At Halo Financial we recognise that the fast and efficient movement of your funds between you and your overseas beneficiary is crucial to ensure your international payment obligations are met. Our acclaimed communications and processing facilities have been central to our success and will ensure your payments are made both accurately and speedily.
When transferring money electronically you will be faced with an array of currency codes and numbers which are confusing even to the most seasoned market professionals. Whether you need to send us money or want us to send your money out, the following information should help you reduce the risk of time delays or added expense and ensure your payments are correctly transferred.
If you have agreed a Spot contract with Halo Financial that needs to be paid for in Pounds Sterling, and you intend to pay your money from a bank account within the UK, you will need to electronically transfer your money to us by CHAPS transfer (can clear same day).
Please note that if you instruct your bank to send us Pounds Sterling by telephone or online internet banking facilities your bank will automatically transfer it to us via a BACS transfer. As BACS transfers take 3 business days to clear, this is not a suitable payment method for paying for same day or standard 2 day Spot contracts and you will need to ensure your bank makes the transfer via a CHAPS transfer instead.
However, if you know in advance that you will be paying via telephone or internet banking please notify your Halo Financial Dealer and we can extend a contracts value date to accommodate these payment methods.
Spot contracts that are to be settled by non-Pounds Sterling funds or from Pound Sterling funds held in account outside of the UK will need to be settled by electronic Telegraphic Transfer (TT).
If you have agreed a Forward contract with Halo Financial you will need to make two transfers to us. A margin deposit will need to be paid first within 1 business day of agreeing the transaction and secondly, the final balance payment two business days before the contracts agreed future value date.
The margin deposit can be paid for by CHAPS, BACS or cheque assuming you are required to send us Pounds Sterling. The balance payment can be paid for by CHAPS, BACS or cheque providing enough time is factored in for the transfer to clear into our transaction accounts: CHAPS transfers clear the same day, BACS clear on 3rd business day and cheques clear on the 5th business day (see Guide table below).
Forward contracts that are to be settled in currency other than Pounds Sterling funds or from Pounds Sterling funds held in an account outside of the UK will need to be settled by electronic Telegraphic Transfer (TT).
* Payment needs to be sent in good time (see clearance periods) before a contracts value date to clear in our client transaction accounts by the value date. We do not accept cheques drawn in a foreign currency.
After you have agreed a transaction with Halo Financial we will send you a Contract Confirmation which will include the banking details of the Halo Financial client transaction account that you will need to send your funds to. Please ensure you use all this information when instructing your bank to send your money to us.
To speed up your payments it is essential that you provide us with the following information otherwise your payment may be delayed:
For Euro payments
For efficiency we strongly recommend you quote both a valid SWIFT BIC and IBAN of your beneficiary bank when wanting Halo Financial to make payments to European countries.
The IBAN identifies an account held by a financial institution. The IBAN was launched by the European Commission and banks across Europe to standardise the identification of bank accounts by launching a standard account number format for use with cross-border payments within Europe. Its use is intended to reduce payment errors and delays.
The IBAN is not a new bank account number. It is an alphanumeric sequence which incorporates the ISO country code to identify the beneficiary country, two check digits and then the existing sort code and bank account number of the account holder. The example of a UK IBAN below illustrates how an IBAN is created.
Please note the example below is for illustrative purposes only.
When providing Halo Financial with the banking details of the beneficiary account which you wish your funds to be transferred, we recommend you provide a BIC to speed up your transfers.
Most international banks use an electronic communication system called SWIFT to make automated overseas payments and use a BIC which is a unique reference number or code to identify all banks on the SWIFT network and specifically the bank with whom the beneficiary holds their account.
A BIC consists of either 8 or 11 characters only. The example of a BIC below illustrates how a BIC is created.
Please note it is not essential to provide an 11 digit BIC if you don't have one. However, you will need to provide an 8 digit code instead.
For further information on settlement procedures and what transfer option will best suit you, you will find the following documents helpful:
5 Steps to Saving Money
Settlement Guidance
For more settlement information please take a look at the Frequently Asked Question section
You will require Adobe Acrobat reader to view the PDF documents listed above. If you do not have this, please click on the link below.
If you need any settlement assistance or have any other payment or administrative queries please call one of our team on +44 (0)20 7350 5471, send us an email or if you would like us to call you back when it is more convenient please use the Call me back facility.
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