Important changes to wires

We adopted international standards for wires on Oct 21, giving you a faster, smoother experience. Learn about the changes.

Send guaranteed payments in over 25 currencies, up to $1B.

Maintain security and control

Optimize your payments by customizing your user access, workflow approvals and work tasks.

Rest assured

Guaranteed funds mean you can have confidence that your payments have been sent and received.

Include additional transaction information

​Add additional details with your payment, like invoice numbers, to confirm the accuracy of your transaction with your recipient.

Frequently Asked Questions

Wires are the ideal payment type for:

  • Sending important large dollar, time-sensitive payments to suppliers, business partners or employees
  • Sending money outside of Canada
  • Sending money in a currency other than CAD or USD
  • Ensuring that the money sent is irrevocable, allowing the beneficiary immediate access to funds, once received by their financial institution, without concern regarding possible reversal or return.

Interac e-Transfer® may be a better alternative for amounts under $10,000, sent within Canada.

ACH may be a better alternative for amounts under $25,000, sent outside Canada.

From your beneficiary (the person or business you’re sending money to):

  • Name
    An exact match to what’s on their account
  • Address
    A physical (street) address. PO Boxes, reservations, and military bases are not accepted
  • Account number
  • IBAN Number - Is the international standard for identifying international bank accounts across national borders
  • CLABE - México Clave Bancaria Estandarizada (CLABE) is an 18 digit beneficiary account number for wires destined to Mexico. In ATB Business, select international as the “wire destination” and enter the CLABE in the beneficiary’s account number field
  • Routing number(s)
    One of the following:
    • SWIFT code - sometimes also called a BIC number - is a unique identification code, used to identify banks and financial institutions globally. It can be used for any wire, internationally, including those sent within Canada or the United States
    • Transit and institution number - for Canadian wires
    • Fedwire or ABA number - for American wires
  • Country Specific additional information you may need:
    • BSB - (Bank-State-Branch) code is optional for Australia and is a six-digit number, the first 3 digits represent the bank institution code and the last 3 digits represent the actual branch code for the recipient. This code is used to identify the individual branch of an Australian financial institution
    • Bank Code - this is optional for New Zealand and uses a 6 digit numeric code entered with no spaces
    • IFSC - The Indian Financial System Code (IFSC) is used to Identify Indian beneficiary banks and will be required for any wire in INR (Indian Rupee) currency
      • Note an INR purpose of payment will also be required for any wire in INR currency
  • Message to Beneficiary
    Include any additional information if required.

On the confirmation screen, you will see your wire status as one of the following:
Scheduled - Transfer has not started to process yet and the wire can still be cancelled.
Processing – Transfer is in process and the wire cannot be cancelled.
Rejected - The wire could not deliver the transfer to the Beneficiary/Creditor.
Cancelled - Transfer has been cancelled by the customer or ATB.
Completed - Transfer has been sent successfully.
Approval Expired - Pending wires need to be approved or rejected by 2:00pm MST on the effective date. If not, the wire will reflect an Approval Expired status.
Approval Rejected-If a pending wire has been rejected by an approver.

Wires submitted before 2:00 pm Mountain Standard Time (MST) will be processed the same day providing the information provided is correct, the account has sufficient funds.


Wires submitted after 2:00 pm MST or on a non-business day will be processed the next business day.

Pending wires need additional approvals required by additional User(s) based on your company’s workflow approval setup.

Please do not resubmit your wire as it could result in duplication. For confirmation, Click on the Approvals and Financial History menu and look for statuses for each wire such as: Pending Approval (waiting to be approved by additional User(s) based on your company’s workflow approval setup) or Processing status in wire history - Under the scheduled section

Wires in Processing status are waiting to be processed by ATB Financial. Usually after 5 or 10 minutes the wire will be actioned by ATB Financial, maybe held longer if there is an outstanding issue identified. If no issue has been encountered, it will then move to wire history under the Sent section where you will find the most up to date wire status.

There could be a number of reasons why a Wire fails.

Cancelled: Wires may fail or cancel for reasons such as insufficient funds, sent to a restricted destination or missing Banking Instructions.

Ready to get started?

Conveniently send time-sensitive payments domestically and globally with Wires.

Are your current payments efficient and secure?

Our helpful guides, webinars and articles will help you evaluate your current payment methods and learn about other options.

​Find the right payment solution for your business.

Need help?

Our Business Support team will be happy to assist.