SWIFT (international wires)

Send USD to beneficiaries anywhere in the world. Augustus clears USD internationally through the correspondent bank network. International wires are USD-only; Augustus does not convert currencies on the way.

Use cases

User withdrawals and collections. Pay your end-users out to international USD accounts they hold elsewhere, or receive USD they send you from abroad.
Paying and getting paid on invoices globally. Settle bills with international suppliers, contractors, and vendors in USD, or receive USD invoice payments from customers abroad.
Settling trades. Send or receive the USD leg of trades with international counterparties: exchanges, OTC desks, market makers.
Internal treasury. Move funds between group entities globally, in either direction, to manage liquidity.

How it works

You instruct: save the beneficiary with POST /v1/counterparties, then POST /v1/payouts with that counterparty_id, the amount, and rail.
Augustus validates and routes: screening, payment data validation, correspondent route resolution.
Augustus sends the payment: routed through intermediary banks to the beneficiary bank.
You get status updates: payout status via webhooks and the API.
Funds settle to the beneficiary.

Account structure

International USD payments are supported on all USD-denominated account types:

Type	When to use	What you get
DDA (demand deposit account)	Funds held in your own entity’s name.	A USD account number and routing details for sending and receiving in your name.
FBO (for benefit of)	Funds held on behalf of your end-users.	A master FBO account plus per-user virtual accounts. Each virtual account has its own number, and international USD payments can be sent and received at the virtual-account level.

Send USD internationally

Create a payout

Save a counterparty with an iban or bic financial address, then create a payout with currency: "USD", rail: "swift", and that counterparty_id. For authentication, idempotency, and error format, see Authentication, Idempotency, and Errors.

2026-05-01

import Augustus from '@augustusbank/typescript-sdk'

const client = new Augustus()
const counterparty = await client.counterparties.create({
  financial_address: {
    type: 'iban',
    iban: 'NL91ABNA0417164300',
    account_holder_name: 'Acme Trading B.V.',
  },
  physical_address: {
    line_1: 'Damrak 1',
    city: 'Amsterdam',
    country_code: 'NL',
    postal_code: '1012 LG',
  },
})
const payout = await client.payouts.create({
  account_id: 'your-usd-account-id',
  amount: '10000.00',
  currency: 'USD',
  rail: 'swift',
  counterparty_id: counterparty.id,
  unstructured_remittance_information: 'Invoice 1234',
})

POST /v1/counterparties in the API Reference → POST /v1/payouts in the API Reference →

Field	Required	Description
`account_id`	Yes	The Augustus account to debit. For me-to-me flows, use a virtual account in the end-user’s name.
`rail`	Yes	Set to `"swift"`; valid only with `currency: "USD"`.
`amount`	Yes	Transfer amount as a string decimal (e.g. `"10000.00"`).
`currency`	Yes	`"USD"`.
`counterparty_id`	Yes	ID of a saved counterparty. Save the beneficiary first; see Beneficiary details.
`unstructured_remittance_information`	No	Free text forwarded to the beneficiary in the payment message (up to 140 characters), often shown as the remittance line. Intermediary banks may truncate it.
`metadata`	No	Key-value pairs of your own data. Returned on every payout response and webhook payload.

Beneficiary details

The rail is "swift". The counterparty’s financial_address is "iban" for IBAN countries and "bic" for everywhere else. Banks in IBAN-reachable countries are rejected if you send them as "bic". IBAN beneficiary (type: "iban")

Field	Required	Description
`type`	Yes	`"iban"`.
`iban`	Yes	International Bank Account Number (checksum-validated; the destination country is derived from it).
`account_holder_name`	Yes	Full legal name of the beneficiary.
`bic`	No	Bank Identifier Code. Resolved from the IBAN when omitted.

Non-IBAN beneficiary (type: "bic")

Field	Required	Description
`type`	Yes	`"bic"`.
`bic`	Yes	ISO 9362 Bank Identifier Code (8 or 11 characters).
`account_number`	Yes	Local-format account number (for example CLABE in Mexico).
`account_holder_name`	Yes	Full legal name of the beneficiary.
`local_bank_code`	No	Domestic bank or branch code where the destination country uses one (for example BSB in Australia, IFSC in India). Omit where the country has none.

