FAQ: Payments - Sending and Receipt

  • I work by using fax. Where can I find a payment order form?

    The process of work by using fax is described in the corresponding section.

    Forms of all documents are collected in a special section on the bank’s website: Documents / Payment and Foreign Currency Operations.

    Here is a direct link to the payment order form (in PDF format).The payment order form is prepared in such a way that it can be completed directly on the screen.

    If you make more than five payments a month, consider a possibility of connecting to the Internet bank system.

  • Payments of the BEN, OUR and SHA Types

    OUR Type Payments

    OUR – the client pays the commissions of both Rietumu Bank and the correspondent bank. If in the course of sending a payment, an intermediary bank and/or a receiving bank requires its commission, such additional commission (in an amount not exceeding EUR 100) will be debited from the current account of the client. The rest of the expenses are covered by Rietumu Bank.

    In some cases, an intermediary bank and/or a receiving bank do not take the instructions of Rietumu Bank into account and therefore the commission of such banks may be deducted from the payment amount.

    Advantage of OUR type payments: The receiver receives the exact amount of payment.

    BEN Type Paymentss

    BEN – the receiver pays the commissions of Rietumu Bank and other banks involved in the remittance. The commission is deducted from the remittance amount. The minimum amount of payment is EUR 200 or an equivalent amount in another currency.

    Advantages of BEN type payments: Lower rates for international payments, the client never remains “in debt” to the bank.

    SHA Type Payments

    SHA – the client pays the Rietumu Bank commission. Commissions of intermediary banks and the receiving bank related to the remittance are covered by the receiver.

    1. Payments within the borders of the European Economic Area (EEA)* in EUR and in national currencies** of the EEA member-states are made only with the SHA commission type. When making payment to the EEA country in EUR or in national currencies of the EEA member-states, a full amount of payment comes to the receiving bank and the commission of this bank may be deducted from the receiver, if this is anticipated by an agreement between the receiving bank and the payment receiver. If the BEN or OUR type of commission is indicated in such a payment order, Rietumu Bank is entitled to change it for SHA.
    2. Payments in EUR and other currencies of the member-states beyond the borders of the European Economic Area are made as OUR and SHA payment types; BEN type payments in EURare not performed.
    * Countries of the European Economic Area: Iceland, Norway, Lichtenstein and 27 EU countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Greece, Estonia, Ireland, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Great Britain, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland, Spain, Hungary, Germany, Sweden.
    ** Currencies of the European Economic Area: EUR, NOK, SEK, CZK, CHF.

  • What urgency type and what commission type should be used depending on the chosen country of the receiving bank and the currency?
      Standart Express
    BEN USD, CAD, JPY, USD

    OUR Payment to the EEA country:: All currencies, except for EUR, NOK, SEK, PLN, CZK, CHF Payment to the EEA country: USD
    Payment to the non-EEA country: All currencies Payment to the non-EEA country:: EUR, USD

    SHA EUR, USD, NOK, SEK, PLN, CZK, CHF

    EUR, USD

    Countries of the European Economic Area – Iceland, Norway, Lichtenstein and 27 EU countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Greece, Estonia, Ireland, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Great Britain, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Finland, Spain, Hungary, Germany, Sweden.

  • Payments in Chinese CNY

    Remittances in CNY are possible only for export-import operations and only with companies located in 16 provinces and 4 municipalities of China: Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong, Hubei, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Sichuan, Yunnan, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Tibet, Xinjiang, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing.

    At present, Chinese companies in these regions are entitled to receive funds from a foreign partner in CNY and remit CNY abroad when they obtain the corresponding permit from the People’s Bank of China.


    A payment order must contain the following information:

    Field 57 (Receiver’s bank)

    SWIFT/BIC code of the receiver’s bank,
    Name of the receiving bank,
    Address of the receiving bank;

    Field 59 (Receiver)

    Account number of the receiver,
    Name of the receiver,
    Full address of the receiver;

    Field 70 (Purpose of payment)

    Precise and full purpose of payment with an indication of:

    • The type of goods,
    • Contract number and date,
    • Invoice number and date.

    Please note!

