Tide SWIFT Payments Explained: What Details You Need (IBAN/BIC) and Why

Tide explains where to view and share your GBP SWIFT IBAN inside the app, and describes the typical structure/length of a BIC code, in its guide to SWIFT and IBAN payments.

“You can see and share your GBP SWIFT IBAN through your Tide app. Tap ‘Details' next to your Tide current account > ‘SWIFT' > then ‘Share'.”

In practice, payer bank forms vary: some ask for IBAN only, while others require both IBAN and BIC fields even if the payer already has one of them. The key is that the sender’s bank form requirements determine what they must enter to release the payment.

An IBAN is an account identifier format. Swift explains that IBAN supports automated cross-border payment processing and references the underlying ISO standard structure on its page about the International Bank Account Number (IBAN).

A BIC identifies the institution for routing/identification purposes. Swift describes BIC as an international standard and explains its role in routing and identification on its page about the Business Identifier Code (BIC).

Some sender banks require BIC because their systems use it for routing validation and internal controls. Swift’s BIC documentation describes it as a routing/identifier standard, which is why it can be mandatory in certain payment workflows even when the IBAN is present on the form, as explained on the BIC standards page.

A second reason is operational: payer banks often rely on pre-configured routing templates by country/currency. If the template expects both fields, the payment may not proceed without them.

The most sensitive fields are typically the beneficiary name, the account identifier (IBAN), and the institution identifier (BIC). Tide summarises the role of IBAN and BIC, including typical BIC length, in its guide to SWIFT and IBAN payments.

Address fields can also matter because cross-border payments often undergo screening that expects consistent location and party information. When address data is missing or inconsistent, the payment can shift from automated processing to exceptions handling.

Tide states that inbound SWIFT payments can take up to five business days to arrive, and it explains what can happen when a payment takes longer, in its article on inbound and outbound SWIFT payments.

Timeframes can extend beyond that when payments are delayed in transit (for example, due to repairs for missing details or additional checks). In those cases, the practical issue is often which institution in the chain currently holds the payment for processing.

Even when the core fields are correct, delays can happen if the sender bank or an intermediary requests additional information, applies extra screening, or needs to repair a formatting mismatch.

Tide acknowledges that inbound SWIFT payments can involve fees and processing steps and provides operational guidance on the inbound process in its article on inbound and outbound SWIFT payments.

Separately, repeated or longer delays can also reflect broader review processes on international payments, which we cover in Tide International Payments Held for Review: Triggers and Operational Impact.

Tide explains that this can happen when fees are charged by institutions involved in processing the transfer, including a cover bank and the beneficiary bank, in its article on why the amount reaching the beneficiary can be less than the amount sent.

This means the “difference” is not necessarily an error at the receiving end; it can be an expected outcome of how SWIFT payments are priced across multiple parties in the chain.

A missing reference is less likely to prevent the payment from being credited if the IBAN/BIC and beneficiary details are correct. The main impact is downstream: it makes it harder to match receipts to invoices, orders, or customer accounts.

Where references matter most is in dispute handling and operational traceability. If the sender later needs to investigate or confirm what happened, stronger identifiers (reference text plus correct beneficiary details) reduce ambiguity.

When the IBAN or BIC is wrong, the payment may be rejected, returned, or diverted into a repair process. The practical result is usually delay, and sometimes deductions occur even if the payment is ultimately returned.

That “returned but not identical amount” outcome is consistent with Tide’s explanation that fees may be charged by banks involved in processing and crediting the transfer, as described in Tide’s article on why the amount reaching the beneficiary can be less than the amount sent.

Tide explains which currencies can be paid into Tide accounts and notes that payments sent in unsupported currencies may be rejected, in its article on what currencies can be paid in.

This matters operationally because a payer may initiate a SWIFT transfer successfully from their side, but if the receiving account cannot accept that currency, the payment can still fail later in the chain and be returned.