How to transfer money abroad: SWIFT alternatives that Russians use

It is increasingly difficult for clients of Russian banks to send currency abroad via SWIFT transfers – banks increase fees for such transactions or lose the ability to conduct them due to sanctions and other restrictions. Forbes understood what alternatives exist and which of them are used by Russians

For many Russians, the relevance of foreign currency transfers abroad has grown significantly in recent months. However, for clients of Russian banks, the traditional and simple SWIFT transfer of money to a foreign account has become a problem. The largest Russian banks (Sberbank, VTB, Alfa-Bank, Otkritie, Promsvyazbank, Sovcombank, Novikombank) have lost the ability to transfer customer money in dollars and euros due to blocking US sanctions. ICD and Rosselkhoznadzor were also disconnected from the SWIFT system. A number of large banks have stopped making currency transfers not only abroad, but also to other Russian banks, explaining this by the risks of money being blocked by foreign correspondent banks.

Those banks that are not subject to blocking sanctions and are not disconnected from SWIFT also impose restrictions and worsen conditions for cross-border transfers. For example, Gazprombank increased the commission for currency interbank transfers from July 15, Raiffeisenbank did the same. Tinkoff Bank in early July announced the suspension of all SWIFT transfers in foreign currency until October.

Difficulties with currency transfers for clients of non-sanctioned banks arise mainly on the side of foreign banks that participate in the transaction. Foreign financial organizations break off correspondent relations with counterparties from Russia, may reject the transfer, freeze it, and demand to prove the legality of the origin of funds. Transfers may not reach the addressee for weeks or months. There are more than 7000 participants in the Telegram chat “SWIFT – money is gone”. They share their stories about translations: for example, one of the users said that the translation sent in May came only in July. Another participant claims that the transfer sent on March 15 from Tinkoff to the Georgian bank did not come to the recipient at all and the money was lost.