Bank account with free incoming wire transfers?

May 13, 2009 7:02 PM

Wire transfer fees are eating up all my app store profits! Help me find a bank (online or brick & mortar) that won't charge me fees on incoming wire transfers.

When you sell an app in the iPhone app store, you receive your payment from Apple in the form of wire transfers into your bank account. My bank is currently charging $15 per transfer, and it's eating up all my profits.

I'm looking to open a new bank account to receive these wire transfer. My criteria:

1. Both online or brick & mortar banks are ok, but if it's brick & mortar it needs to be a national bank (U.S.A.) with branches all over.

2. It must be able to accept international wire transfers.

3. It must have a SWIFT code. This might effectively be the same as requirement 2. (I'm not exactly an expert on this stuff.)

4. Incoming wire transfers must be cheap or free.

5. Minimum balances must be $1000 US or less.

Does anyone know of a bank that meets these critera?

posted by perrce to work & money (7 comments total)

Someone I work with uses Charles Schwab for more or less this, but I can't navigate Schwab's website trivially to figure out whether it meets criteria #5. This seems like the relevant account.

You might also want to check out your local credit union, especially if they offer small business accounts. They may meet your criteria. You might also want to check out the "Free incoming Wire Transfers" table on this page, as it seems like a good compilation of relevant research.

not a banker or financial advisor, everything is currently changing with banks roughly 10 minutes, etc...
posted by corprew at 9:13 PM on May 13

are you in the US? it's not really clear.

I use First IB and they have no-fee incoming wire transfers. not sure about a SWIFT code but they accept international transfers. they're pretty much online-only. $25-$100 to open a checking account, depending on kind.
posted by mrg at 10:07 PM on May 13

SWIFT codes are most often used for foreign exchange wires - if a bank doesn't have a SWIFT code, they sometimes partner with another (sometimes larger) bank to do FX wires. If Apple is paying you in USD, SWIFT might not matter. Assuming that you are in the US.
posted by ersatzkat at 3:55 AM on May 14

Sorry for the lack of clarity. Yes, I'm in the USA.
posted by perrce at 6:45 AM on May 14

corprew: That table is just what I needed. After looking around, it looks like TD Bank might be the best bank for my needs. They have their own Swift code (First IB does, mentioned above, does not) and there is no charge for incoming wire transfers. There is a $10 fee for wire transfers received in foreign currency, but that's still an improvement over what I'm paying today.
posted by perrce at 8:11 AM on May 14

ETrade is quick as hell to set up and has free incoming transfers, including international. You can just ACH the money from there to your personal checking account.
posted by floam at 2:14 AM on May 16

And they have a swift code: irvtus3n
posted by floam at 2:15 AM on May 16