Add SWIFT (int. wire transfer) as payment method

[ManfredKarrer]

I am wondering if we should add international wire transfer (SWIFT).

There are some issues thought:

• Banking fees are rather high (50-100 USD) which makes that very expensive if used with low trade limits (about 400 USD atm for new accounts).
• Fees are not clearly determined and receiver will also get charged by a fee. Furthermore some banks allow to define the fee model. There are 3 options: 'Sender pays', 'receiver pays' or fee is 'shared'. I think default is shared but users who manage to set that to 'receiver pay fee' can save much money on cost of the peer.
• It seems that the receivers address is required which adds some privacy and security risks to the traders. But not sure if the address is verified. Many users change real address when moving house and do not update address at bank (often the bank webpage does not support that anyway).
• Transfer takes 3-5 working days but can take even longer
• It is not very clear to me how to find out if an intermediary bank is needed. I assume the banks figure it out themself and add on demand intermediary banks (and increase total fees by that) or it need to be defined by the users, but that will prob. not work as you don't know in advance the combination of the sellers and buyers banks.
• If the bank cannot complete the transfer more undfined costs may apply to the sender.

So all in all it seems like a can of worms and thats why we never added it but I am still wondering if we should offer it and make it very clear to the user which risks and issues are connected to it. There are countries with no Bisq market developed yet and that payment method could help to connect those isolated users to trade between them. Also in such countries they pay a huge premium anyway on LBTC or other exchanges, so the high fees might be not an issue for them. It could also help to bootstrap a national tranfer market once there are a few traders using Bisq there.

I think chargeback risk is very low, so that is a good part.

We would need to use a high trade limit otherwise the costs are way too high (25% of the trade if the costs are 100 USD for a 400 USD tx). We could allow 0.25 BTC for new accounts (about 1600 USD) then the 100 USD fee would be "only" 6%. Once the account has 2 months then its 1 BTC and then the fee with 1.5% is actaully pretty reasonable.

Another problem is how to deal with the fee mode. There is an incentive that the sender tries to let the receiver pay the fee if his bank offers that option. So maybe the best would be that we use that as the default case. The extra costs for the fee for the Fiat receiver can be priced in the offer price. There can be though then cases where the sender cannot select that and then the seller has the disadvantage.

Arbitration with the fee issues migth become an issue. But I think if we use the model that the reciver pays all fees and communicate it clearly that fees are not determined it should be ok. User has to be aware of an extra risk factor here. A sender who pays more fee because his bank does not allow selection of the model or is instranparent with fees has to complain at his bank.

@alfsbs What do you think?

[wallclockbuilder]

I can also try just modelling it after the already existing payment methods.

[pazza83]

Hi @wallclockbuilder

I think one of the issues is with the one column layout.

I proposed a two column layout see: https://github.com/bisq-network/bisq/issues/4837#issuecomment-734633345 but this might add complexitiy.

Happy for it to be done based on the design of existing payment methods. That is what we have done when adding payment methods in the past.

[sqrrm]

@pazza83 I think this could be taken by @wallclockbuilder. There likely are some interesting new features that'll have to be implemented and making sure there is agreement on how the trade process would work. It has been described here but with implementation new thoughts might pop up.

[m52go]

@wallclockbuilder are you working on this? Would be great to get this in the next release.

[wallclockbuilder]

I'm excited to use SWIFT too. I used to buy bitcoin via SWIFT. Africa -->EUR. This will truly open up Bisq to Nigeria. Now trades can happen between Nigeria and International.

Code is in the works!

[pazza83]

Name of payment method: International SWIFT Wire Transfer

Required fields: see screenshot

Maximum trade duration: 7 days

Signing required: No

Regions accepted: All countries

Currencies accepted: All currencies

Bisq Limits: 0.5 BTC

Payment method limits: None

Any relevant information: Fees will be shared fee model. Buyer should ensure fee option is set to "SHA" (shared). BTC Buyer (sender of the payment) will pay all fees charged by the sending bank. BTC Seller (recipient of the payment) will pay all fees charged by the receiving bank.

Any relevant information for devs: It is a pretty long information. I have tried to break it down into 3 sections. Recipient Bank Information, Account Owner Bank Information, Intermediary Bank Information.

Any relevant information for users: This is an international payment method. As such be aware of fees that you bank will charge for sending / receiving from various countries.

Screenshot of expected GUI:

Information required for Bisq software strings:

Special info about any of the inputs required for creating the payment account:

Please make sure to include as much information as possible for SWIFT payments. Not all the information maybe required for some payments, however as SWIFT is international you will not know from which country your offer is taken and, therefore, what information is needed. As such please provide as much information to make the process as smooth as possible.

Most banks charge fees for sending and receiving SWIFT payments. Bisq requires BTC Buyers to send SWIFT payments using the shared fee model (SHA). If you send a payment using another mode for example Beneficiary pays fees (BEN) you will likely be penalized. Therefore, please take care to select the correct fee model when sending payment.

SWIFT payments require more information than any other payment method on Bisq. Please ensure you communicate with your trading peer effectively and promptly to ensure a smooth trading experience for all. As is the case for all payment methods please do leave any reference blank. If a reference is required please use your 'Account Owner Name'.

Special items to be aware about when sending payments (for BTC Buyers):

Most banks charge fees for sending and receiving SWIFT payments. Bisq requires BTC Buyers to send SWIFT payments using the shared fee model (SHA). If you send a payment using another mode for example Beneficiary pays fees (BEN) you will likely be penalized. Therefore, please take care to select the correct fee model when sending payment and make yourself aware of what fees you will likely pay in advance of taking the trade.

SWIFT payments require more information than any other payment method on Bisq. Please ensure you communicate with your trading peer effectively and promptly to ensure a smooth trading experience for all. As is the case for all payment methods please do leave any reference blank. If a reference is required please use your 'Account Owner Name'.

Special items to be aware about when receiving payments (for BTC Sellers):

Most banks charge fees for sending and receiving SWIFT payments. Bisq requires BTC Buyers to send SWIFT payments using the shared fee model (SHA). If you receive a SWIFT payment that does not use the SHA model, for example Beneficiary pays fees (BEN), please open a mediation ticket. Please ensure you are aware of what fees you might incur as the beneficiary of a SWIFT payment

SWIFT payments require more information than any other payment method on Bisq. Please ensure you communicate with your trading peer effectively and promptly to ensure a smooth trading experience for all.

[pazza83]

I have completed the first draft of the SWIFT wiki. Let me know if you think I have missed anything or included anything incorrectly.

[pazza83]

wiki completed: https://bisq.wiki/SWIFT