code.

XXX at the end of SWHQHKHHXXX does not stand for a placeholder or a mistake: it indicates the head office of Swift. Certain payment forms ask for 11 characters, and then you can enter XXX after SWHQHKHH.

Leave out spaces or dashes when you enter SWHQHKHH; the code is always written in one block. Pasting the code beats typing it by hand: a typo can point to another bank.

A note on our data

We collect bank codes from publicly available data and update our list regularly. Still, banks merge or retire codes and our data may lag behind. Figures such as the number of codes come from our own dataset.

For any payment that matters, confirm the BIC with Swift or with the recipient. GoldexPay is independent of Swift, we only compare transfer services. Spotted an error? Let us know through the contact page and we will look into it.

Getting paid from abroad into a Swift account

If you are waiting for money from abroad, give the sender everything they need in one go. What they need is: your name, account number or IBAN, SWHQHKHHXXX or SWHQHKHH and in many cases your home address.

You can include the bank name and Hong Kong too, because some payment forms have separate fields for them. A typo in the IBAN is more trouble than you might think.

An incoming payment will not always arrive in full. Intermediary banks may deduct a fee and your own bank may charge for processing, and if the currency changes, a markup on the rate comes on top. On invoices, you can state who bears the costs to avoid a shortfall.

Tracking a transfer to or from Swift

How quickly a payment arrives at Swift is determined by several factors: the currency, the number of banks in between, cut-off times and time zones. Payments made late in the day or just before weekends and holidays usually start the next business day. Compliance checks on larger or unusual payments can also cause a delay, even when all details are correct.

When a payment takes longer than expected, contact your bank about the tracking status or the UETR; with that reference banks can see where the payment is. Specialist transfer services often show tracking online so you can see how far the money has got.

A missing payment has to be traced by the sending bank on the basis of the transfer details. On the receiving end, it helps to look at your statements to see a partial amount.

Watch out for payment fraud

Stay wary if a contact suddenly asks you to pay into another account or a bank in another country. A valid SWIFT code tells you nothing about whether the request is genuine: scammers use real codes of real banks.

Never trust contact details in the same message that announces the change. Be suspicious of time pressure, odd spelling or a sender address that is slightly off. If a payment was sent to the wrong account, contact your bank immediately – speed improves the chance of getting it back.

Scams also work the other way. Someone claims to have sent too much and asks you to return the difference. A payment confirmation from the sender is no proof.