Bank of The West SWIFT/BIC code

What BWSTUS66 means for a payment to Bank of The West

The short code BWSTUS66 and the full code BWSTUS66XXX identify the same bank: Bank of The West. Banks worldwide use these codes to direct international transfers to the right bank. It comes up mostly when dealing with transfers between countries or a currency.

This page is meant to help people who pays into an account at Bank of The West without mistakes. Remember that the SWIFT code only identifies the bank, not the person: the IBAN or account number takes care of that.

Verifying the SWIFT code of Bank of The West

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 that code with BWSTUS66 here; if they differ, ask before you pay.

Errors in the SWIFT code tend to be annoying more than fatal: often the payment comes back, minus fees. Do not forget the IBAN: a mistake there is harder to correct than a wrong code.

Most online banking apps validate the format of IBANs and sometimes look up the BIC automatically. Some banks now check the payee name with the account. A small test payment can be worth it for large sums.

What to give a sender who pays you at Bank of The West

To receive an international payment at Bank of The West, the person paying you needs not just the BIC. In practice that means: your full name as registered with Bank of The West, your account number or IBAN, the BIC BWSTUS66XXX and, often, your address.

It helps to include the bank name and San Francisco,ca as well, because some payment forms have separate fields for them. A mistake in your account number is harder to fix than you might think; copy them from your banking app rather than typing.

What lands in your account can be less than what was sent. Intermediary banks may deduct a fee, Bank of The West may charge for incoming payments, and when currencies differ, an exchange rate margin comes on top. On invoices, it is common to state who bears the costs.

Paying into Bank of The West in USD

Accounts at Bank of The West are usually held in USD, the national currency. A payment in a foreign currency is converted into USD before it reaches the account. You rarely see a separate charge for that conversion; it is built into the rate.

Who converts the payment matters: every bank has its own margin. Check how much USD arrives via several providers; the difference between options can be larger than you expect.

The USD rate fluctuates constantly. On larger amounts, even small gap in the rate adds up quickly.

Which of the 2 codes of Bank of The West do you need?

With 2 codes, Bank of The West belongs to the banks that use individual codes for branches. The head office code is BWSTUS66XXX.

For the vast majority of incoming transfers, the head office code BWSTUS66XXX is what you need. Just use a branch code when the account holder gives you that exact code, for example on an invoice or in their bank details.

When in doubt, check with the recipient which code their bank gave them. Branch codes are sometimes changed or retired over time, so a code from an old document is not always valid.

Why Bank of The West has an 8- and an 11-character code

The layout of a BIC never changes: a bank code of four letters, two for the country and a two-character location code, sometimes followed by a branch code. That gives you BWSTUS66.

Most banks and apps accept either length. If a form requires eleven characters, enter BWSTUS66XXX, otherwise BWSTUS66 is fine.

Leave out spaces, dots when you enter BWSTUS66. A single letter can send a payment to another bank, so check it twice.

Transfer times and tracking a payment to Bank of The West

An international transfer typically takes one to a few business days – it depends on currency, route and the banks in between. Weekends and public holidays in either country can add a day or more, since banks do not process on those days. Compliance checks on larger or unusual payments can also add some delay, even when all details are correct.

A growing number of banks are connected to SWIFT gpi for faster and traceable payments. Every gpi transfer carries a unique transaction reference, the UETR that banks can use to trace it. Save your transfer receipt until the money has arrived – you will need it for any trace request.

If the money does not arrive after a few business days, the person who paid should contact the bank that sent it. As a recipient, you can check your account to see a slightly lower amount.

Watch out for payment fraud

Scammers regularly use fake invoices with changed bank details, sometimes in an email that looks completely genuine. That BWSTUS66 is a real code does not mean that the account is genuine – fraudsters use real bank codes as well.

Verify new bank details via a separate channel, such as a phone number you already know, not by replying to the message. Watch out for urgent requests, unusual wording or an email address that differs by one letter. Already paid? Contact the bank you paid from straight away and have them try to recall the payment and report the fraud.

Fraud also target the receiver. Someone sends too much and asks you to refund the extra to a new account. Do not act before the money is actually in your account and check with Bank of The West if anything seems off.

Sending money abroad from Bank of The West

An international bank payment costs more than the fee suggests. There is the fee for the transfer itself, sometimes charges from correspondent banks along the way and, above all, the exchange rate markup if the currency changes.

Many banks do not show their exchange rate markup separately, but you pay it all the same. A simple test: set the rate you get against the mid-market rate for the same moment and look at the difference.

For a lot of routes, a transfer service turns out to be less expensive than a traditional bank transfer. On GoldexPay we compare what recipients receive with different services, so you can pick the cheapest route. You can always keep your account at Bank of The West; only the conversion and sending happen elsewhere.

Where our SWIFT data comes from

Our SWIFT/BIC directory draws on publicly available sources and is updated regularly. Even so, banks merge or retire codes. The number of codes we show are based on our own data, not official figures from Bank of The West.

Before a payment that matters, always confirm the BIC with the recipient’s bank or the recipient. GoldexPay is an independent comparison service and not affiliated with Bank of The West. Found an error? Tell us through the contact page.