Bank Vontobel AG SWIFT/BIC code

What VONTCHZU means for a payment to Bank Vontobel AG

The 8-character code VONTCHZU and the full code VONTCHZUXXX refer to one and the same institution: Bank Vontobel AG in Zurich, Switzerland. The code does one job: it ensures that an international payment reaches the right bank. It comes up mostly for transfers between countries.

This page is meant to help anyone who pays into an account at Bank Vontobel AG without mistakes. The BIC identifies an institution, not a specific account.

How long does an international transfer to Bank Vontobel AG take?

A SWIFT payment typically needs one to a few business days, depending on the currency, the route and the banks involved. Transfers sent late in the day or on weekends and holidays often go out a business day later. Sometimes a bank wants to know about the purpose of a payment before releasing it.

If a transfer is delayed, ask your bank for the tracking status and the transaction reference so they can trace it along the chain. Keep your transfer receipt until the money has arrived.

Only the sending bank is able to start an official trace or a recall; the receiving side usually has nothing to trace yet. On the receiving end, you can check your account for a partial amount, since fees may have been deducted.

Swiss Franc (CHF) and conversion costs

The national currency in Switzerland is the Swiss Franc (CHF). A payment in a foreign currency is converted into CHF before it reaches the account, and whoever converts it chooses the rate. Every conversion eats into the amount, even when no fee is shown.

Which bank converts the payment matters. Often you pay less to send CHF directly via a provider with a good rate, so that the receiving bank does not need to convert again.

The rate for CHF fluctuates throughout the day. With bigger transfers, a seemingly small difference in the rate adds up quickly.

SEPA payments and the Bank Vontobel AG BIC

Within the SEPA zone, euro transfers to an account in Switzerland follow the same rules. The BIC field is often optional for those payments.

Outside the euro and for senders outside SEPA, VONTCHZUXXX or VONTCHZU remains part of the payment details. A few forms also show a field for the BIC; if so, enter VONTCHZU.

Instant payments in euros have become increasingly available within SEPA. Fees for SEPA transfers tend to be low, as long as no currency conversion is involved.

Sending money abroad from Bank Vontobel AG

A bank transfer abroad can cost more than the fee suggests. Besides the transfer fee, correspondent or intermediary banks may take a cut, and when currencies are converted, the bank often applies a rate that is less favourable than the real market rate.

Most of the cost usually sits in the exchange rate, not in the fee: many banks convert using an exchange rate that includes a margin. Check their rate with the mid-market rate.

For a lot of routes, a transfer service is less expensive than a bank – mostly thanks to the rate. Before your next transfer, it is worth to compare the total cost via GoldexPay instead of going straight to your bank. You can always use your account at Bank Vontobel AG as the source of the money; only the conversion and sending happen elsewhere.

How up to date is this code?

The codes here come from publicly available data which we refresh regularly. Still, banks merge, rename themselves or change codes. The number of codes on this page are based on our own data and not on information from Bank Vontobel AG itself.

Use this page as a starting point, not as the final word – the bank details from the recipient are leading. GoldexPay is an independent comparison site and not affiliated with Bank Vontobel AG. Found outdated information? Let us know through the contact page so we can correct it.

Head office or branch code at Bank Vontobel AG?

Bank Vontobel AG has 3 different SWIFT/BIC codes. One of them is the head office code, VONTCHZUXXX; the others belong to branches, and sometimes specific services.

For the vast majority of incoming transfers, the head office code VONTCHZUXXX works fine. Branch codes are only needed if the account holder explicitly asks for it.

Unsure which code applies? Check with the recipient, or look at a recent statement from Bank Vontobel AG. Branch codes can change over time, so a code from an old document is not always valid.

Changed bank details? Be careful

Be wary if someone suddenly wants you to pay into a different account or a bank in another country. A valid SWIFT code says nothing about who owns the account – scammers simply use real codes.

Do not rely on a phone number in the same message that announces the new account. Pressure or requests to keep it quiet are warning signs – a real supplier can wait a day. Acted too fast? Contact the bank you paid from without delay and ask them to start a recall and report the fraud.

Recipients can be targeted as well: one known trick is a buyer who pays too much followed by a request to send back the difference. A payment confirmation from the sender is no proof; only your own account shows what has arrived.

VONTCHZU or VONTCHZUXXX – which one to use?

The structure of every SWIFT code never changes: four characters for the institution, two for the country and two for the location, sometimes followed by a branch code. That gives you VONTCHZU, the short form of the code.

The full version has three more characters for a branch or department. If the last three are XXX, the code points to the head office, which is why VONTCHZUXXX and VONTCHZU lead to the same place.

Type the code in one piece, in upper case and without spaces, exactly as shown here. Pasting the code beats retyping it, because one wrong letter changes the bank.

Is VONTCHZU still correct? How to check

The most reliable place for the correct BIC is a document from the bank itself. Check it with VONTCHZU on this page and ask if anything does not match.

With a wrong code, the payment might get stuck, bounce back or end up costing more, and tracing it can take weeks. An error in the IBAN or account number can be a bigger problem because it can reach the wrong person, so check that just as carefully.

An automatic check by your bank only tells you that the code is valid – not that it belongs to the person you mean to pay. If your bank offers it, a payee name check before sending gives extra certainty. For a first payment, some people start with a small test amount.

What to give a sender who pays you at Bank Vontobel AG

When you are waiting for money from abroad, send the payer a complete set of details. What they need is: the account holder’s name, account number or IBAN, VONTCHZUXXX or VONTCHZU and, for some countries, your home address.

Some banks also ask for the bank’s address in Zurich; it does no harm to include it. A mistake in your account number can be more trouble than you might think, so copy the details from your online banking.

Do not be surprised if the amount credited is below what the sender paid. Fees for incoming transfers differ per bank; check the price list of Bank Vontobel AG. On invoices, you can state how the fees are split, so that nobody is left short.