SWIFT counterparties include physical_address (sibling of financial_address): line_1, city, country_code (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2), and postal_code required; line_2 and state optional. BIC destinations are rejected without it. Save a non-IBAN beneficiary with POST /v1/counterparties:

const counterparty = await client.counterparties.create({
  financial_address: {
    type: 'bic',
    bic: 'ANZBAU3MXXX',
    account_number: '12345678',
    account_holder_name: 'Acme Trading Pty Ltd',
    local_bank_code: '012003',
  },
  physical_address: {
    line_1: '1 Martin Place',
    city: 'Sydney',
    country_code: 'AU',
    postal_code: '2000',
  },
})

local_bank_code carries the domestic bank or branch code where the destination country uses one: the BSB in Australia (as above), the IFSC in India, the routing number in Canada. Countries without one, for example Singapore, omit it and route on the BIC alone.

Country-specific requirements

The beneficiary’s country determines which financial_address type to send:

Destination	What to provide
IBAN countries: the EU and EEA, the UK, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and other IBAN-mandatory countries	`type: "iban"` with the IBAN; the BIC is resolved from it.
Australia	`type: "bic"` with the account number, the bank’s BIC, and the 6-digit BSB in `local_bank_code`.
Canada	`type: "bic"` with the account number, the bank’s BIC, and the 9-digit routing number in `local_bank_code`.
India	`type: "bic"` with the account number, the bank’s BIC, and the 11-character IFSC in `local_bank_code`.
Mexico	`type: "bic"` with the 18-digit CLABE as the `account_number`, plus the bank’s BIC.
Other non-IBAN countries	`type: "bic"` with the local-format account number and the bank’s BIC.

Some countries require beneficiary identifiers beyond name, address, and account details, for example a tax ID in Brazil or a payment purpose code in China. The financial address does not carry these fields today, so wires to those countries can be delayed or returned by the beneficiary chain; contact support before relying on such a corridor.

Routing

You provide the beneficiary details: name, account number, and address. Augustus resolves the route through the correspondent bank network and sends the payment; you do not need to provide routing or intermediary details.

Validation

Augustus validates every payout before submission to reduce repairs and delays in the correspondent chain.

Check	What it does
Account number validation	Checks the account number format, including the IBAN checksum for IBAN destinations.
Address formatting	Ensures the beneficiary address is structured correctly for the destination country.
BIC resolution	Validates the bank BIC and resolves the bank name and country.
Screening	Screens against OFAC, EU, and UN sanctions lists.

Payout lifecycle

Status	Description	Webhook event
`initiated`	Payout received: Augustus is validating, screening, and queueing the payment.	`payout.initiated`
`submitted`	Handed to the rail and acknowledged; awaiting acceptance.	`payout.submitted`
`sent`	The payment has left Augustus and entered the correspondent bank network. Progress from here shows as tracking events, not status changes.	`payout.sent`
`failed`	Validation or processing failure before submission. Funds remain in your account. The `failure` field carries the reason.	`payout.failed`

A sent payout can later move to returned when the beneficiary chain sends the payment back; see Returns.

Payment tracking

Every SWIFT payout carries a UETR (Unique End-to-End Transaction Reference), returned on the payout as tracking_reference. It is the identifier banks quote when tracing a payment across the correspondent chain. Augustus follows the payment over SWIFT gpi and surfaces the journey as tracking events while the payout status stays sent:

Tracking event	Meaning
First leg settled	The payment left Augustus and entered the correspondent bank network; the payout is `sent`.
Forwarded to correspondent bank	A bank in the chain passed the payment on; a payment can pass several correspondents.
Forwarded to beneficiary bank	The last correspondent passed the payment to the beneficiary’s bank.
Credited to beneficiary	The beneficiary’s bank credited the account. Reported only when the beneficiary bank participates in gpi; otherwise tracking ends at the last participating bank, and the credit itself is not visible.

Fees and who pays them

Every international wire carries a charge-bearer instruction that tells the correspondent chain who pays the transaction charges:

Instruction	Also known as	Who pays	What the beneficiary receives
`DEBT`	OUR	The sender bears all transaction charges.	The full instructed amount.
`SHAR`	SHA	The sender pays their own bank’s charges; intermediary banks deduct theirs from the amount in flight.	Possibly less than the instructed amount.
`CRED`	BEN	All charges are deducted from the amount.	The amount net of all charges.

