Sending Money Between Portugal and the US or UK for Americans, Britons

Money moves between Portugal and the US or UK through a bank transfer that Banco de Portugal classes as SEPA or non-SEPA, and the class depends on the currency and on where the banks are. The UK is on the central bank’s SEPA list, so a euro transfer between Portugal and the UK can be SEPA when both banks use the SEPA systems; dollars from the US, or pounds from the UK, are non-SEPA.

This guide is for Americans and Britons who need to pay a deposit, fund an account or receive a pension. It follows the moment after opening a Portuguese bank account and sits next to the first month paperwork. We read the Banco de Portugal bank customer portal, a GOV.UK page and three IRS pages on 18 October 2026. It is not financial or legal advice, and it does not recommend a transfer service.

What the pages say, and when

The Banco de Portugal pages carry no date of their own; their footer shows 2026. The latest dated information we rely on is the GOV.UK guide to claiming the State Pension abroad, whose public update date is 6 November 2024, which is why the update date of this guide equals its publication date. The IRS pages were last reviewed on 30 July 2026 (FBAR), 20 September 2026 (Form 8938) and 29 April 2026 (Form 3520). The Form 3520 page notes a change to the form dated 18 January 2024. We did not read an HMRC page or a Portal das Finanças page, so this guide says nothing about tax on the money you move.

What kinds of transfer does Banco de Portugal describe?

The central bank sorts transfers in three ways.

A SEPA transfer is a credit transfer in euro through standardized systems in the SEPA area. A non-SEPA transfer is one where the bank of the payer, of the beneficiary or of both is not in the SEPA area, or one “made in a currency other than the euro, even when performed between payment service providers that are part of the SEPA area”. The list of SEPA countries on the page includes Portugal and the United Kingdom. It does not include the United States.

In practice this gives four cases:

The last two rows apply the page’s definitions; the page does not name the United States in an example. Whether your bank offers a euro account or sends euro at all is the bank’s decision.

How long does a transfer take?

For standard transfers between different banks, both in the SEPA area, the funds must be credited to the beneficiary’s bank “by the end of the business day following the receipt of the order”, and the beneficiary’s account credited immediately. Banco de Portugal describes this time limit for domestic transfers and for standard cross-border intra-Community transfers, between providers located in the SEPA area; the page does not show that it applies to a transfer to or from the UK. Business days exclude Saturdays, Sundays, national holidays and two bank holidays, Carnival Tuesday and 24 December. An order made on a non-business day, or after the bank’s cut-off time, counts as received the next business day. Easter Monday and 26 December are exceptions to the next-day crediting, because the TARGET settlement system is closed.

Instant transfers, which the page describes for SEPA, reach the beneficiary within ten seconds, at any hour. The page says an instant transfer may not cost more than a standard one.

For a non-SEPA transfer from outside the EU, such as from the US or the UK, the page gives no time limit. It says: “For the other transfers, no rules regarding the execution deadlines are defined”, and points to each bank’s price list for the time it applies. The US bank’s own terms were not part of our reading.

What details do I need for a transfer?

For a transfer ordered in Portugal, the bank asks for your details, the amount and the payee’s IBAN. Portugal also has a service called SPIN, where a payee can be identified by mobile number or NIF; the page presents it as an alternative to the IBAN for these transfers, and does not say it applies to a US or UK account.

Banco de Portugal says that after you enter the IBAN you may see the name of the first account holder, and that a “verification of payee” service lets you type the name of the person you mean and learn whether it matches the destination account. It adds that for some domestic transfers and for transfers to other euro area countries the name is not shown. The page does not say that a US bank offers either check, so confirm the recipient details yourself when you send from or to the US.

For State Pension payments, the GOV.UK pension page asks for the IBAN and a BIC, or a bank or branch code and account number. Your Portuguese bank gives you the IBAN. The BIC and the rest depend on the sender’s bank.

What does it cost?

Banco de Portugal says that “as a rule, the prices of standard and instant transfers are freely defined” by each provider, and that payers and beneficiaries may only be charged the costs invoiced by their own provider. Each bank must make its price list available in branches and public service places.

