SWIFT/BIC codes in Ireland: banks starting with U

Finding a SWIFT code in Ireland

On this page you find the SWIFT/BIC codes of 675 institutions in Ireland, 1087 codes in all. A BIC shows every bank in the chain which institution should receive an international payment.

Each bank is listed with its own page with its main code and, where available, codes for branches and departments. The rest of this page covers how the codes work, what transfers cost and the checks worth doing before a payment.

Receiving money in Ireland from abroad

For a transfer from abroad into a Ireland account, the person paying you needs not just the SWIFT code. That means: your full name as your bank knows it, your account number or IBAN, the BIC of your bank and usually your postal address.

The code of your bank appears in the list on this page but always compare it with your own bank details. Certain sending banks may also ask for your bank’s address.

What lands in your account is often lower than the amount sent. Fees for incoming transfers differ from bank to bank. Make clear with the sender who pays which costs before the money is sent.

Tracking a payment to Ireland

An international transfer to Ireland typically takes one to a few business days, depending on the currency, the route and the banks involved. Bank holidays in Ireland or in the sending country add a day or more to the journey.

When a payment takes longer than expected, the sender should contact the sending bank – the receiving bank often cannot see a payment that has not arrived. Keep the payment confirmation; a bank needs it to start a trace.

Bank or transfer service for Ireland?

An international bank payment to Ireland can cost more than the fee suggests. You pay the transfer fee, sometimes fees from correspondent banks along the way and, above all, the exchange rate markup when currencies differ.

Most of the cost usually sits in the exchange rate, not in the fee: banks convert at a rate with a margin built in. Compare the rate you are offered against the mid-market rate, the midpoint you see on financial news sites.

For many currency pairs, a transfer service turns out to be less expensive than a traditional bank transfer – mostly thanks to the exchange rate. Before you send money to Ireland, it is worth comparing the total cost on GoldexPay rather than accepting the first rate you see.

Ireland and the SEPA area

Because Ireland is part of the SEPA zone, a euro transfer to an account in Ireland usually requires just an IBAN. Many banks no longer ask for the BIC in that case.

A SWIFT code does matter for payments in other currencies and when the money comes from outside SEPA. Euro payments within SEPA usually arrive within one business day or faster with instant payments. Costs stay low as long as no currency is converted.

The Euro (EUR) and conversion costs

Bank accounts in Ireland are typically held in EUR – the Euro. If you send money in a different currency, it gets converted at some point.

Which bank converts the money matters, because each party uses its own rate. Check what EUR arrives via several services before choosing one. With bigger transfers, even a small gap in the rate adds up quickly.

Most SWIFT codes in Ireland: Danske Bank A/S

In our directory, Danske Bank A/S holds the largest number of SWIFT/BIC codes of all banks in Ireland. Its head office code is DABAIE2DXXX.

The number of codes says something about how it organises its payments than about its size. Unless a branch code is given, DABAIE2DXXX is fine for transfers to this bank.

How SWIFT codes from Ireland 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.

In every code from Ireland, characters five and six show the ISO country code of Ireland, which makes these codes easy to recognise. When the country letters point to another country, the code belongs to a bank somewhere else.

The optional last three characters stand for a specific branch; XXX means the head office. For most transfers the head office code is fine, unless the recipient gives you a branch code.

How reliable is this list?

The best place to find the right code is a document from the bank itself. When the code you were given differs from the code listed here, stop and ask.

Our SWIFT/BIC directory is compiled from public sources and is updated regularly. Banks reorganise, close branches and retire codes, and no directory catches every change immediately. For any payment that matters, confirm the BIC with the recipient’s bank. We are a comparison service.

Fraudsters often use payment requests carrying new bank details. A real SWIFT code says nothing about whether a request is genuine – scammers use the codes of real banks.

Filter: banks in Ireland with :letter

Here you see a filtered list: just institutions in Ireland whose name begins with :letter. The counts in the introduction still cover all banks in Ireland, not just this letter.

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