bowvalleycu - Wire Transfers

A wire transfer is a safe way to send or receive money from around the world. You can send wires in almost any currency and receive them in either Canadian or U.S. Dollars.

Tip! Before sending or receiving a wire, stop by your nearest BVCU branch or call us to check your that your name and address are up to date.

We'll be honest. Wire transfers are finicky. Depending where a wire is going, it can pass though many systems each with its own set of rules. Wires must also comply with anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing laws and regulations. To protect you and BVCU, and speed up the transfer through the system, we need all wires to have detailed and true information about you, the person you are sending the wire to (or receiving the wire from) and any third parties instructing the wire.

Missing or incorrect information can delay your transfer or stop it from arriving at all. Suspensions or rejections by third party payment processors can also happen, though this is outside or BVCU's influence.

Every wire you send must include your full legal name, your physical address (Note: PO Boxes will not be accepted as an address), your birthday, your primary occupation, your phone number and your BVCU account number.

It must also include this information about the person or business receiving the money:

Their full legal name	This must be an exact match to the name on their bank account.
Their physical address	This must be an exact match to the address on their account. (Note: PO Boxes will not be accepted as an address)
Their financial institution name	This must be the exact name of the financial institution receiving the money.
Their financial institution country	This must be the exact name of the country where the financial institution receiving the money is located.
Their bank account number	Depending where your wire transfer is going, this may be an IBAN (International Bank Account Number) or CLABE (Clave Bancaria Estandarizada)
Their bank branch information	This must include the full name, full physical street address, city, province and country or Remitter bank SWIFT code.
Their bank identifier code	If it's a Canadian bank or credit union this will be a route and transit number. It it's an international financial institution, it may be an ABA, SWIFT or other bank (branch) code.
Additional recipient information (individuals)	Phone number, email, birthdate, occupation, identification type and identification number.
Additional recipient information (business)	Phone number, email, nature or primary business, identification type and identification number.

Ask your recipient to confirm this information with their bank before you start the wire. Even with the correct information you wire can take from 24 hours to more than 10 days to reach its destination.

The currency a sender uses to submit a wire affects the information you need to give them. But the rules about true and complete information don't change. Those apply no matter where a wire transfer starts or what currency the sender uses.

Tip! Ask us to check the information before you give it to the sender. We'll review that it's correct and complete!

Receiving a wire in Canadian dollars

Your full legal name (individual) or the full legal name of your business	This must be an exact match to the name on your bank account.
Your physical address	This must include your town or city, province, and postal code and must be an exact match to the address on your account. (Note: PO Boxes will not be accepted as an address)
Your BVCU member (account) number	Call us if you're not sure what your member number is.
The full name and SWIFT code for your bank or credit union	Bow Valley Credit Union Ltd. SWIFT code: CUCXCATTCAL
Branch information: name physical address phone number route and transit number	You can get this information by calling us or from your cheques. (Hint: you can find it on a void cheque in online banking)

The sender must also include their full legal name, physical address and account number on the wire. If there's a third party instructing the wire to be transmitted, we'll need the information on the third party.

Tip! Ask us to check the information before you give it to the sender. We'll review that it's correct and complete!

Receiving a wire in U.S. dollars

If you're receiving a wire in U.S. dollars, the information needed is different. This is because BVCU doesn't receive U.S. wires directly. Instead, they go through our wires provider, Western Union.

To receive a wire in U.S. dollars, you need to give this information to the sender so they can include it on the wire. Their wire may not reach you if any of this information is missing or incorrect.

The name, physical address, SWIFT code and bank identifier or the beneficiary bank (Note: PO Boxes will not be accepted as an address)	The bank of New York Mellon 1 Wall Street New York, NY 10286 USA SWIFT code: IRVTUS3N ABA Number: 021000018
The name, address, and account number of beneficiary account (Note: PO Boxes will not be accepted as an address)	Custom House UK 2121 North 117th Avenue, Suite 300 Omaha, NE 68164 USA Account Number: 8901309184
Your personal details and information about Bow Valley Credit Union The sender's bank should put this information in the extra information or reference area on the wires form.	Further credit to: Credit Union Central of Alberta (CCUA) Your full legal name or the full legal name of your business Your BVCU member (account) number Your physical address Bow Valley Credit Union Ltd. The route and transit number of your BVCU branch The name and address of your BVCU Branch

If you're sending or receiving an international wire transfer, you can download a checklist of the information you'll need to provide to your branch.

Receiving an international wire transfer? Download the incoming international wires checklist HERE.

Sending an international wire transfer? Download the outgoing international wires checklist HERE.

BVCU collects this information for regulatory reporting requirements. Providing as much information as possible will also increase the likelihood of a successful wire transfer.

When sending or receiving a wire transfer for business or personal matters, it is important that specific and complete information is provided to the sending financial institution. Accurate information will:

Eliminate the possibility of processing delays related to missing/incorrect data;
Lessen risk that the payment will be rejected; and
Satisfy regulatory requirements under anti-money laundering and anti terrorist financing laws and regulations

A physical address is the actual location of a home or business. In Canada, it must include a house or building number, street name or number, town or city, province and a postal code (if applicable). It can be the same as your mailing address if your mail is delivered right to your home or business. If your mail is delivered to a post office box or other location, then your mailing address is not your physical address. If you live on a Range Road you must also include your township or block number.

If your physical address is outside of Canada it must include the local equivalents of a Canadian address. For example, instead of province and postal code, a U.S. physical address must include the state and zip code. Physical addresses outside of Canada must also include the country.

Did you know? BVCU is required by law to know your physical address. It's all part of Canada's efforts to detect and deter money laundering and other crimes in our country and around the world.

You can get the details (name, address, phone number, route and transit) for your branch from your cheques. You can download a void cheque in online banking if you don't have any physical cheques.

The branch name and address will be above the memo line.

The route and transit will be in the series of numbers that run along the bottom. The route and transit for your BVCU branch will be five numbers followed by a dash (-) and 899. (e.g., 12345-899).

First, determine if this is required. If someone else has instructed you to send or receive the wire (perhaps on their behalf), that person is considered the third party and we need their information as well. For example, Sam sends a wire to his niece Jessica who needs money for school. Jessica's mom is out of town and couldn't get to the bank so she asked her brother Sam to send it on her behalf. In this scenario Jessica's mom is a third party because she instructed Sam to send the wire for her.

If a third party is involved, you'll need to gather the following information on them to include with your wire:

full legal name
physical address
phone number
email address
birthdate
occupation
relationship of third party
(to person or entity who has sent or received a wire on their behalf)

In an effort to combat financial crime in Canada our federal regulator has implemented enhanced record keeping requirements for international Electronic Funds Transfers (wires) over $10,000 CAD. All financial institutions are required to comply with these regulations by obtaining the source of funds and the purpose of the transaction when sending or receiving international wires over $10,000.

Sending a Wire

To send a wire and comply with anti-money laundering requirements, please complete this form in full.

Member Guide Sending a Wire

Receiving a Wire

Wires require incoming information - make sure you have all you need on hand to be successful.

Member Guide Receiving a Wire

Depending on where the wire is going, it must pass through many systems, each with its own set of rules. Wires also need comply with anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing laws and regulations. To protect you and BVCU, all wires to have complete and accurate information about the person you are sending (receiving) funds to (from).

Need help? Contact Us!