How to Receive Money From Abroad

Choose the receiving route before sharing bank details

The cleanest setup depends on whether the sender is paying you once, paying you repeatedly or sending a major life-event sum.

A payment can be international even when the recipient sees a local transfer. Some providers give customers local account details in GBP, EUR, USD or other currencies, collect the payment through a domestic rail and hold the balance until the customer converts or withdraws it. That can be cleaner than asking every payer to send a SWIFT transfer.

For one large receipt, the recipient may prefer a broker that supplies collection details, pre-checks documents and agrees the conversion before the money arrives. Confirm whether the collection account is in the provider's name or yours, which reference the payer must use, and what happens if the sender pays from a third-party account.

Where the cost of receiving money hides

An inbound transfer can carry costs at the sending bank, in the exchange rate, through correspondent banks and at the receiving account.

Ask for one bottom-line number: how much will reach the recipient after every known fee and conversion? If the sender chooses a fee option such as OUR, SHA or BEN on a SWIFT instruction, it affects which party is meant to pay bank charges. It does not guarantee that every bank in the chain will behave exactly as expected.

Do not let the receiving bank perform an unquoted conversion by default. If the money will arrive in USD but the account is in GBP, ask the bank which rate it will apply. Compare that outcome with receiving USD into a specialist or multi-currency account and converting separately.

Give the sender a complete, verified instruction

Most delays start with incomplete details, a name mismatch or a payment reference that cannot be matched.

Supply the recipient's full legal name, residential or registered address, bank name, account number or IBAN, bank identifier such as BIC, routing number or sort code, the payment currency and the exact reference. Use a bank-generated instruction or provider PDF where possible. Do not retype a long IBAN from memory.

Read the details back through a second channel if an invoice or email changed. Invoice-redirection fraud often begins with a convincing message asking the payer to use a new account. The payer should confirm any change by calling a known number, not a number printed in the suspicious message.

Receiving property, inheritance and business proceeds

A large lawful payment can still be delayed if the receiving institution cannot connect the money to a clear transaction.

Tell the provider what is coming, from whom, in which currency and why. Property completion statements, sale contracts, probate papers, grant of representation, audited accounts, invoices and tax documents can all form part of the evidence chain. The account owner, document names and payment origin should agree.

Ask the provider to review the evidence before the transfer. This does not promise instant clearance, but it gives the compliance team a coherent file rather than a large unexplained credit. If the funds pass through a solicitor, estate or company account, show why that account is involved.

Read our separate guide to receiving large sums from abroad for transaction-specific paperwork, timing and tax distinctions. The UK tax guide explains why the transfer itself and the legal source of the money must be analysed separately.

Why cash is rarely a sensible receiving method

Cash creates theft, declaration, proof and deposit problems that a regulated electronic route avoids.

Cash of £10,000 or more carried between Great Britain and a country outside the UK must be declared to UK customs. Group totals count. Northern Ireland uses separate €10,000 rules for certain journeys. Customs can ask about the owner, recipient, source and use of the money.

Posting cash is unsafe and may breach carrier rules. Even properly declared cash can trigger detailed questions when deposited into a bank. A declaration proves compliance with the border rule. It does not replace evidence of lawful source.