    Chinese Yuan is a currency with restricted convertibility. Therefore, to perform conversions and payments, please pay attention to the following conditions:

    A payment order must be in compliance with the conditions of remitting funds in CNY.
    When converting CNY, you will have an equivalent amount in the currency of conversion frozen on your account until fulfilment of the order (the conversion process can take up to two days).
    You will receive confirmation about the transaction and the conversion rate on the day the conversion is performed.
    If a payment is not made within three months from the currency conversion, funds in CNY on your account will be reconverted in the initial currency according to the official rate of the bank (but not better than the primary conversion rate).

  • What is the right way to complete a payment order?

    To remit funds quickly and correctly, you have to provide the following information:

    Field 59:Account number of the receiver
    • In IBAN format for remittance in EUR to EU countries;
    • In IBAN format for remittance in any currency to Baltic countries –Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia;
    • Not in IBAN format for most remaining countries.
    Field 59:Name of the receiver’s account
    If the Receiver name contains more than 35 symbols, continue write it in the field Address of the Receiver
    Field 59:Address of the receiver
    Field 57:Name of the receiving bank
    Field 57:SWIFT or code of the receiving bank (ABA, BLZ, Sort code)
    Field 57:City and country where the receiving bank is located
    Field 70:Purpose of payment

    Please note that an indication of the contract or agreement number IS NOT sufficient information for making payments in a foreign currency.

    In the field Purpose of Payment, the full and exact purpose of the transaction must be indicated.

    For commercial nature payments, the following must be indicated:

    • Number and date of the document pursuant to which the transaction is performed (an agreement, an invoice, a shipping document, etc.);
    • Details about the type of goods or service which are the subject of payment.

    In the event of payment according to a loan agreement, indicate the number and date of the agreement, the purpose of the loan, the term and the interest.

    For payments in Russian roubles, the following is additionally provided:

    • The currency operation code;
    • The VAT amount or an indication of being exempt from VAT;
    • When providing loans/credits, indicate whether the loan/credit is interest-bearing or interest-free.

    Payments which do not meet the abovementioned criteria may be declined by the Bank or any of the authorised correspondent banks.

    If the receiver indicates the correspondent bank for the receiving bank in the details, the same should be done in the payment order:

    Field 56:Name of the correspondent bank
    Field 56:SWIFT or code of the receiving bank (ABA, BLZ, Sort code)
    Field 57:Account number of the receiving bank in the correspondent bank

    Please note that the following information must be provided when making outgoing payments in russian roubles:

    Field 57:Name of the receiving bank – BIK and the correspondent account at the Cash Settlement Centre
    Field 59:Full name of the receiver, INN (KPP, when available) and the account number
    Field 70:Purpose of payment
    • The currency operation code is indicated, denomination of the goods, performed works, rendered services, number and date of shipping documents, VAT tax (i.e. either the VAT amount is provided or a statement about VAT exemption).
    • When providing loans/credits, indicate whether the loan/credit is interest-bearing or interest-free. If the loan/credit is interest-bearing, indicate the interest.

    For Russian roubles, the total length of information in the fields “Purpose of Payment” and “Additional Information” mush not exceed 210 characters.

  • What language should I use to complete a payment order?

    Payment orders should be completed as follows:.

    • In RUB – in Russian by using the Cyrillic alphabet (unless the details of the receiver or the payment anticipate using the Latin alphabet)
    • In other currencies – by using the Latin alphabet.
  • What are correspondent banks needed for? How should a correspondent bank be chosen?

    To make international bank remittances, according to the international banking regulations it is required to use a correspondent bank in the country where this currency is a national one.

    For example, if you want to remit Japanese yen from Latvia to France, you have to use a correspondent bank in Japan.

    The correct selection of a correspondent bank can considerably reduce the duration of remittance. Try to select a correspondent bank in the same country as the sending/receiving bank.

  • Funds have been remitted to my address. How soon will they be on my account?

    If the remittance is done in USD and if Rietumu Bank receives the funds by 11 a.m., they will be on your account the same day. If later, the next day.

    The bank usually receives funds within 2-5 days depending on the practice of the sending bank.

  • How much does a remittance cost?

    A commission charged for a remittance depends on the amount and the currency type, but there is a minimum and maximum commission charged by the bank regardless of the remittance amount.

