Find all the answers to the frequently asked questions we get about how our online currency exchange service works.
ibani SA is a company regulated as a financial intermediary. ibani SA is affiliated to SO-FIT, a financial intermediary within the meaning of article 2 para. 3 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA).
SO-FIT is a self-regulatory organization recognized by the Swiss Federal Financial Markets Supervisory Authority (FINMA).
You can consult our entry in the Geneva Commercial Register on its website.
You can also check our status as a financial intermediary by going to the FINMA (Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority) website and typing "ibani" in the search field.
Our company provides dedicated Swiss IBANs (denominated CH) in order to be able to execute foreign exchange transactions and/or make payments abroad.
All payments are traceable, precisely because we use dedicated IBANs. There is no mixing of company funds with customer funds, nor customer funds with each other. Moreover, we use the Swiss and international banking network to make our transfers, and this system is secure. ibani SA is regularly audited and strictly compliant with all regulations under the laws against money laundering and terrorist financing.
No, ibani has a "Pay as you go" policy, which means that there are no fees to open, maintain or close an account.
More information is available on our Rates page.
We work with EUR, CHF, USD, GBP, CAD and SGD. More information is available on our Currencies page.
We can also handle other currencies, if you express the will to do so. Do not hesitate to contact us for more information.
Swiss transfers (between Swiss banking institutions) in Swiss francs, or transfers in euros in European countries (using the SEPA system), do not incur any charges.
For your information, SEPA is a European payment system set up with the aim of facilitating and harmonizing euro payments between European countries in the euro zone and non-euro European countries, such as the United Kingdom, Norway or Switzerland. To this end, international payments in euro don't normally incur any fees.
No, ibani provides you with dedicated IBANs that are used for money transit, but not deposit. Funds cannot stay on your ibani IBANs for more than 30 days.
We currently do not offer the possibility to get an ibani credit card, but we are working on it. Subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn to be informed when this will be the case.
For a simple use of the ibani service, i.e. account to account transfer, you will have to provide the following documents:
In case you are collecting funds from a third party, for example from your employer or a relative, we finalize the account opening with a video call through the mobile application to verify your identification.
For regulatory reasons, we are required to know our customers (KYC, "Know Your Customer"). This includes your personal information and some additional information about your business environment.
The document must have a direct link with the address of residence; a bill for water, electricity, gas, landline telephone, internet, rent receipts, tenant's certificate, household insurance, bank statement. In the case of cross-border commuters or expatriates, the work permit or residence permit (Permit G, Permit B or Permit C) is also valid. For each document, a date of no more than 3 months must appear on it.
There are two ways for you to send us any document needed to finalize your account or transaction.
You can simply add them directly from your mobile application by clicking on the Settings icon at the top right of the app and then in Documents > Add a document.
Alternatively, you can also send them directly to us by email at [email protected] making sure to specify the reason for sending them and the name corresponding to the registered ibani account.
You have the possibility to create a payment route and its associated IBAN at any time in the early stages of your registration. However, the allocation of your IBAN can only be done once all your documents have been provided and your profile verified.
Once you have created a new transfer route, we will provide you with an IBAN within 24 hours (business days).
In order to obtain the bank details provided by ibani, simply go to our mobile application under the "IBAN" tab and select the corresponding account. There you will find a document with all the necessary details for your transfers downloadable in PDF format.
You manage your IBANs in the "IBAN" tab of our mobile application. The addition is done by clicking on "Create an IBAN" and following the instructions given on the screen. If you no longer wish to use one of your IBANs, you can deactivate it. The complete deletion is done via a written request by email.
We are subject to strict regulations. For reasons of compliance and in case of audit, we are obliged to provide valid documents. Therefore, an account cannot be validated with an invalid ID.
To close your account, simply send us an e-mail with the reason for your request to [email protected].
We are regulated by official entities and, consequently, we are required to keep for a period of 10 years all documents justifying the customer relationship and the transaction(s) carried out.
Yes, aware of the importance of protecting your data, we use advanced technologies on a daily basis, such as encryption of certain information and regular rotation of authentication tokens. Our great vigilance constantly pushes us to regularly question our security model in order to innovate, improve and guarantee you the most complete protection.
The operation is carried out directly with the issuing bank to your ibani IBAN. Afterwards, we will take care of the exchange and redirect it to the beneficiary.
Yes, a different IBAN is assigned to each payment route you create.
A change in your information has been recorded in your application, which therefore requires verification by us for compliance reasons.
