SWIFT/BIC codes in St. Lucia

St. Lucia: banks and their SWIFT/BIC codes

On this page you find codes for 14 banks in St. Lucia, 14 codes in all. Each code identifies an institution or a specific branch or department, so a payment from abroad reaches the right place.

Select a bank from the list to see its head office code and its other codes along with tips for payments to and from that bank. Below the list you can read how codes from St. Lucia are built, how to send money there without overpaying and how to check a code before you pay.

Check the code before you pay

The most reliable source for the BIC is the bank details provided by the recipient. A wrong code may lead to a delay, a returned payment or extra fees.

We collect SWIFT/BIC codes from public sources and check our list from time to time. Even so, banks merge, rename themselves or change codes, so information can be out of date. Before a payment of any size, check the BIC with the recipient’s bank. GoldexPay is not a bank and has no link to the banks in this list.

Be wary of invoices with a new account, especially when they come by email. Always verify changed details through a separate channel, using a number you already had.

1st National Bank St.lucia Limited and its SWIFT codes

1st National Bank St.lucia Limited tops our list of St. Lucia banks in SWIFT/BIC codes. Its main office has LUOBLCLCXXX; that is usually the right code for a transfer.

How many codes a bank has tells you something about how it registers branches and services than about how big it is. Making a payment to 1st National Bank St.lucia Limited? Use LUOBLCLCXXX unless the recipient gives you a branch code.

What a sender needs to pay you in St. Lucia

Someone abroad who wants to pay you needs several details from you. That means: your name exactly as it appears on the account, your account number or IBAN, the BIC of your bank and usually your postal address.

Your bank’s code is in the list on this page, yet the version on your own statement or in your banking app is leading. Some sending banks may also want the name and address of your bank, so keep it at hand.

The amount you receive can be less than the amount sent. Correspondent banks can take a fee, your bank may charge for incoming payments, and when currencies differ, an exchange rate margin comes on top. For business payments, agree how the fees are split, so nobody is left short.

How long does a transfer to St. Lucia take?

There is no fixed answer for transfers to St. Lucia: many arrive the same day or the next, others take several business days. Public holidays in St. Lucia or in the sending country can add extra days.

Many banks are connected to SWIFT gpi. Every gpi transfer gets a unique reference, the UETR, which the sending bank can use to trace it. Money transfer services often provide tracking in their app.

Paying a bank in St. Lucia from abroad

St. Lucia is outside the SEPA area, the European zone for uniform euro payments. International transfers to St. Lucia usually go through the SWIFT network – which is why you need the BIC of the recipient’s bank.

In some countries, the account is identified by a domestic account number rather than an IBAN, sometimes with an extra bank or branch code. The recipient’s bank often has a list of required details for incoming international payments. SWIFT payments can pass through correspondent banks.

Bank or transfer service for St. Lucia?

If you transfer money to St. Lucia with your bank, the fee you see is only part of the cost. On top of a fixed fee, intermediary banks may take a cut, and when the money is converted the bank usually applies a rate below the real market rate.

The real cost is often in the rate, not in the fee: banks convert at a rate with a margin built in. An easy check: set the rate you get against the mid-market rate and look at the difference.

Money transfer services often offer a rate near the mid-market rate and lower fees. GoldexPay lists transfer services next to each other, showing the amount that reaches the recipient.

Recognising a SWIFT code from St. Lucia

A SWIFT code is 8 or 11 characters long and the parts always come in the same order. Characters one to four stand for the bank, characters five and six are the country code and the next two mark the location.

For banks in St. Lucia, letters five and six show the ISO country code of St. Lucia, which makes these codes easy to recognise. If the country letters do not match St. Lucia, the code belongs to a bank somewhere else.

An 11-character code adds three characters for a branch, where XXX means the head office. For most transfers the head office code is fine, unless the recipient gives you a branch code.