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Every Money Transfer And Remittance Term You Need To Know: Letter I

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I


Last updated: October 05, 2022


iDEAL

iDEAL is an online payment system prevalent in the Netherlands, and is owned and operated by the Dutch company Currence. The biggest advantage of iDEAL is that you can use it to make secure purchases without having to share your bank information.

iDEAL can be used as a payment method to pay for your money transfers from the Netherlands. Just make sure that your money transfer operator is able to accept iDEAL payments, and if so, you can simply fund your transaction with an iDEAL payment.

Also see: Local Payment Method, Payment Method
Further reading: Payment Methods for Money Transfer



Indicative Exchange Rate

An indicative exchange rate is the exchange rate applied to an international money transfer at the time the transaction clears. In other words, the rate you get when you get a quote from a provider will be different from the one that the transfer gets sent with.

Indicative exchange rates have pros and cons; in a highly fluctuating FX market, you could gain or lose money depending on up or down exchange rate swings.

Also known as: Floating Exchange Rate, Variable Exchange Rate
Also see: Exchange Rate, Fixed Exchange Rate, Guaranteed Exchange Rate, Locked-in Exchange Rate
Further reading: Currency Exchange Rates: What Are They, How They Change, and More
What Is a Remittance and How Does It Work?
How To Make The Most Of Your Remittance



Interbank Exchange Rate

Interbank exchange rate is the FX rate that big banks and financial institutions use to exchange large sums of money amongst themselves in different currencies. Interbank exchange rate is also called mid-market rate, and is the average between Bid (Sell) and Ask (Buy) FX rates.

In relation to international money transfers, the most important aspects that you should know about the interbank exchange rate are as below:

  • Interbank exchange rates are generally not available to individual consumers.
  • Money transfer companies generally price their exchange rates below interbank exchange rates.
  • Helpful metrics like FX Markup are calculated relative to the interbank exchange rate.

Also known as: Mid-Market Exchange Rate
Also see: Ask FX Rate, Bid FX Rate, Buy FX Rate, Exchange Rate, FX Margin, FX Markup, Sell FX Rate
Further reading: 5 Key FX Concepts You Need to Know



International Bank Account Number (IBAN)

An International Bank Account Number (IBAN) is a globally unique representation of your local bank account number. The biggest advantage of an IBAN is that it unambiguously identifies your bank account in international money transfer transactions.

Without an IBAN, it would be pretty difficult for you to receive money from overseas into your account, or to send money to someone overseas directly into their bank account. Due to the IBAN, international banking and payment providers are able to route payments into the correct bank account anywhere in the world.

The IBAN format is part of the ISO 13616-1:2007 standard, which is exactly why it is a globally accepted way to identify bank accounts internationally.

Also see: BBAN, BIC, IBAN Registry, SEPA, SWIFT, SWIFT Code
Further reading: What are IBAN, SWIFT and BIC codes?



International Bank Account Number (IBAN) Registry

The International Bank Account Number (IBAN) Registry is a source of information and a record that contains the formulas that all IBAN-compliant countries use to construct their IBANs. In other words, the IBAN registry contains the template that each country uses to define their IBAN structure.

Also see: BBAN, BIC, IBAN, SEPA, SWIFT, SWIFT Code
Further reading: What are IBAN, SWIFT and BIC codes?



International Bank Transfer

An international bank transfer is a transaction that represents a movement of funds from a bank account in one country to another bank account in a different country. Hence the word "international", which distinguishes these types of transfers from domestic or local bank transfers.

There are several ways to achieve international bank transfers. The 2 most popular ones include international wire transfers and sending money from bank to bank via a money transfer company.

Also see: Domestic Wire Transfer, FedWire, International Wire Transfer, SWIFT, SWIFT Code, Wire Transfer, Wire Transfer Fee
Further reading: How Do International Wire Transfers Work?
The Top 7 Best US Banks for International Wire Transfers



International Wire Transfer

A wire transfer is an electronic funds transfer from one account to another. When both bank accounts participating in a wire transfer are located in different countries, the process is called an international wire transfer.

Most international wire transfers are facilitated by the SWIFT payments network.

Also see: Domestic Wire Transfer, FedWire, International Bank Transfer, SWIFT, SWIFT Code, Wire Transfer, Wire Transfer Fee
Further reading: How Do International Wire Transfers Work?
The Top 7 Best US Banks for International Wire Transfers