Sberbank (Baikalsky Head Office) SWIFT/BIC code

SABRRU66 – the SWIFT/BIC code of Sberbank (Baikalsky Head Office)

SABRRU66 and SABRRU66XXX are two ways of writing the same SWIFT/BIC code, and both lead to Sberbank (Baikalsky Head Office) in Irkutsk. A SWIFT code shows the banks handling a payment exactly which bank is meant to get the money. You will need it mostly for payments that cross a border or a currency.

We wrote this page to help people who receives money at an account at Sberbank (Baikalsky Head Office) without mistakes. Remember that the SWIFT code just identifies the bank, not the account: the account number or IBAN takes care of that.

Receiving money from abroad at Sberbank (Baikalsky Head Office)

Someone abroad who wants to pay you needs a few details from you – incomplete details often cause delays. The basics are: the account holder’s name, IBAN or account number, SABRRU66XXX and often your postal address.

Some banks also ask for the name and address of Sberbank (Baikalsky Head Office), so keep it at hand. Check each detail before you send them, because the sender’s bank usually copies them as is.

An incoming payment will not always land in full. Intermediary banks may deduct a fee, and if the money is converted, a markup on the rate comes on top. On invoices, you can agree who bears the costs.

Scams that use SWIFT codes

Scammers often send payment requests containing changed bank details. The fact that SABRRU66 exists is no guarantee that the account is legitimate – fraudsters use real bank codes as well.

Check changed payment details through a separate channel, such as a phone number you already know, not by replying to the message. Watch out for urgent requests, odd spelling or a sender address that is slightly off. Already paid? Call your bank without delay and have them try to recall the payment; also report it to the police.

Fraud also work the other way: someone claims to have sent more than agreed and wants you to refund the extra. A payment confirmation from the sender proves nothing – check your own account.

8 or 11 characters: SABRRU66 versus SABRRU66XXX

The structure of a BIC is always the same: four characters for the institution, two for the country and two for the location, plus an optional branch code. In this case, that core is SABRRU66.

Many payment forms accept either length. If yours asks for eleven characters, enter SABRRU66XXX, otherwise SABRRU66 is fine.

As a rule the code is written in capitals and without spaces. A wrong character may route a payment to a different institution, so check it twice.

What a transfer from Sberbank (Baikalsky Head Office) abroad really costs

If you send money abroad through Sberbank (Baikalsky Head Office), the fee you see is rarely all of the cost. There is the transfer fee, possibly charges from correspondent banks in between and, most importantly, the margin on the exchange rate if the currency changes.

That exchange rate margin is often the largest item, and it is easy to miss. An easy check: set the rate you get against the mid-market rate and work out the difference on your amount.

For a lot of routes, a transfer service turns out to be cheaper than a traditional bank transfer. GoldexPay compares the amount that arrives with different services, which makes the cheapest option easy to spot. Using a transfer service does not require leaving Sberbank (Baikalsky Head Office) – you pay the provider from your own account.

How to check SABRRU66 before you pay

The safest source for a SWIFT code is the bank details provided by the recipient: an invoice, a bank statement or their online banking. Compare it against SABRRU66 here and ask if anything does not match.

Errors in the SWIFT code tend to be costly more than disastrous – usually the money comes back, minus fees and time lost. Remember the IBAN: an error there can be more difficult to correct than a wrong code.

An automatic check by your bank merely tells you that the code exists, not that it is the right account. If your bank offers it, a payee name check before sending adds extra certainty. When you pay someone new, many people send a small test amount.

Transfer times and tracking a payment to Sberbank (Baikalsky Head Office)

There is no single answer for every transfer: some land within a day, others take several business days. Weekends and public holidays in either country add extra days to the journey. Occasionally a bank asks about the purpose of a payment.

A growing number of banks are connected to SWIFT gpi. Every payment carries a unique reference, the UETR, which your bank can use to see where the money is. Keep your transfer receipt until the money has arrived; it contains the details a bank needs to start a trace.

A missing payment has to be traced from the sending side on the basis of the transfer details. Request from the sender the payment receipt including the reference – it helps your own bank look for the money.

Sberbank (Baikalsky Head Office): head office code versus branch codes

Sberbank (Baikalsky Head Office) has 2 different SWIFT/BIC codes across 2 cities. One of them is the head office code, SABRRU66XXX; the rest identify branches, and sometimes internal departments.

Unless the recipient tells you otherwise, use SABRRU66XXX. Only use a branch code when your contact explicitly asks for it, for example on an invoice or in their bank details.

The best way is to take the code directly from the recipient’s invoice. Branch codes are more prone to be retired than SABRRU66XXX.

A note on our data

We gather bank codes using publicly available data and check them regularly. Still, banks merge, rename themselves or change codes. The number of codes we show reflect our own data, not official figures from Sberbank (Baikalsky Head Office).

For any payment of any size, confirm the code with Sberbank (Baikalsky Head Office) or with the recipient. GoldexPay is a comparison site for money transfers and not affiliated with Sberbank (Baikalsky Head Office). Found an error? Tell us via our contact form.