If you are unable to add your documents directly from the application, it is possible to send them by e-mail to [email protected] after creating your account.
Become an ambassador of ibani, it's easy and moreover you earn money by doing so! Find all the information on the functioning of the ibani referral system on this page.
Yes, you just need to create a new payment route from our mobile application in the "IBAN" tab. You will have to provide a document justifying the economic context of the transaction, in this case your employment document. You will also be asked to verify the process through a short video interview during which your ID must be shown to the camera.
You can update your profile at your convenience on your mobile application. To do so, go to your settings by clicking on the icon at the top right of your screen and choosing "Personal Info".
First create a private account, then go to our mobile application in Settings > Create a business account and follow the instructions.
We will ask you to provide us with your commercial register excerpt so that we can document your profile. Finally, to facilitate and simplify the registration process, a video call may be requested to verify your accounts.
Yes, it is possible to have one or more people representing your business. To do so, each one of them must create a private account before they can be linked to the rights of the business account.
Yes, it is perfectly possible to have the created IBANs direct to the bank accounts of your suppliers, and that you use ibani to make payments in other currencies.
It is currently impossible to receive payments from your customers. However, we are working on adding this possibility in order to expand and improve our services to best meet your needs.
When you fix a rate, a double commitment is implied. On the one hand, you undertake to send the blocked amount, on the other hand we undertake to carry out your exchange at the desired rate.
Yes, our services allow you to transfer currencies from your multi-currency account. The steps are similar to those for transfers to a traditional bank.
There are no registration fees or application fees. The only thing that will be retained from the transactions you make is a small margin of 0.4% at most on the currency exchange. We do not apply any additional fees to your transactions.
We have a maximum margin of 0.4%, which can be reduced according to the converted amounts. Thus, it can be less but in no case more than 0.4%.
Yes, our service can be used unlimitedly.
You can simply take the same IBAN and use it for any number of transfers. We also recommend that customers simply save a payment template in your e-banking system to facilitate and repeat a payment.
Yes, you can block the exchange rate for 24 hours by sending us a request by e-mail or by phone.
You can choose how you want to use each IBAN you create. Each IBAN can be configured in the mobile application in the following ways:
You have the possibility to contact us quickly in order to cancel your transaction. However, we are committed to processing your transfers as soon as possible. Therefore, once your transaction has been processed, no cancellation is possible.
All you have to do is add a new beneficiary on your mobile application and send us your request for the change directly by e-mail.
A proof of payment is a document containing information about the transaction. That is to say, a receipt containing the name of the sender, the receiver, the exact amount of the transaction and the date of the transfer.
We commit ourselves to apply the real time exchange rates of the interbank market to which we must add our degressive commission of 0.4% in order to provide you with the service closest to the reality of the market.
No. The only CHF-CHF transfers tolerated are within the framework of payment of KVG/LAMal invoices, for example, but cannot under any circumstances be the sole use of the platform.
Yes, as soon as we receive the salary, we apply the exchange rate and transfer the salary within 24 hours, unless you have configured your IBAN in manual exchange mode.
Absolutely! Your Swiss bank account can be used to receive your salary and you have the possibility to use ibani to repatriate your funds to your euro account.
No, with ibani no reference is required.
The IBAN transmitted to you is set so that you can communicate it to your employer once and only once.
On our end, we process your transaction within half an hour of receiving the funds. After that, the deadlines are no longer up to us, but to the receiving bank. International payments usually take 24 to 36 hours. Therefore, your payment should be collected as soon as possible. But we draw your attention to the fact that banks in France do not process international transactions on Mondays.
You can easily share your IBAN with multiple employers. All you have to do is send us the corresponding certificates of employment to the various companies.
Receiving one's salary on several beneficiary accounts is generally not part of the services we offer. However, it is possible to receive your salary on several accounts as long as the amounts transferred are set.
The International Bank Account Number, known by the acronym IBAN, is an international standard for numbering and uniquely identifying bank accounts, which facilitates payment transactions.
The BIC (Business Identifier Code) or SWIFT code (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) is the international identifier of a bank or financial institution.
SEPA (Single European Payment Area) is a unified area that aims to standardize cross-border payments in euros between member countries as well as domestic payments.
The bid (demand) is the price the broker is willing to pay to buy an asset. The ask (offer) is the price at which the broker is willing to sell the asset. The bid-ask spread is the difference between the best buying price and the best selling price.
The average rate is the median rate between the buy and selling rates.
The interbank rate is the rate at which banks exchange money with each other.