Foreign Trade Bank of The D.p.r. of Korea SWIFT/BIC code

SWIFT/BIC code of Foreign Trade Bank of The D.p.r. of Korea

If an invoice shows FTBDKPP1 or FTBDKPP1XXX, you are looking at the identical identifier for Foreign Trade Bank of The D.p.r. of Korea in North Korea. The code 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 and payments in foreign currencies.

On this page we explain what the code means, when you need it and what else you need for a transfer to or from Foreign Trade Bank of The D.p.r. of Korea. A SWIFT code names a bank or branch, never a specific account; the IBAN or account number does that.

Getting paid from abroad into a Foreign Trade Bank of The D.p.r. of Korea account

If you expect money from abroad, send the payer a complete set of details. Share your name as the bank knows it, your account number or IBAN, SWIFT code FTBDKPP1XXX and your address, which some banks require.

Their bank may also ask for the address of your bank; the head office in Pyongyang is usually fine. Check the details before you share them – a sender rarely spots a mistake in someone else’s details.

Expect that the amount credited is smaller than what the sender paid. Fees for incoming transfers vary per bank; check the price list of Foreign Trade Bank of The D.p.r. of Korea. For business payments, you can state how the fees are split.

What a transfer from Foreign Trade Bank of The D.p.r. of Korea abroad really costs

If you transfer money abroad via Foreign Trade Bank of The D.p.r. of Korea, the fee you see is rarely all of what you pay. On top of the transfer fee, banks in between may deduct a fee, and if the money changes currency the bank usually applies a rate below the real market rate.

Many banks rarely list their exchange rate markup separately. Check the rate you are offered against the mid-market rate, the midpoint between buy and sell rates you see on financial sites. The difference is your real conversion cost.

For a lot of currency pairs, a transfer service turns out to be less expensive than a traditional bank transfer. GoldexPay lists transfer providers side by side so you can see what actually arrives before you commit. Using a transfer service does not mean leaving Foreign Trade Bank of The D.p.r. of Korea: you simply pay the service from your account.

Tracking a transfer to or from Foreign Trade Bank of The D.p.r. of Korea

A SWIFT payment usually takes anywhere from one to several business days. Payments made late in the day or just before weekends and holidays often go out the next business day. Extra checks by one of the banks can also add a delay, even when all details are correct.

Many banks are connected to SWIFT gpi, which lets them follow a payment from bank to bank. Each gpi transfer carries a unique transaction reference, the UETR that banks can use to trace it. Money transfer services usually provide a status in their app showing where the money has got.

A missing payment is investigated by the sending bank on the basis of the transfer details. As a recipient, you can check your account to see a partial amount, since fees may have been deducted.

About this information

The codes here come from public sources. Even so, banks merge or retire codes, so information can be out of date. Figures such as the number of codes come from our own dataset.

Treat this page as a reference, not as the final word. GoldexPay is independent of Foreign Trade Bank of The D.p.r. of Korea. If you notice something that is out of date, we welcome a message.

8 or 11 characters: FTBDKPP1 versus FTBDKPP1XXX

The layout of every SWIFT code is always the same: four characters for the institution, two for the country and two for the location. Together, those parts form FTBDKPP1.

XXX at the end of FTBDKPP1XXX does not stand for a missing value or a mistake: it stands for the head office of Foreign Trade Bank of The D.p.r. of Korea. Some forms ask for 11 characters, in which case you can enter XXX after FTBDKPP1.

Do not add spaces, dots when you enter FTBDKPP1 or FTBDKPP1XXX. A single letter can send a payment to another bank, so check it twice.

Choosing between the 2 SWIFT codes of Foreign Trade Bank of The D.p.r. of Korea

With 2 codes, Foreign Trade Bank of The D.p.r. of Korea belongs to the banks that use individual codes for branches. The main code is FTBDKPP1XXX.

If nobody asks you for a branch code, use FTBDKPP1XXX or its short form FTBDKPP1. If you have been given a branch code, use it as it is rather than replacing it with the head office code.

The safest approach is to copy the code straight from the account holder’s bank details. Codes for branches are more likely to be retired than the head office code when a bank merges or closes offices.

Before you send: check the Foreign Trade Bank of The D.p.r. of Korea code

The most reliable place for 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 does not match FTBDKPP1 or FTBDKPP1XXX, do not guess – contact the recipient or Foreign Trade Bank of The D.p.r. of Korea.

Errors in the SWIFT code tend to be annoying more than disastrous – usually the money comes back, minus fees and time lost. Remember the account number: an error there can be harder to undo than a wrong code.

Many banking apps check the structure of an IBAN and sometimes look up the BIC automatically – that confirms the format, not the owner. More and more banks compare the payee name against the account before you confirm. A small test payment is a sensible step for large sums despite the extra fee.

Protect yourself against fake payment requests

A common scam works like this: an email arrives with a request claiming that a contact has a new bank account and asking you to pay there from now on. That FTBDKPP1 is a real code is no guarantee that the account is genuine; criminals use the codes of real banks too.

Verify changed payment details through a separate channel, never via the email that asked for the change. Urgency or requests to keep it quiet are red flags; a genuine business can wait for you to check. Acted too fast? Call your bank straight away and have them start a recall; also report it to the police.

Scams also work the other way. Someone claims to have sent more than agreed and wants you to return the extra to a new account. Wait until the money has really arrived – ask Foreign Trade Bank of The D.p.r. of Korea if something looks wrong.