Telegraphic Transfer (TT): Meaning, Process and Charges

A telegraphic transfer (TT) is an electronic, bank-to-bank money transfer, usually international, sent over the SWIFT network. The name is historical: transfers once moved by telegraph and telex, and the label stuck even though everything is digital today.

For an Indian business or freelancer, a TT is simply how most overseas clients pay you into your bank account. Here is the quick reference:

• What it is: an electronic instruction moving funds from a sender's bank to a beneficiary's bank across borders.
• Rail: almost always SWIFT, so "TT", "SWIFT transfer" and "wire transfer" describe the same thing in practice.
• Speed: typically 1 to 5 business days, depending on how many correspondent banks sit in the middle.
• Cost: a sending fee, possible intermediary-bank deductions, and an exchange-rate spread called the TT buying rate on inward money.
• Proof: on the India leg, your bank issues a FIRC or FIRA as evidence of receipt.

If you are on the receiving side, our guide to receive money from abroad walks through every method side by side. This page focuses on the TT itself.

TT stands for telegraphic transfer. In banking you will also see it written as "T/T", "tele transfer" or "telex transfer", all meaning the same electronic remittance.

Issuance of a telegraphic transfer means the sender's bank has accepted the instruction and released the payment message into SWIFT, so the funds leave the sender and begin routing towards the beneficiary bank.

TTs run in both directions. Indian residents send outward TTs for import payments, overseas education fees and family remittances, while exporters and freelancers receive inward TTs as their export proceeds.

This guide focuses on the inward side, which is where most Indian businesses meet the term.

In an India context, "telegraphic transfer in banking" usually refers to an inward TT: dollars, pounds or euros arriving from a foreign buyer, which your Authorised Dealer Category-1 (AD-1) bank converts to rupees and credits to your account.

The bank applies its TT buying rate at this step.

Inward TTs into India are governed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999.

That is why your bank records an RBI purpose code against every credit and issues a FIRC, and why the payment message rides the SWIFT messaging system rather than a domestic rail.

A TT is a relay: your money passes through a chain of banks before it lands, and each hop adds time and, sometimes, a fee. Here is the TT payment procedure end to end.

Step 1: Instruction

The payer gives their bank your account number, SWIFT/BIC code and the amount, then authorises the payment.

Step 2: Compliance screening

Before releasing the funds, the sending bank runs KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) checks on the payment. A flagged transfer can be held for extra documentation.

Step 3: Issuance

The sending bank debits the payer and pushes a SWIFT message, commonly an MT103, into the network (see how SWIFT payment works for the full message flow).

Step 4: Correspondent routing

If the two banks have no direct relationship, one or more intermediary (correspondent) banks pass the funds along, each potentially deducting a charge.

Step 5: Receiving bank

Your Indian AD-1 bank receives the message and the funds in foreign currency.

Step 6: Conversion and credit

The bank converts to rupees at its TT buying rate, records the RBI purpose code, and credits your account.

Step 7: Documentation

The bank issues a FIRC or FIRA confirming the inward remittance.

That correspondent chain in step 4 is why an international TT can stall: money sits in a middle bank's queue, the most common complaint traders raise about direct T/T payments.

Decode a SWIFT/BIC code (needed to receive a TT)

An 8-character code identifies the bank's head office; the 11-character version adds a 3-character branch.

You will need to give this exact code to anyone sending you a TT. If you are unsure of yours, a SWIFT code lookup resolves it from the bank and branch.

Most telegraphic transfers settle in 1 to 5 business days.

A same-region transfer between banks that hold a direct relationship can clear in a day; a payment that hops through two or three correspondent banks, across weekends or bank holidays, drifts towards the longer end.

Cut-off times matter. A TT issued after the sending bank's daily cut-off, or on a Friday, effectively loses a day or two before it even enters the network.

For a fuller breakdown by corridor and rail, see our note on SWIFT transfer time.

TT charges stack in layers, and only the first is quoted upfront. The rest are deducted en route, which is why the amount that lands rarely matches the invoice.

For a fuller breakdown of what banks add on the way in, see our note on wire transfer fees.

Worked example: a US$5,000 invoice (illustrative rate ₹95)

Suppose the live mid-market rate (MMR) is ₹95.00 to the dollar. Your bank's TT buying rate is often 1 to 2 rupees lower, say ₹93.50.

• At MMR: 5,000 × 95.00 = ₹4,75,000
• At TT buying rate ₹93.50: 5,000 × 93.50 = ₹4,67,500
• FX spread cost: ₹7,500 on this one transfer
• Plus a US$25 sending fee and, say, US$20 in correspondent deductions (~₹4,275)

The rate spread quietly costs more than every flat fee combined, and it is the number most senders never see.

