UBS AG SWIFT/BIC code

UBSBCHZZ – the SWIFT/BIC code of UBS AG

UBSBCHZZ and UBSBCHZZXXX are two spellings of the same bank identifier, and both point to UBS AG in Zurich. Every bank on the SWIFT network uses BIC codes to route payments between countries to the correct bank. In daily life you mostly come across it on international invoices, in payment forms and in the bank details of UBS AG customers.

On this page you will find how the code is put together, when you need it and what else a transfer to or from UBS AG requires. The SWIFT code on its own cannot identify an individual account holder; for that you need the IBAN or account number .

Receiving money from abroad at UBS AG

A sender in another country will ask for several details about your account, and missing ones are a common cause of delays. The basics are: your name, IBAN or account number, UBSBCHZZXXX and often your home address.

Certain banks want the name and address of UBS AG. A typo in your account number can be more trouble than it looks.

Do not be surprised if the amount credited is smaller than what the sender paid. Charges on incoming payments differ from bank to bank – the price list of UBS AG tells you what applies. Make clear with the sender who pays which costs before the money is sent.

Verifying the SWIFT code of UBS AG

Have the recipient copy the bank details straight from a recent statement. When the code you were given does not match UBSBCHZZ or UBSBCHZZXXX, do not guess: check with the recipient or with UBS AG directly.

With a wrong code, the transfer might be delayed, be returned or end up costing more – sometimes after weeks of searching. Remember the account number: an error there can be more difficult to correct than a wrong BIC.

An automatic check in your banking app only tells you that the IBAN is valid – not that it belongs to the person you mean to pay. Some banks now compare the payee name with the account before you confirm – do not ignore a mismatch warning. For a first payment, some people start with a small test amount and wait for confirmation.

Changed bank details? Be careful

Be alert when someone unexpectedly wants you to send money to another account or a bank in another country. A valid SWIFT code tells you nothing about who owns the account – scammers simply use real codes.

Always confirm a change of bank details through a phone call on a number you know, not one from the message. Watch out for urgent requests, odd spelling or a sender address that is slightly off. Acted too fast? Contact your bank without delay and ask them to start a recall and report the fraud.

Recipients can be targeted as well: one known trick is an overpayment followed by a request to refund the difference abroad. Wait until the money is actually in your account.

Why UBS AG has an 8- and an 11-character code

A SWIFT code is built from fixed blocks: characters one to four stand for the bank, the next two show the country and characters seven and eight mark the location. The result is UBSBCHZZ.

XXX at the end of UBSBCHZZXXX is not a missing value or an error: it indicates the head office of UBS AG. Certain payment forms ask for 11 characters, and then you can add XXX behind UBSBCHZZ.

Type the code as one block, in capitals and without spaces, exactly as shown here. Watch for O versus 0 and the letter I and the digit 1, a common source of typos.

How up to date is this code?

The codes here are taken from publicly available data. Institutions merge, change names and change codes – a directory can be a step behind. The number of codes we show are based on our own data and not on information from UBS AG itself.

Before any payment of any size, confirm the code with UBS AG or with the recipient. GoldexPay is independent of UBS AG. Should you notice something that is out of date, we welcome a short note via the contact page.

Sending CHF to UBS AG

Switzerland pays in the Swiss Franc (CHF). When you pay another currency it has to be converted at some point – by your bank, by UBS AG or by a bank in between. Every conversion eats into something, even when no fee is shown.

Which bank converts the payment makes a difference, because each party uses its own rate. Often it is cheaper to send CHF straight away via a transfer service that converts near the mid-market rate.

The rate for CHF fluctuates constantly. For recurring payments, small differences in the rate add up over time.

Euro transfers to UBS AG: is a BIC needed?

Inside SEPA, euro payments to UBS AG follow the same rules, so the IBAN does the job in most cases. A field for the BIC is often optional for those payments.

The BIC still matter for payments in other currencies. A few forms still show a field for the BIC; if so, fill in UBSBCHZZ or UBSBCHZZXXX.

Instant euro transfers have become increasingly available across SEPA; check with UBS AG whether it applies to your account. Fees for SEPA transfers are generally low as long as everything stays in euros.

What a transfer from UBS AG abroad really costs

If you transfer money to another country from UBS AG, the visible fee is rarely all of the cost. On top of the transfer fee, banks in between may deduct a fee, and if the money changes currency, the bank often uses a rate that is less favourable than the real market rate.

The markup on the rate is often the largest item even though it is not listed as a fee. An easy check: set the rate you get next to the mid-market rate and work out the difference on your amount.

Specialist money transfer services frequently use rates closer to the mid-market rate with clearer fees. On GoldexPay you can compare the amount that arrives across providers, which makes the cheapest option easy to spot. Using a transfer service does not require leaving UBS AG.

When will the money arrive at UBS AG?

How quickly a payment arrives at UBS AG depends on a few things: the currency, how many intermediary banks are involved, cut-off times and differences in time zone. Bank holidays in either country add extra days. Compliance checks by one of the banks can also cause some delay, regardless of the details.

Many banks use SWIFT gpi for faster and traceable payments. Each payment gets a unique transaction reference, the UETR. Save the payment confirmation until the recipient confirms.

If the money does not arrive within the expected time, the person who paid should start with the bank that sent it, not the receiving bank. On the receiving end, it helps to check your account to see a partial amount.

Which of the 5 codes of UBS AG do you need?

UBS AG uses 5 different SWIFT/BIC codes across 1 cities. Only one is the head office code, UBSBCHZZXXX; the rest belong to branches.

Unless the recipient tells you otherwise, go with UBSBCHZZXXX. A branch code only makes sense when the account holder explicitly asks for it.

When in doubt, ask the person you are paying which code their bank gave them. Codes for branches are more prone to be retired than the head office code when a bank merges or closes offices.