Payments & Settlement Guidance

International Payments and Settlement Assistance

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.

Inbound Transfers - How to send money to Halo Financial to pay for contracts

Settling Spot contracts

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).

Settling Forward contracts

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).

Guide to International Payments and Clearance Times

Payment Method	Clearance (Business Days)	Same Day Urgent Payment	Spot Contract Payment	Forward Contract Deposit (Margin) Payment	Forward Contract Balance Payment
CHAPS	Same Day	√	√	√	√
BACS	3	X	X	√	√*
CHEQUE (Pounds Sterling only)	5	X	X	√	√*
Telegraphic Transfer (TT)	1	√	√	√	√
Cash	Not Accepted	Not Accepted	Not Accepted	Not Accepted	Not Accepted

* 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.

Outbound Transfers - The banking information you need to supply to Halo Financial

To speed up your payments it is essential that you provide us with the following information otherwise your payment may be delayed:

For non-Euro payments

Name of the account holder
Name of beneficiary’s bank
Address of beneficiary’s bank
Beneficiary’s bank code (if appropriate)
Beneficiary’s branch code
Beneficiary’s bank SWIFT BIC code (unique bank identification code)
Beneficiary’s bank account number

For Euro payments

Name of the account holder
Name of beneficiary’s bank
Address of beneficiary’s bank
Beneficiary’s International Bank Account Number (IBAN)
Beneficiary’s bank SWIFT BIC code (unique bank identification code)

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.

IBAN - International Bank Account Number

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.

Example and anatomy of a UK IBAN

Please note the example below is for illustrative purposes only.

Country Code		Check Digits		Bank Code				Sort Code						Account Number
G	B	5	0	B	A	R	C	1	2	3	4	5	6	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8

Examples of other European IBANs

Please note the example below is for illustrative purposes only.

Country	IBAN Length	Country Code	Example (for illustrative purposes only)
Andorra	24	AD	AD1200012030200359100100
Austria	24	AT	AT611904300234573201
Belgium	20	BE	BE62510007547061
Bulgaria	22	BG	BG62UBBS80021079354517
Croatia	21	HR	HR1210010051863000160
Cyprus	28	CY	CY67002001280000001200527600
Czech Republic	24	CZ	CZ65080000000192000145399
Denmark	18	DK	DK5000400440116243
Estonia	20	EE	EE382200221020145685
Finland	18	FI	FI2112345600000785
France	27	FR	FR1420041010050500013M02606
Germany	22	DE	DE89370400440532013000
Gibraltar	23	GI	GI75NWBK000000007099453
Greece	27	GR	GR1601101250000000012300695
Hungary	28	HU	HU42117730161111101800000000
Iceland	26	IS	IS140159260076545510730339
Ireland	22	IE	IE29AIBK93115212345678
Italy	27	IT	IT40S0542811101000000123456
Luxembourg	20	LU	LU280019400644750000
Malta	31	MT	MT84MALT011000012345MTLCAST001S
Netherlands	18	NL	NL39RABO0300065264
Norway	15	NO	NO9386011117946
Poland	28	PL	PL60102010260000042270201111
Portugal	25	PT	PT50000201231234567890154
Spain	24	ES	ES0700120345030000067890
Sweden	24	SE	SE3550000000054910000003
Switzerland	21	CH	CH9300762011623852957

BIC - Bank Identification Codes

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.

Example and anatomy of a BIC

Please note the example below is for illustrative purposes only.

Bank Code				Country Code		Location Code		Branch Code
B	A	R	C	G	B	2	2	X	X	X

This four-character code is called the Bank Code. It is unique to each financial institution and can only be made up of letters. In this illustrative example BARC represents the bank Barclays.				The country code identifies the country in which the financial institution is located. In this example, GB for Great Britain.		The Location Code is a 2-character code which may be alphabetical or numerical. The location code provides geographical distinction within a country e.g. cities, states, provinces and time zones.		This 3-character code is called the Branch Code. It identifies a specific branch, or, for example, a department in a bank within the same country as the 8-character SWIFT BIC. This code may be alphabetical or numerical.

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.

Further settlement guidance

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.