Wire transfer
Wire transfer
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Wire transfer

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Wire transfer

Wire transfer, bank transfer, or credit transfer, is a method of electronic funds transfer from one person or entity to another. A wire transfer can be made from one bank account to another bank account, or through a transfer of cash at a cash office.

Different wire transfer systems and operators provide a variety of options relative to the immediacy and finality of settlement and the cost, value, and volume of transactions. Central bank wire transfer systems, such as the Federal Reserve's Fedwire system in the United States, are more likely to be real-time gross settlement (RTGS) systems, as they provide the quickest availability of funds.

This is because RTGS systems, such as Fedwire, post each transaction individually and immediately to the electronic accounts of participating banks maintained by the central bank.

Other systems, such as the Clearing House Interbank Payments System (CHIPS), provide net settlement on a periodic basis. More immediate settlement systems tend to process higher monetary value time-critical transactions, have higher transaction costs, and have a smaller volume of payments. A faster settlement process allows less time for currency fluctuations while money is in transit.

The first widely used service for wire transfers was launched by Western Union in 1872 on its existing telegraph network. Once a sender had paid money to one telegraph office, the operator could transmit a message and "wire" the money to another office, using passwords, code books to authorize the release of the funds to a recipient at that location. By 1877 the service was used to transfer almost $2.5 million each year. Because the earliest wire transfers were using telegraph networks, it was termed telegraphic transfer and this name is still used in some countries.

A bank wire transfer is effected as follows:

Banks collect payment for the service from the sender as well as from the recipient. The sending bank typically collects a fee separate from the funds being transferred, while the receiving bank and intermediary banks through which the transfer travels deduct fees from the money being transferred so that the recipient receives less than what the sender sent.

For international wire transfers, additional information may be required, such as the recipient’s full name, physical address, bank name and address, bank account number and type, bank routing number, and the bank's SWIFT or IBAN code. The fees and processing times can vary depending on the service provider and the destination country.

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