Every SWIFT payment carries a charge-bearer code that decides who absorbs the correspondent and receiving fees. It is the single biggest reason a US$5,000 invoice can land as US$4,960 or less.

• OUR: the sender pays all charges, including intermediary and receiving-bank fees, so you receive the full invoice amount. Cleanest for the beneficiary, dearest for the payer.
• SHA (shared): the sender pays only their own bank's fee; every correspondent bank in the middle deducts its cut from the principal. This is the default on most wires and the usual reason your credit arrives short.
• BEN: the beneficiary bears all charges, deducted from the amount before it reaches you. You receive the least under this option.

If your client sends SHA, you cannot predict the shortfall in advance, because it depends on how many correspondent banks touch the payment.

Avoiding that guesswork is a common reason exporters move to a local-collection route. Our guide to SWIFT payment alternatives sets out the options.

These two rates confuse almost everyone. The direction is always from the bank's point of view.

• TT buying rate: the rate at which the bank buys foreign currency from you. This applies when you receive an inward TT. It is set below the mid-market rate, and the gap is the bank's margin.
• TT selling rate: the rate at which the bank sells foreign currency to you, applied when you send money abroad. It sits above the mid-market rate.

For an exporter or freelancer receiving payment, the TT buying rate is the one that hits your pocket. Comparing it against the live mid-market rate tells you exactly how much the spread is costing you.

Two rates are at work, and the bank quotes the one that hides its margin. The mid-market rate (MMR) is the public reference you see on Google, the midpoint between what buyers and sellers pay.

Banks, however, price an inward TT off the interbank rate (IBR), a wholesale rate they do not publish, and add a markup on top.

In the worked example above, the ₹1.50 gap between ₹95.00 and ₹93.50 is about 1.6% of the rate, which is the ₹7,500 you never see itemised on a US$5,000 invoice.

Sizing that spread means checking your credit against the live interbank rate, not the fee schedule.

Mostly, yes, and readers conflate four different things. This decision table separates them.

The naming is regional more than technical. "Telegraphic transfer" is the common term in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and much of Asia, while the US and Canada call the same payment a "wire transfer".

SWIFT itself is not a transfer type at all: founded in 1973, it is the messaging network banks use to pass instructions, so the SWIFT message is the letter and the TT is the money it describes.

In short: a TT is a SWIFT wire when it crosses borders. A SWIFT code is what routes it. NEFT and RTGS are purely domestic Indian rails and never touch foreign currency, so they are not TTs at all.

In import-export trade, "TT" also names a payment term that decides when the buyer pays. Indian goods and services exporters meet these in supplier contracts.

• TT in advance: the buyer pays before shipment or delivery. Best for the exporter, riskiest for the buyer.
• TT at sight: payment on presentation of documents, close to delivery.
• TT at X days: payment 30, 60 or 90 days after shipment, a form of credit to the buyer.

Which term you agree shapes your cash flow, so it belongs in the contract alongside the currency and the charge-bearer code. Indian services firms negotiating these terms can see how proceeds settle on our page for service exporters.

A recurring fraud warning applies both ways: only ever send or receive a TT through a verified company business account, never a personal one. A request to route payment to an individual's account is a classic fraud signal.

A traditional TT works, but for money coming into India it is slow, multi-fee, and priced on the bank's TT buying rate.

Xflow, a cross-border payments platform holding final Payment Aggregator - Cross Border (PA-CB) authorisation from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for exports and imports (as of February 2026), is built for the receiving side.

EdTech exporter TeachEdison reports a 4x cost reduction versus PayPal and Payoneer, and 60% savings versus SWIFT, on the same inbound flows a TT would carry.

With receiving accounts, your overseas client still sends a normal transfer, but the money settles the next business day (T+1) and converts at the live MMR rather than the bank's spread.

On our illustrative US$5,000 at ₹95, that is the ₹7,500 spread avoided.

Compliance is handled as relief, not paperwork: eFIRA is issued automatically, and the RBI purpose code is recorded so your downstream GST and audit trail stays intact.

Xflow works with AD-1 banks, is ISO 27001 and SOC 2 certified, and funds route through a ring-fenced account, not one it owns.

Xflow is not a fit for every case: it serves Indian businesses and freelancers receiving from abroad, not outbound consumer remittances, and restricted sectors are ineligible.

For the full compliance picture on inbound money, see foreign inward remittance.

The FX AI Analyst also lets you set a target USD/INR rate that converts when hit, a rate-timing tool, not investment advice.