How to Wire Transfer Money From Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the largest banks in the US and serves more than 60 million customers throughout the country. You can do various kinds of transactions at the Bank of America, including sending and receiving money, withdrawing cash at over 17,000 ATMs across the country, and payment for goods and services using any of its debit or credit cards, wire transfers, and direct deposit.  Of all these, I will major in how to wire money from the Bank of America.

Wire transfer is a money transfer method that allows you to move money from one bank to the other instantly or under 24 hours. The transfer method is common with US banks and allows you to transfer money both domestically and internationally. You should note that the transfer is usually electronic and involves an intermediary money transfer service provider who facilitates the transfer process.

Many people confuse between wire transfer and direct deposit. There is a big difference between the two methods of money transfers. While both allow you to move money from one bank to the other, wire transfers allow you to move money over different currencies instantly. Direct deposit can take more than a day for the funds to reflect in the recipient’s account. Furthermore, direct deposit is for the local transfers, while wire transfers allow money transfers within the country and across the borders. 

How does wire transfer work?

When you visit a bank to do a wire transfer, your bank sends a message to the receiving bank with payment instructions via a secure system. Banks use systems such as Fedwire, SWIFT, the Federal Reserve Wire Network, or the Clearing House Interbank Payments System. to facilitate the transfer. 

When the receiving bank gets the message, it deposits the exact amount of money in the correct bank account. By this time, the receiving bank has not received money from the sending bank and uses its reserves to credit the concerned bank account.

Later on, the receiving bank receives funds from the sending bank and replaces its used reserves. While domestic wire transfers take a short time to complete, international wire transfers may take 1-5 days. Transferring funds from one financial institution to the other via wire transfer can cost from $0 to more than $40. Despite being an expensive transfer option, it helps you move large amounts of money quickly and safely.

Wire transfers are faster when you involve a money transfer agent. Western Union is among the most used money transfer agents to carry out wire transfers. Others include Wise and Money gram. Each transfer attracts fees since that is how these agents make money.

One crucial thing you should know about wire transfers is that, in most cases, you cannot cancel a transaction. Once you initiate the process, then your money just goes like that. You need to be very sure from the beginning that you want to do a wire transfer. That means you should never send money under pressure, unknown people, or with a lot of haste. 

How to wire transfer money from the Bank of America

You can carry out a wire transfer from the Bank of America to other banks via wire transfer. It does not matter where the bank is located since I mentioned that you can transfer money within or in an international country. For example, you can use the wire transfer method to transfer money from the Bank of America to Chase instead of direct deposit.

The Bank of America has a Remittance transfer, an international wire transfer initiated by a consumer for family, personal, or household purposes. If you want to carry out an international wire transfer using the Bank of America, you can do it in the following manner.

You can start by signing in online and make an appointment to send a wire transfer at your local Bank of America financial center. It is easy to do online using your app.

• Visit the Bank of America wire transfer page using your desktop or laptop.
•  Click on the blue circle on the screen to get started and then follow along.
• Log into your online banking.
• Hover over (but don’t click) the Transfer/Zelle® section until you see a menu pop up.
• Select Using Someone’s Account Number and then At another bank.
• If you are presented with a Service Agreement, read it, check the acknowledgment box, and select I agree.
• Select International.
• Select the country where the recipient is located.
• You will get a form where you will need to answer questions with YES or No answers.
• Answer the question “Do you know the currency of this account?” Choose the currency you want to transfer the money with. The Bank of America will save your choice for future reference when transferring money to the same recipient.
• Complete the online form by entering the correct information about the recipient, including their home address with their bank. Also, add their bank information and make sure you do it correctly. Generally, you need the following information for your international wire transfer.
  • Recipient’s name.
  • Physical address.
  • Recipient’s country.
  • Recipient’s account number (You may require a country-specific account structure, e.g., a CLABE for Mexico or an IBAN)
  • Recipient bank’s SWIFT code, Branch code, or National ID
  • Recipient’s account currency.
  • Purpose of doing the wire transfer.
• Next, click Add Account.
• Wait as the bank of America adds the recipient’s details in the system to move you to the next step.
• After seeing the message that you have successfully added the recipient’s details, Select Return to Make Transfer.
• While on the transfer page, Select your account as well as that of the recipient.
• Enter the amount to transfer. Remember that the Bank of America will send the amount in the currency you selected. You can also change the currency by clicking Change default currency.
• Wait as the servers process your input.
• Confirm that the information to use for the wire transfer is correct. You can cancel to return to the previous screen and start over.
• Once you are sure that the transfer information is correct, check the box with the ‘I have read and agreed to the above terms, including exchange rate, fees and taxes’ to continue.
• Click on Make Transfer. You will see the message “Your transfer is on the way.” you may cancel the transaction within 30 minutes. The opportunity to cancel a transaction is rare as most banks will not allow it.

Once you make your transaction, you can select the Transfer Activity to check the status of your transaction. Remember that fees apply to wire transfers, and the Bank of America will charge you according to your transfer amount.

You can also do a domestic wire transfer to banks within the US. All you need is; 

• Recipient name and address
• Recipient bank’s routing code and the
• Recipient account number
•  Wire routing number: 026009593

What are the fees for the Bank of America wire transfers?

There are various fees that you should pay for your wire transfers.

• Incoming domestic wire $15
• Incoming international wire $16
• Outbound domestic wire $30
• Outbound international wire sent in foreign currency $35
• Outbound international wire transferred in U.S. dollars $45

How do I receive wire transfers with the Bank of America?

You can also receive wire transfers in your Bank of America account, apart from sending domestic and international wire transfers. When receiving money via international wire transfers, you need to give the senders the following information.

You will also need to provide your account number plus any other necessary information that they may require.

What should you do upon getting an error message for your wire transfer?

Sometimes you may get an error message once you initiate your transfer. For domestic transfers; Contact the Bank of America at 877.337.8357 (or 302.781.6374 from outside of the U.S.).

You can also write to Bank of America at:

Bank of America, N.A.
PO Box 25118
Tampa, FL 33622-5118

If your transfer error is about an international wire transfer, you should contact the Bank of America customer care within 180 days of the funds reaching the recipient. You should provide them with the following information.

• Your name and address/ telephone number.
• The issue with the transfer and why you thinks it’s an error.
• The name of the person receiving the money and their telephone number or address if you know it
• The amount in dollars of the transfer
• Your confirmation code (provided in the Transfer Receipt)

Bottom line

Wire transfer is a money transfer method that allows you to move money from one bank to another within a short time. You can do a domestic or international wire transfer. Wire transfers attract some fees, which you should know before sending. Again, wire transfers allow you to move money in different currencies, unlike a direct deposit that allows the same currency transfers. You cannot cancel most wire transfers.