Two rules from the page are narrow:

• For cross-border transfers “in euro, Swedish kronor or Romanian lei, and within the European Economic Area”, charges may not be higher than for an equivalent domestic transfer when you give the IBAN. The page defines the EEA as the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, so the UK is not in it. Do not assume this cap covers a euro transfer to or from the UK.
• Transfers by third-party payment apps such as MB WAY are free under limits of 30 euros per transfer, 150 euros a month or 25 transfers a month. That is a domestic app rule, not a rule for transfers to the US or UK.

Before you sign up for the bank’s transfer service, you are entitled to be told all charges, the maximum execution period and the exchange rate to be applied. Afterwards you can ask for the amount of the charges with a breakdown, the exchange rate used and the date received. The beneficiary can see the amount before conversion if its bank converted it. If a transfer is not carried out or is incorrectly carried out because of the bank, you are entitled to a refund, and you may complain through the complaints book or directly to Banco de Portugal.

How do exchange rates work when I convert dollars or pounds?

Banco de Portugal says institutions “freely” set both rates and fees for currency exchange, that they must advertise buying and selling prices, and that “where fees are not charged for the currency exchange, these costs may be implicit in the exchange rates”. So a conversion with no fee can still cost you through the rate.

The page on the bid and offer rates adds the rule that matters when you compare: customers “always sell the base currency at the lowest value and always buy at the highest value”. The gap between the two is the spread. The numbers on the page are explanatory examples, not current rates.

The rates Banco de Portugal itself publishes are European Central Bank reference rates and “are only informative and do not distinguish between buying and selling prices”. The central bank does not exchange currency. In practice, to judge an offer, compare the rate you are quoted with a published reference rate, and the total received in euros with the amount sent, not the fee line alone.

Which payments might I actually be making?

The pages we read do not list payments by purpose. These are the common cases where the transfer details matter, and what the pages let us say about each.

• A rental deposit or purchase from abroad. Ask the payee for the Portuguese IBAN and check the name before you send. See renting a home in Portugal for the lease side.
• Funding a Portuguese account for a visa file. The consulate decides what proof of means it accepts; read the retirement and passive income visa guide before moving money for that purpose.
• A pension paid into Portugal. GOV.UK says the UK State Pension can be paid into “a bank in the country you’re living in” or into a UK bank or building society. For an overseas account it says the amount “will usually be converted into your local currency using the exchange rate at the time of the conversion”, with a “conversion charge of 0.39% before payment”. You choose one country for the year, payment is every 4 or 13 weeks, and a payment can arrive one day late in a week with a US federal holiday, because a US company processes it.
• A gift or family help. If you are a U.S. person who receives a large gift from a foreign person, the IRS names Form 3520 as the form for “receipt of certain large gifts or bequests from certain foreign persons”. The page we read gives no amount, so we state none.

What do Americans report to the IRS?

Moving money is not what triggers the reports below. They concern accounts and assets you hold, and they are described in our guide to U.S. taxes from Portugal.

Your Portuguese account counts toward these totals, and so does any U.S. or UK account. The IRS describes “taxpayers living abroad” for Form 8938 as people whose tax home is abroad and who meet a residence or 330-day presence test; read the page to see whether you qualify. A Briton who is not a U.S. person is not covered by these IRS pages.

What should Britons know?

The Banco de Portugal pages do not distinguish by nationality. The one UK-specific point is the SEPA list: the UK is on it, so a euro transfer to a Portuguese account can be SEPA by the page’s definition when both banks use the SEPA systems, and a transfer in pounds is not. We did not read an HMRC page, so we state no UK reporting rule for money moved abroad, for a foreign account or for income. Check the moving-after-Brexit guide for the residence side.

More guides on this site: the FBAR and Form 8938 explained for Americans in Portugal; Social Security direct deposit abroad.

Pages read for this guide

Related guides: keeping your US or UK accounts while living in Portugal, cards, MB Way and everyday payments.

On 18 October 2026: the Banco de Portugal bank customer portal pages on what transfers are, how to order transfers, the rights and duties in the use of transfers, where to exchange currency, and the bid and offer spread. The GOV.UK guide to claiming the State Pension abroad. The IRS pages on the FBAR, on whether you need to file Form 8938 and on Form 3520.