What SWIFT is and what it is not
SWIFT is not a payment system and not a bank. It is a messaging system: banks pass payment instructions to each other through it. The money itself moves along correspondent accounts, and that is where all the restrictions appear.
An important thing follows from this: connected to SWIFT and able to carry out your payment are different things. A bank can remain in the messaging system and still have no correspondent willing to accept its payment in the currency you need.
What exactly breaks
The problems appear not in one place but in three, and the person sending the money sees them all the same way — as the transfer did not go through.
- Banks being cut off — some of the largest Russian banks are out of international settlements, and their clients cannot send a payment at all
- Currency clearing — dollar operations pass through American correspondents, and a payment of Russian origin is stopped there
- Caution at receiving banks — even a payment that goes through can be returned on the recipient's side after an additional check
Why lists of working banks are useless
Plenty of people publish such lists, and almost all of them go out of date faster than a reader can use them: the list changes with every new package of restrictions, and inside a single bank the terms differ by currency and destination.
We deliberately name no banks here. The only reliable source for your particular case is your bank, and the question to ask is not whether SWIFT works but whether a payment in this currency to this country will go through today.
When SWIFT still fits
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A payment to a company under a contract
When a documentary trail is needed: the payment order, the reference, the statement.
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Destinations without restrictions
Some countries and currencies still go through. This is checked with the bank before sending, not on the internet.
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A large amount without a rush
When a few business days change nothing and confirmation matters more than speed.
What is used instead
Practice has settled on a few routes. None of them is universal — the choice is set by the recipient's country and by what they have.
| Route | Its strength | Its weakness |
|---|---|---|
| Through cryptocurrency | Does not depend on the banking chain or on a schedule | Two exchange steps, and they are what to look at |
| National payment systems | Delivery in minutes | Works only inside the recipient's country |
| Cash in the recipient's country | Needs no account at all | A meeting has to be arranged |
| A transfer inside one banking group | Faster than external SWIFT | Not available to everyone or everywhere |
What to ask your bank before sending
- Whether payments in the currency and to the country you need go through today
- What the bank's own fee is and whether it has a fixed part
- Whether currency control applies and which documents are needed
- What happens if the payment comes back and how long a return takes
- What timing the bank names — and what it counts as the starting point
How it works with us
We are not tied to a single route: the option is picked for the destination and for the way it is easier for the recipient to collect the money. If a bank transfer works and fits your destination, it is used; if not, the route goes through cryptocurrency or cash.
The fee is the same in any case — 1%, with no separate charge for urgency. The manager names the final amount before payment and locks the rate, so no unexpected deductions appear along the way.
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The route fits the destination
Not we only work this way, but the option that actually reaches your country.
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Nothing withheld on the way
The final amount is named before payment and does not change on delivery.
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From 15 minutes
For routes that do not depend on a banking schedule.