Augustus sends every wire as DEBT so that in almost all cases the beneficiary receives the full instructed amount. Augustus fees are never deducted from the payment principal; billing between Augustus and you is handled separately. A small number of jurisdictions may still deduct local charges or taxes on arrival regardless of the charge-bearer instruction; contact support if you encounter this.

Valid characters

The same character set as domestic wires applies to names, addresses, and the remittance text; see Valid characters on the Fedwire page.

Returns

The beneficiary chain can return a payment (closed account, invalid details, rejected on arrival). The payout moves to returned, payout.returned fires, and the funds are credited back to your account, possibly net of correspondent fees; there is no fixed timeline for international returns.

Further information

The beneficiary must be able to receive USD. If the beneficiary holds a non-USD account, the intermediary bank may FX the payment downstream.
Submit payouts 24/7. International payouts follow the same submission window as domestic Fedwire: instructed before 6:45 PM US Eastern on a banking day, they leave the same day; later instructions queue until the window reopens (see Operating hours and cut-offs). Arrival at the beneficiary typically takes 1 to 5 banking days depending on the correspondent chain.
No amount limits apply on the network side. Account-level limits are agreed per customer at onboarding; there is no fixed platform limit beyond that.
All API timestamps are ISO 8601 UTC.

Receive USD internationally

International senders can pay USD into your Augustus account through their bank over SWIFT. Give the sender:

BIC: ANNOUS44, or ANNOUS44XXX where the sending bank’s form requires 11 characters.
Account number: your USD account number, from the account’s financial_addresses.
Beneficiary name: the account holder name as it appears on the account.

Incoming international payments appear as deposits with rail: "swift". The sender is referenced through the deposit’s counterparty_id, and the payment’s tracking_reference (its UETR) is available for traces. For domestic incoming transfers, see Deposits.

Webhook events

Subscribe to these events for international payouts. For payload envelope, signature verification, retry policy, and replay, see Webhooks.

Event	When
`payout.initiated`	Payout created and being processed.
`payout.submitted`	The payout was handed to the payment rail.
`payout.sent`	The payout was accepted and sent: the payment has left Augustus and entered the correspondent bank network.
`payout.failed`	Validation or processing failure. The payload `failure` field carries the reason.
`payout.returned`	The beneficiary chain returned the payment after it was sent; the funds are credited back to your account.

Webhook payload structure

{
  "id": "event-id",
  "type": "payout.sent",
  "api_version": "2026-05-01",
  "payload": {
    "id": "payout-id",
    "type": "payout",
    "status": "sent",
    "account_id": "your-usd-account-id",
    "amount": "15000.00",
    "currency": "USD",
    "counterparty_id": "counterparty-id",
    "unstructured_remittance_information": "Invoice 1234",
    "tracking_reference": "97ed4827-7b6f-4491-a06f-b548d5a7512d",
    "failure": null,
    "metadata": {},
    "initiated_at": "2026-07-15T14:02:00Z",
    "sent_at": "2026-07-15T15:45:01Z",
    "tx_hash": null,
    "rail": "swift"
  },
  "date": "2026-07-15T15:45:01Z"
}

Basics

Accounts

Transactions

Payments

Conversions

Loans

Pay by Bank

SWIFT (international wires)

Use cases

How it works

Account structure

Send USD internationally

Create a payout

Beneficiary details

Country-specific requirements

Routing

Validation

Payout lifecycle

Payment tracking

Fees and who pays them

Valid characters

Returns

Further information

Receive USD internationally

Webhook events

Webhook payload structure

​Use cases

​How it works

​Account structure

​Send USD internationally

​Create a payout

​Beneficiary details

​Country-specific requirements

​Routing

​Validation

​Payout lifecycle

​Payment tracking

​Fees and who pays them

​Valid characters

​Returns

​Further information

​Receive USD internationally

​Webhook events

​Webhook payload structure

Use cases

How it works

Account structure

Send USD internationally

Create a payout

Beneficiary details

Country-specific requirements

Routing

Validation

Payout lifecycle

Payment tracking

Fees and who pays them

Valid characters

Returns

Further information

Receive USD internationally

Webhook events

Webhook payload structure