# General Business Category > Business Finance Forum >  US bank wants my "clearing code" for wire transfer

## leuce2

G'day everyone

I regularly get money from overseas into my personal bank account (a cheque account) with ABSA.  Now a client of mine in the United States says that his bank requires a "clearing code" in addition to the SWIFT code to make the wire transfer.  A person from my client's bank said that this code is often called the "ZA code" because it starts with the letters "ZA", and is required for all wire transfers to banks in South Africa.  Apparently my bank should supply this to me, to supply to my client, otherwise the wire transfer can't be made.

ABSA's international banking help line could not help me.  They claim that there is only a SWIFT code and the branch code, but they have never heard of such a thing as a "ZA code" or a "clearing code".

Does anyone know what this thing is?  Or, what it is called in South Africa, so that I can ask for it by name?

Thanks
Samuel (leuce)

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## Dave A

The most I've ever had to provide is the SWIFT code.

However, I'm guessing there are two possibilities as to what they might be looking for.

One might be the branch code. That's simple enough. However, that's just the local clearing system's equivalent of a SWIFT code and would effectively be duplication.

The other possibility is a little more complicated. When we receive funds from overseas, the local bank has to fill in a form for SARS stating what the funds are for (essentially why we are receiving the funds). Each category has a code. What you would have to do in this instance is get the appropriate code from your bank (or get your hands on one of those forms). Now this would make a little more sense as it would likely mean you would receive your funds faster if this information was provided in the wire transfer.

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## leuce2

> One might be the branch code. That's simple enough. However, that's just the local clearing system's equivalent of a SWIFT code and would effectively be duplication.


A colleague of mine who had a similar problem was able to get her money by giving the SWIFT-code followed by the branch code, e.g. ABSA-ZA-JJ-632005.  But that was for a European client, so I'm not sure if it'll work for the American one as well.




> The other possibility is a little more complicated. When we receive funds from overseas, the local bank has to fill in a form for SARS stating what the funds are for (essentially why we are receiving the funds)...


The bank usually phones me and asks me what the payment is for, and I say "payment for services rendered", and then they ask me if they can sign the form on my behalf, and I say "yes", and then I get the money.  I've also had the bank e-mail me when I wasn't available by telephone, and I was able to answer to their satisfaction by simply replying to the mail.

It would be very strange if this is the code that the American bank is looking for, though.

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## Dave A

> A colleague of mine who had a similar problem was able to get her money by giving the SWIFT-code followed by the branch code, e.g. ABSA-ZA-JJ-632005.  But that was for a European client, so I'm not sure if it'll work for the American one as well.


International incoming by wire is much the same from this end, whether it's USA, Europe or elsewhere. If it works from Europe, odds are good it'll be what the USA crowd are looking for too.

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## vitori

hi iam vitori and i have read all of your posts and i like all posts and i really want to appreciate you.The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (âSWIFTâ) operates a worldwide financial messaging network. Messages are securely and reliably exchanged between banks and other financial institutions. SWIFT also markets software and services to financial institutions, much of it for use on the SWIFTNet Network, and ISO 9362 bank identifier codes are popularly known as âSWIFT codesâ.It is the unique identification code of a particular bank. These codes are used when transferring money between banks, particularly for international wire transfers, and also for the exchange of other messages between banks. The codes can sometimes be found on account statements.

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