How to receive international wire transfer with Westpac in 2025
If you’re a Westpac customer in Australia and need to receive money from someone overseas, you’ll have to take a few steps to make sure your payment can be safely and efficiently delivered to your bank account. You can receive payments to your Westpac AUD account, or to a Westpac foreign currency account if you have one. This guide covers how to receive an international transfer with Westpac, and also touches on a couple of alternatives – Wise, Revolut and OFX, which may suit you better.
Read our full guide to receiving incoming international wire transfers with Westpac, to learn all there is to know.
Key points: Westpac receive international wire transfer
- You can receive payments from abroad to your Westpac AUD account or to a Westpac foreign currency account
- There’s a 12 AUD fee for incoming wire payments over 100 AUD in value
- Intermediaries known as correspondent banks may deduct fees while your payment is being processed
- International payments arranged by banks can take 3 – 5 days to arrive in some cases
- Alternative providers like Wise or OFX offer local account details in foreign currencies which let you receive payments quickly and conveniently, often with no incoming fee
| FAQs | Answers |
|---|---|
| Does Westpac charge a fee to receive an international wire transfer? | Westpac applies a 12 AUD fee for incoming wire payments over 100 AUD in value. Lower value payments do not have an incoming fee. |
| How long does it take to receive an international wire from Westpac? | International wire delivery times vary a lot, from a single business day, to about 5 business days depending on the specific payment. |
| Are there better alternatives to Westpac for receiving international wire transfers? | With alternative providers like Wise or OFX you can get local account details to receive foreign currencies – often without any incoming payment fees. More on that later. |
How to receive international wire transfer Westpac: Step-by-step instructions
You can receive an international transfer with Westpac to your AUD account, or to a foreign currency account if you have one.
If you’re being sent money from abroad to your AUD account, the payment is converted from the foreign currency to AUD by either the sending bank, an intermediary, or Westpac. Exchange rates can include a markup.
If you’re sent a payment to a foreign currency account, in the same currency of that account, it is deposited without being converted. You can then hold your balance in the foreign currency and convert to AUD whenever you choose to. Bear in mind that Westpac foreign currency accounts are not intended for travel use, and do not have a debit card – they’re more suitable for people who want to hold and send payments in foreign currencies.
Whichever account you want your overseas payment to be credited to, the process is pretty similar:
Step 1: Give the sender your preferred Westpac account information
The basic information needed by the person sending you a payment includes your name and address, your account number, and the Westpac SWIFT/BIC code. Both AUD and foreign currency accounts use similar account information, including an account number and BSB.
Step 2: Agree who will pay the transfer costs
If you’re expecting to receive a fixed amount in the payment, you may want to ask the sender to cover the transfer costs including intermediary fees and the Westpac fees for receiving your payment. Otherwise, fees could be deducted as the transfer is processed, which may mean you get less than you expected in the end.
Step 3: Wait for the money to be deposited into your Westpac account
The sender can then arrange the payment, and once it has been processed it will be deposited into your chosen Westpac account. The transfer time can vary a lot depending on the originating bank and country. Some payments can settle within a business day, others may take up to 5 business days to arrive.
Westpac fees to receive international wire transfer
There’s a charge to receive your Westpac payment in some cases. Here’s an overview
| Westpac incoming international wire transfer fee | |
|---|---|
| Transfer under 100 AUD in value | Fee waived |
| Transfer over 100 AUD in value | 12 AUD |
| Currency exchange fee | A fee – known as a markup – may be included in the exchange rate used to convert your payment to AUD for deposit if the funds are being sent to your AUD account |
Alternatives to Westpac to receive international wire transfer
If someone is sending you money, you don’t necessarily need to receive it to your Westpac account. Using a multi-currency account to receive payments in foreign currencies can be flexible and cheap, and allow you to hold or exchange the payment as you wish. Non-bank providers like Wise, Revolut and OFX support multiple currencies and can be selected for business or personal use, depending on the provider you decide to go with.
Here’s an overview of these providers based on some key features. There’s more coming up about each in just a moment.
| Wise | Revolut | OFX | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eligibility | Personal and business customers | Personal and business customers | Business customers |
| Supported currencies for holding | 40+ including GBP, EUR and USD | 25+ including GBP, EUR and USD | 7 including GBP, EUR and USD |
| Local and SWIFT account details | Local and SWIFT account details available in 8+ currencies | AUD account details and SWIFT details for receiving other currencies | Local account details for 7 currencies |
| Fee to receive money | Often free with local account details
6.11 USD for USD wires
10 CAD for CAD SWIFT payments |
No fee | No fee |
| Exchange rate | Mid-market rate | Revolut rate with no additional fee, to plan limit – fair usage and out of hours fees may apply | Exchange rates include a markup |
Wise
The Wise Account is available for personal or business customers, and can be used to receive, hold, send, spend and exchange a broad selection of currencies. Your account offers ways to get paid in select currencies with local and SWIFT account details, often with no incoming payment fee. You can then use your linked debit card to spend online and in person, with currency exchange which uses the mid-market exchange rate with low conversion fees from 0.33%. You can also send payments to others from your Wise balance, or withdraw your money back to your AUD bank account if you want to.
