Receiving an international payment

You can find your Account Number on your Zempler Bank card or in your account overview in Online Banking or the Zempler Bank app. 

Your Account Number is different to your Customer Number, and the Customer Number should not be referenced for international payments.

UK Payments: When you receive a payment via UK bank transfer – you just need to provide the UK payer with your unique Zempler sort code and account number and the payment is sent directly into your Zempler Bank Account.

International Payments: When you receive a payment from abroad – to ensure your payment reaches your account, banks use an IBAN, as well as a SWIFT/BIC code to help identify who the payment belongs to. NatWest provide our banking services and this is why the SWIFT/BIC code begins with ‘NWBK’ which stands for NatWest Bank.

Once the payment has been received – we then transfer the funds into your GBP Zempler Bank  Account using the Account Number that the payer will provide in the Description/Reference Details field. Without this, we have no way of identifying a payment as being yours, so please make sure you remind the payer to include these details, otherwise the money will be returned.

Please note: We may hold the payment for up to four weeks before returning the money to the Payer. The total time it takes for the funds to be returned to the payer will depend on the originating bank and the country it’s from.

You can accept international payments originating in the following countries:

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Cyprus (not North Cyprus), Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guernsey, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and the USA.

Payments can be received into your Zempler account either in Euros or GBP. The details you need to provide the payer will differ depending on which currency they send the payment in.

The time it takes for an international payment to arrive in your account will vary depending on which country and bank it’s coming from. So, it’s best to ask the person making the payment, to check timings with their bank for you. Once received, we’ll apply the payment to your account by the next working day (if received before 3.30pm), provided all the details required are correct.

We charge a flat fee of £15 per inbound international payment, no matter what the amount or currency of the payment is.

Some paying banks will also add a fee, and the payer will usually be able to choose if the fee is deducted from the total amount paid, or added as a separate fee.

Always confirm the sender is aware how their bank will deduct fees (if applicable) to ensure you receive the required amount.

The most likely reason is that non-Euro funds have been sent to the Zempler Bank  Euro account. If this happens, you will be charged two conversion rates - the first from the original currency to Euro, and the second is a conversion from Euro to GBP. 

If you're expecting an international payment in GBP or another permitted non-Euro currency, please see our FAQ on what you need to do to receive an international payment in GBP or non-Euro currency. 

If you're expecting an international payment in Euros, please see our FAQ on what you need to do to receive an international payment in Euros.

Listing Zempler Bank as the beneficiary helps ensure the payment reaches us so we can assign it to your account using your Account Number in the reference details. If Zempler Bank isn’t listed as the beneficiary, the payment may not be accepted and funds will be returned to source. 

It’s important that Zempler Bank and your Account Number (no spaces required) are referenced in the description field so that we can identify that the payment’s yours and ensure the funds are accurately loaded to your account. If your details aren’t referenced in this field correctly, the payment will be returned to the originating bank. Payments can take up to four weeks to be returned to the person who made the payment if your details aren’t provided correctly in the Description/Reference Details field.

An IBAN stands for International Bank Account Number. Every international bank is different in what details they’ll ask for. If the IBAN isn’t asked for, you’ll need to provide the International Payments Account Number and SWIFT/BIC instead.

This unique code is used to identify the bank and country that the payment is going to. NatWest provide our banking services and this is why the SWIFT/BIC code begins with ‘NWBK’, the banking code for NatWest Bank.

This address may also be generated automatically when entering the SWIFT/BIC code, depending on the international bank.

This should only be the case if the payer hasn’t included 'Zempler' and your Account Number (no spaces) in the reference details field when making the payment to you, or the payment was sent from a country not in the accepted countries list above. In these cases, make sure you receive the Remittance Advice from the payer before calling us as we’ll need these details to help find your missing payment.

The payment is converted into GBP by the paying bank, so they determine the exchange rate and how much the payment will be in GBP against the international currency. Once we receive the payment, it’s already in GBP. If you’d like to query the paying bank’s current exchange rate, please ask the payer to confirm.

You may come across some websites offering IBAN calculation services and we cannot guarantee that these are 100% accurate or safe to use. To make sure that money sent from overseas is received safely into your Zempler Bank account, always use the details that we have provided.

If you’re looking to receive a payment in Euros, use the IBAN: GB72NWBK60721442217830. 

If you’re looking to receive a payment in a currency other than Euros, use the IBAN GB74NWBK60000145719225. 

We want to make sure that our customers feel safe when they are making any sort of payment. If you have any questions, give our Customer Service team a call.