In order to send a SWIFT payment to UNITED ARAB EMIRATES it is highly recommended to meet the following recommendations:
Information provided by the Beneficiary: Remitter should obtain all required bank information from the Beneficiary (e.g. SWIFT BIC, IBAN, and beneficiary bank address). For more, visit Central Bank.
Country Requirements/Restrictions:
- Payment Restrictions: Banks have regulatory requirements for wire payments. There are no exchange controls.
- Account Restrictions: Non-residents can hold local currency accounts. Formal identification required for account opening.
Payment Formatting Rules for AED:
- Ordering Customer (SWIFT MT103 F50): Include account number, full name (no initials), address, and trade license number, registration number, or unique identification number for commercial, business, or corporate entities. Use of initials can delay receipt of funds by the beneficiary.
- Beneficiary Customer (SWIFT MT103 F59): Include account number (IBAN), full name (no initials) and address of the beneficiary customer. Use of initials may delay receipt of funds by the beneficiary. IBAN numbers for beneficiaries with accounts in U.A.E. are required in the payment instructions.
- Beneficiary Bank (SWIFT MT103 F57): Include SWIFT BIC with branch identifier, full name and address of the beneficiary bank. SWIFT BIC is 8 or 11 alphanumeric characters: xxxxAExx or xxxxAExxxxx.
- Additional Information: Payment instructions must include a 3-character purpose of payment code to avoid payment delays or returns. Include this in SWIFT MT103 F72 using the format /BENEFRES/AE//???/XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX where ??? represents the 3-character purpose of payment code and XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX is additional narrative. Consult your J.P. Morgan Service Representative for a list of purpose of payment codes. This information may also be provided in SWIFT MT103 F70.
In the United Arab Emirates, the IBAN consists of 23 characters. The structure is AE followed by a check digit of 2 numbers, 3 digits for the bank code, and 16 account number digits (AE2!n3!n16!n). Examples of electronic and print formats include AE987651234567891234567 and AE98 7651 2345 6789 1234 567.
For the following financial institutions in UNITED ARAB EMIRATES you can find a list of their correspondent banks with the currencies and nostro accounts. Also you will find an instructions how to track the payments and other useful information which will help you to send/receive a SWIFT funds transfer or investigate a status of existing payment.