Business customers get similar perks to personal customers, plus some extras like batch payment solutions and cloud accounting integrations.
Revolut
Revolut offers digital accounts which support 25+ currencies, and which come with AUD details as well as SWIFT account details to receive payments from abroad. You can receive payments in any supported currency, and hold or exchange the funds within your Revolut account. As the payment is processed using SWIFT, some intermediary fees may be deducted as it’s processed, but there’s no Revolut incoming payment fee.
Revolut personal customers can choose from 3 different account tiers depending on needs, all of which come with a linked debit card and some no fee currency conversion every month.
OFX
If you need an account for your business, the OFX Global Currency Account is a popular option, with 7 currencies supported for receiving, holding and exchange. Your account comes with local account details to take customers payments or to get paid through PSPs and marketplace sites in major foreign currencies. This makes it a good choice for online sellers working with international customers. There’s no debit card with this account, but you can send or withdraw your funds whenever you want to. If you’re sending a payment from your account via SWIFT, there’s a 10 AUD fee and all exchange rates include a small markup as well.
What information is needed to receive a wire transfer to Westpac
To receive an international wire transfer to your Westpac account you must give the sender some important information. Having incorrect or incomplete information may mean the payment is delayed, rejected or deposited into the wrong account. Here’s what you need:
| Information needed to receive an international wire transfer to your Westpac account |
|---|
|
Westpac SWIFT code for international transfers
The Westpac SWIFT code is needed to make sure your money is deposited into the right account. It’s a unique identifier which guides the payment from the sender’s bank overseas to your Westpac account in Australia.
| Westpac SWIFT code |
|---|
| The SWIFT Code for Westpac is WPACAU2S.
If the sending bank requires 11 characters, use WPACAU2SXXX
|
How to find Westpac SWIFT code
If you’re not sure of the correct SWIFT code for a particular Westpac payment, you can find the code required in your online or mobile banking system, on an account statement, or by calling the bank directly.
Westpac BSB number to receive international wire
If you’re unsure of the BSB number for your account you can find it using telephone banking, either by connecting with an agent or by following the self service menu prompts.
Westpac receive limits for incoming international wires
There’s not usually a limit on the amount of money you can receive as an incoming payment to Westpac. However, the exact limits can vary depending on the specific account you have, so if you have a large payment on the way it may be worth checking with the bank directly to ensure there are no issues with receiving your money.
How long does it take for Westpac to receive an international wire transfer?
The length of time it takes to receive a payment to Westpac will depend a lot on the bank which is sending the payment in the first place. Generally banks use the SWIFT network to process international payments, which can take up to 5 days to process a transfer. SWIFT payments usually go through one or more intermediary banks before they arrive in the destination account – this can take some time, and may also mean that additional fees are deducted from the transfer as it passes through the system.
If you’re looking for a quicker transfer you might want to ask the sender to use a non-bank service like Wise. Transfers sent with Wise often arrive instantly, and 90% are in the recipient’s account in 24 hours. This is because Wise uses its own payment network to process payments without SWIFT, cutting out cost and making the process more streamlined.
How to track an incoming international wire transfer with Westpac
If you want to check on the progress of the money that’s winging its way to you, you’ll need to ask the sender to log into their bank account and track the payment on your behalf.
What can you do if your transfer is not delivered yet?
In the first instance it is worth asking the sender to have their bank track the payment to see what has happened to it. You can also ask Westpac if they have any information on the transfer. Ultimately, the sender’s bank can put a trace on the wire transfer if it has been misdirected, but there is likely to be a fee to pay for this service. Talk to your local Westpac branch for advice if you’re not sure what to do about a missing payment.
Conclusion: Westpac incoming international wire transfer
You can receive incoming international transfers to Westpac, either to your AUD account or to a Westpac foreign currency account, but you might find there’s a fee to pay.
Transfers over 100 AUD in value attract a charge of 12 AUD, and if the payment is converted back to AUD before being deposited there may also be charges added into the exchange rate used for conversion.
As an alternative, you might want to look at accounts which offer local account details, such as the Wise account, account options from Revolut, or the OFX Global Currency Account. These options let you pass the sender local account details in their home currency, so they can send a local payment which is received to your account in the foreign currency. You can then hold your balance in the foreign currency, convert and withdraw the money, send it to others, or spend it. This gives flexibility and often means lower costs in the end.
