Standard Chartered Bank SWIFT/BIC code

SCBLUS33 – the SWIFT/BIC code of Standard Chartered Bank

If an invoice shows SCBLUS33 or SCBLUS33XXX, it is the identical identifier for Standard Chartered Bank in United States. Every bank on the SWIFT network uses BIC codes to direct international transfers to the correct institution. In practice you mostly come across the code on invoices from abroad, in your banking app and in the bank details of Standard Chartered Bank customers.

This page is meant to help people who receives money at an account at Standard Chartered Bank. Keep in mind that the BIC just identifies the bank, not the account: the IBAN or account number does that part.

Head office or branch code at Standard Chartered Bank?

Standard Chartered Bank has 2 separate SWIFT/BIC codes. Only one is the head office code, SCBLUS33XXX; the rest identify branches or departments, and sometimes internal departments.

In most cases there is no need to look up a branch: payments addressed to SCBLUS33XXX reach Standard Chartered Bank correctly. If you have been given a branch code, stick to it instead of swapping it for the head office code.

Unsure which code applies? Check with the recipient, or look at a recent statement from Standard Chartered Bank. Branch codes are more prone to be retired than the head office code when a bank merges or closes offices.

How to check SCBLUS33 before you pay

The best place to find the right code is a document from the bank itself, such as a statement or the account details in online banking. If the code you have differs from SCBLUS33 or SCBLUS33XXX, stop and ask: check with the recipient or with Standard Chartered Bank directly.

Mistakes in the BIC tend to be annoying more than disastrous. Do not forget the IBAN: a mistake there can be harder to correct than a wrong BIC.

A validity check in your banking app only confirms that the IBAN exists. If your bank offers it, a payee name check on the recipient adds extra certainty. When you pay someone new, many people start with a small amount first and wait for confirmation.

International transfers from Standard Chartered Bank: the real cost

A bank transfer abroad costs more than the listed fee. On top of a fixed fee, banks in between may take a cut, and when the money changes currency, the bank usually applies a rate below the actual market rate.

Many banks do not list their exchange rate markup separately. An easy check: put the rate you get next to the mid-market rate and look at the difference.

Money transfer services often use rates closer to the mid-market rate with clearer fees. GoldexPay lists transfer providers next to each other so you can see the amount the recipient gets. You can still use your account at Standard Chartered Bank to fund the transfer; only the conversion and sending happen elsewhere.

Sending USD to Standard Chartered Bank

United States pays in the US Dollar. If you send money in a different currency, the amount has to be converted somewhere along the way. Every conversion costs something – usually through the rate rather than a fee.

Which bank converts the money matters. Often it is cheaper if you send USD directly through a transfer service with a good rate rather than letting the receiving bank convert.

The USD rate fluctuates throughout the day, so the amount you see is usually only valid for a short time. With bigger transfers, even small difference in the rate adds up quickly.

Getting paid from abroad into a Standard Chartered Bank account

Someone abroad who wants to pay you will ask for a few details about your account, and missing ones are a common cause of delays. Give them your name as the bank knows it, your account number or IBAN, the BIC SCBLUS33XXX and your address, which some banks require.

The sender’s bank may request the bank address of Standard Chartered Bank. Double-check each detail before you share them – a sender rarely spots a mistake in someone else’s details.

Money from abroad will not always arrive in full. Correspondent banks can take a fee and your own bank may charge for processing, and if the money is converted, an exchange rate margin applies. Make clear with the sender who covers the fees before the money is sent.

How up to date is this code?

We collect bank codes from publicly available data and check them from time to time. It is possible that information on this page is no longer current. Figures such as the number of codes are from our own dataset.

Before any payment that matters, confirm the BIC with Standard Chartered Bank or with the recipient. We are an independent comparison service and not part of Standard Chartered Bank. Spotted outdated information? Tell us via our contact form so we can correct it.

Watch out for payment fraud

Stay alert if a contact suddenly wants you to send money to another account abroad. A correct SWIFT code says nothing about who owns the account: scammers use real codes of real banks.

Check new payment details through a different channel, not by replying to the message. Pressure or requests to keep it quiet are red flags – a real supplier can wait a day. When a payment was sent to a fraudster, contact your bank immediately – speed improves the chance of getting it back.

Recipients are targeted too: a classic trick is an overpayment and then sends a request to send back the difference to another account. Wait until the money is actually in your account.

How long does an international transfer to Standard Chartered Bank take?

How fast a payment reaches Standard Chartered Bank depends on several factors: the currency, how many intermediary banks are involved, daily processing deadlines and differences in time zone. Payments made after the cut-off time or just before weekends and holidays usually start a business day later. Sometimes a bank asks what the payment is for before releasing it.

When a payment takes longer than expected, ask the sending bank for the tracking status so they can trace it along the chain. Keep your transfer receipt until the money has arrived; it contains the details a bank needs to start a trace.

If a payment has not arrived within the expected time, the person who paid needs to start with the bank that sent it, not the receiving bank. Request from the sender a copy of the payment confirmation including the reference – it helps your own bank look for the money.

What the XXX in SCBLUS33XXX means

The structure of a BIC never changes: four characters for the institution, a two-letter country code and two for the location, sometimes followed by a branch code. Together, these eight characters make up SCBLUS33.

Most payment forms accept either length. If a form requires eleven characters, use SCBLUS33XXX.

Leave out spaces, dots when you type SCBLUS33. Watch for O versus 0 and I versus 1.