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🇺🇾 Sending to Uruguay

UY · URY

UYU

National format   SWIFT BIC required

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Required information

  • Account number

    BCU CBU-style format, 12-14 digits depending on institution; BROU uses 9-digit client + 5-digit sub-operation since 2018

  • SWIFT BIC

    Beneficiary bank BIC (8 or 11 characters).

  • BCU Institution Number (Código BIC for SLBTR/SML)

    3-digit BCU institution code domestically; 8/11-char SWIFT BIC for SLBTR settlement

  • Purpose-of-payment code (strongly advised)

    Free-text purpose

  • Beneficiary address

    Match the address template — partial addresses cause holds.

For your end users

Double-check the beneficiary's full name (no initials), account number, and bank SWIFT/BIC against what their bank has on file. International wires can take 1-5 business days and may be delayed by sanctions screening.

Last reviewed by GIB compliance on 2026-05-21. Reference material only.

  • Currency

    UYU

  • Typical settlement

    1-2 business days typical; longer for cross-border with FX or compliance review.

  • SWIFT BIC

    Required

  • Local clearing

    SLBTR — Sistema de Liquidación Bruta en Tiempo Real (Banco Central del Uruguay)

Account format

How beneficiary account numbers are structured for Uruguay. Failure to match this format is the single most common reason wires are rejected at the destination.

Field Value
Format tier National format
Length BCU CBU-style format, 12-14 digits depending on institution; BROU uses 9-digit client + 5-digit sub-operation since 2018
Validation regex ^[0-9]{12,14}$
Example 001000011234567 (BROU post-2018: 9-digit client + 5-digit sub-operation)

Routing identifiers

Which routing codes the wire-creation API call must include for Uruguay.

Field Value
SWIFT BIC Required
BCU Institution Number (Código BIC for SLBTR/SML) Required
Format 3-digit BCU institution code domestically; 8/11-char SWIFT BIC for SLBTR settlement
Directory ↗ Source
Local clearing SLBTR — Sistema de Liquidación Bruta en Tiempo Real (Banco Central del Uruguay)

Address format

How Uruguay expects the beneficiary address to appear on the wire. Free-form variations frequently trigger compliance holds.

  1. Recipient Full Name
  2. Street + Number, Apt
  3. 5-digit Postal Code
  4. City
  5. Department
  6. URUGUAY
Field Value
Postal code Optional — validated against the format below when provided
Postal code regex ^[0-9]{5}$
Example Juan Pérez, Av. 18 de Julio 1234 Apto 502, 11200 - Montevideo, Montevideo, URUGUAY

Purpose of payment

Put the purpose in the remittance information (<RmtInf><Ustrd>) of the ISO 20022 wire-creation request, as the code format below describes. Requirement: Highly recommended GIB check: a missing or unexpected purpose is reported as a validation warning; the wire is not held.

Not yet confirmed

We have not yet confirmed this country's purpose-of-payment requirement against a central-bank or correspondent-bank source. Including a purpose is recommended. We update these guides as we confirm each country.

Non-standard element

For Uruguay, the purpose is placed in <RmtInf> (remittance info), not the standard <Purp> element.

Field Value
Code format Free-text purpose

Operational notes

Field Value
Currencies accepted UYU
Typical settlement 1-2 business days typical; longer for cross-border with FX or compliance review.
Banking holidays ↗ Calendar

Known issues:

  • Two parallel transfer rails: SPI (retail ACH, chamber-cleared up to UYU 300k / USD 15k / EUR 12k) and SLBTR (RTGS, above thresholds).
  • Postal codes starting with 1 = Montevideo (11000-15700); other departments use leading 2-9 by department code.
  • Branch-product-account-check structure (XXX-YY-ZZZZZZ-S) used at BROU for legacy accounts; hyphens are presentation only, not stored.

Common rejection reasons

Documented patterns that cause this country's banks to return wires. Universal reasons (sanctions holds, missing BIC) aren't repeated here.

Beneficiary name mismatch (initials, abbreviations, punctuation, or transliteration differences from what the beneficiary bank has on file).
Account number format error (wrong length, wrong check digits, or non-standard characters).
Missing or invalid SWIFT/BIC code.
Insufficient remittance information (unclear economic reason for the payment).
Sanctions or compliance hold (OFAC / EU / UN / local screening).
RUT (12-digit tax ID, no separators) typically required for corporate/business beneficiaries; CI (Cédula de Identidad) for individuals; missing tax ID can stall AML review.
BROU account format changed in July 2018; pre-2018 account numbers must be converted via BROU's official converter before use.
Cross-border transfers in USD common; BCU SLBTR settles UYU only, so FX leg routed via commercial banks.

Validate before you send

Check identifiers before you submit. The IBAN check runs in your browser (format plus the ISO 13616 MOD-97 check digit). GIB's API checks the IBAN format for countries where an IBAN is required. The BIC lookup searches GIB's BIC directory and needs a dashboard login.

BIC lookup

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References

First-party sources — central banks, FX regulators, ISO registries. Always re-verify against these before pushing volume to a new corridor.

Disclaimer

These country guides aggregate information from central banks, regulators, and industry-standard references. Global Innovations Bank reviews them on a rolling cadence and notes the verification date on each page. Payment-corridor rules change between releases, so we cannot guarantee continued accuracy.

Always verify against the primary sources linked in the References section before going live in a new corridor. Re-check applicable sanctions lists (OFAC, EU, UK, UN consolidated, and any state-level requirements) at the time of payment, since designations shift between our refreshes.

For fintech partners on GIB's sponsor-bank rails, these guides do not replace your BSA/AML, KYC, sanctions-screening, or transaction-monitoring obligations under your program agreement with GIB.

Nothing in this material constitutes legal, tax, or regulatory advice, and wire-acceptance decisions remain at the discretion of GIB Compliance and the destination bank.

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