East-West Bank SWIFT/BIC code

What EWBKUS66 means for a payment to East-West Bank

The short code EWBKUS66 and the full code EWBKUS66XXX refer to the same bank: East-West Bank, with its head office in Pasadena,ca. A SWIFT code tells the banks handling a payment exactly which bank is meant to get the money. In daily life you mostly see it on international invoices, in your banking app and on the account details of East-West Bank customers.

Further down we go through the practical questions: money coming in from abroad, paying someone in another country and how to check the code before you confirm a payment. The SWIFT code on its own cannot identify a personal account; for that you need the account number or IBAN is for.

Before you send: check the East-West Bank code

Have the recipient send you the account details straight from their online banking. When the code you were given does not match EWBKUS66 or EWBKUS66XXX, do not guess.

Errors in the BIC tend to be annoying rather than fatal. Do not forget the account number: an error there can be more difficult to correct than a wrong BIC.

Many banking apps validate the format of IBANs and some suggest the matching BIC, but that does not prove the account belongs to the right person. Some banks now compare the name against the account before you confirm – do not ignore a mismatch warning. For a first payment, many people start with a small test amount before sending the rest.

Protect yourself against fake payment requests

Stay alert when someone suddenly wants you to pay into another account. A valid SWIFT code tells you nothing about whether the request is genuine – scammers simply use real codes.

Check new bank details via a different channel. Be suspicious of urgent requests, unusual wording or an email address that differs by one letter. Acted too fast? Contact your bank without delay and have them try to recall the payment; also report it to the police.

Fraud also target the receiver: someone sends more than agreed and asks you to return the extra to a new account. Do not act before the money is actually in your account.

International transfers from East-West Bank: the real cost

The price of a payment abroad is made up of several parts, and the transfer fee is only the most visible one. There is the fee for the transfer itself, sometimes fees charged by intermediary banks along the way and, most importantly, the margin on the exchange rate when the money is converted.

The real cost is often in the rate, not in the fee: many banks convert at a rate with a margin built in. An easy check: put the rate you get next to the mid-market rate for the same moment and look at the difference.

For a lot of routes, a specialist provider is cheaper than a bank – mostly thanks to the rate. Before your next transfer, take a minute to compare the total cost via GoldexPay. You can always use your account at East-West Bank to fund the transfer; only the conversion and sending happen elsewhere.

US Dollar (USD) and conversion costs

The currency of United States is the US Dollar (USD). If you send another currency has to be converted at some point: by your bank, an intermediary or East-West Bank itself. Each conversion eats into the amount.

Where the conversion happens has an effect on the final amount, since every bank sets its own rate. In many cases you pay less if you send USD directly via a provider that converts near the mid-market rate rather than letting the receiving bank convert.

Rates for USD move all the time, and some providers let you lock in a rate. With bigger transfers, even small difference in the rate can be worth more than the fee.

Where our SWIFT data comes from

We gather SWIFT/BIC codes from public sources and update them from time to time. Still, banks merge, rename themselves or retire codes and our data may lag behind. The figures we show are based on what is in our directory.

Treat this page as a starting point, not as the final word. GoldexPay is independent of East-West Bank, we only compare transfer services. Found outdated information? Tell us through the contact page and we will look into it.

Getting paid from abroad into a East-West Bank account

To receive an international payment at East-West Bank, the sender needs not just the BIC. The basics are: the account holder’s name, account number or IBAN, EWBKUS66XXX and in many cases your postal address.

You can add the bank name and its city as well, because some payment forms have separate fields for them. Check the details before you send them – a sender rarely spots a mistake in someone else’s details.

Expect that the incoming amount is smaller than the amount on the sender’s receipt. Intermediary banks may deduct a fee and your own bank may charge for processing, and when currencies differ, a markup on the rate comes on top. For business payments, you can state who bears the costs to avoid a shortfall.

What the XXX in EWBKUS66XXX means

A BIC is made up of fixed blocks: characters one to four identify the bank, characters five and six give the country and characters seven and eight indicate the location. Together, these eight characters make up EWBKUS66 – the version you usually see online.

Most banks and apps work with both lengths. If yours asks for eleven characters, use EWBKUS66XXX.

Type the code in one piece, in upper case and without spaces, exactly as shown here. A wrong character may route a payment to another bank, so copy it carefully.

When will the money arrive at East-West Bank?

There is no single answer for international payments: many arrive within a day, others take several business days. Payments made after the cut-off time or just before weekends and holidays often start the next business day. Occasionally a bank asks what the payment is for before releasing it.

When a payment takes longer than expected, contact your bank for the status and the transaction reference so they can trace it along the chain. Money transfer services often show a status in their app so you can see how far the payment has got.

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

Head office or branch code at East-West Bank?

Having 2 codes, East-West Bank belongs to the banks that register separate codes for branches. The head office code remains EWBKUS66XXX.

Usually you do not need to pick a branch: transfers sent to EWBKUS66XXX reach East-West Bank correctly. Just use a branch code when your contact gives you that exact code, for example on a letter or invoice.

The safest approach is to copy the code straight from the recipient’s statement. Branch codes are sometimes changed or retired when banks reorganise.