  • What is the commission for crediting funds to my account?

    Rietumu Bank does not charge a commission for crediting funds to an operating account.

    The exception is for MDL (Moldovan leu).You can obtain information about crediting your account in this currency from the Bank.

  • How fast does the outgoing payment reach the receiver?

    When you provide full details of the receiver, the funds reach the receiving bank within a day or two. When incomplete details are provided, more time might be required for remitting the payment.

  • What happens when a payment order contains incorrect account details?

    For fast and correct crediting of funds on your account, the basic requisites of the receiver (the account number, the name, the receiver’s address) must be correctly provided in the payment order.

    If the aforementioned details are unavailable or are provided incorrectly, we recommend you to contact your partner (the payment sender) as quickly as possible, so that he is able to submit the precise information to the bank the payment is sent from, and later the sending bank will forward this information to the receiving bank. Following this, the funds will be credited to your account.

    If the receiving bank (i.e. Rietumu Bank) has to make an investigation itself and manually process an incoming payment with incorrect details, a commission for the investigation will be deducted from your account.

  • I work by using fax and I have sent you a payment order, but it has not been fulfilled. Why?

    A refusal in fulfilling a payment order may be caused by the following reasons:

    There are insufficient funds on the account for debiting the payment or a commission for it;
    Solution: Add funds to your account or remit a smaller amount.

    Incorrect details are provided;
    Solution: Please provide contact information in your payment order, in this case the Bank employee will contact you.

    Incomplete or insufficient payment details are provided;
    Solution: It is required to indicate the exact type of goods or services for which the payment is made. Please note that an indication of the contract or agreement number IS NOT sufficient information for making payments in a foreign currency!

    The test key is incorrect;
    Solution: Having sent the fax, call and check the correctness of the test key.

    The fax message is illegible;
    Solution: Having sent the fax, call and check whether it has been received.

    The account is frozen;
    Solution: Call to the Information Service of the Bank and find out the reason.

  • I would like the exact amount to be received by the receiver. How can I determine the commissions of other banks?

    Regrettably, we cannot find out about the commissions charged by other banks, as these change depending on the receiving bank and the chain of the correspondent banks.

  • What details should be provided in an invoice?

    We recommend providing the following details in the presented invoices:

    • Receiver:[name of your account in Rietumu Bank]
    • Account number:[your account number in Rietumu Bank]]
    • Receiving bank: RIETUMU BANK, SWIFT RTMB LV2X
    • Correspondent bank*:DEUTSCHE BANK TRUST COMPANY AMERICAS, SWIFT BKTRUS33
    • Account number of the receiving bank in the correspondent bank*:a/c # USD 400 230 518
    * Selection of the specific correspondent bank depends on the currency of payments. In the provided example, a correspondent bank for payments in USD is indicated.

  • A payment was not credited to my account. Why?
    A refusal to credit funds to your account may be caused by the following reasons:
    • Your account details (name or account number) are incorrectly provided..
    • A revocation of the payment has been received.

    Solution: Contact the sender and ask him to send a correction to the payment.

  • Payments in Kazakhstani tenge (KZT)
    When making payments in Kazakhstani tenge (KZT), the following requirements must be observed for the execution of payment orders:

    “Beneficiary” field:

    – the beneficiary account in IBAN format, consisting of 20 alphanumeric characters KZCCAAAXXXXXXXXXXXXX, must be provided;
    – the Identification Number of the beneficiary, which is granted by tax bodies to all residents of Kazakhstan, as well as non-residents, who continuously operate in the territory of Kazakhstan, must be provided:
    IIN (ИИН) – individual identification number for private individuals and self-employed entrepreneurs;
    BIN (БИН) – business identification number for legal entities.

    Some banks - non-residents, which have correspondent accounts in banks of Kazakhstan, do not have a BIN, and in this case 12 zeros are provided as the BIN.

    “Purpose of payment” field

    – EKNP code (Single Classifier of Purposes of Payments, 7 digits) code is provided;
    – for tax payments to the budget - KBK (the budget classification code КБК) (6 digits);
    – number and date of the trade document, transaction, contract, agreement;
    – value added tax amount (VAT), when available, except for payments between correspondent banks.