---
title: "What is Wire transfer? Definition"
description: "A wire transfer is a fast, bank-to-bank electronic payment (in the US, typically via Fedwire or, internationally, via SWIFT) that is generally final..."
url: https://realpayee.com/glossary/wire-transfer
canonical: https://realpayee.com/glossary/wire-transfer
date_published: 2026-10-05
date_modified: 2026-10-05
author: RealPayee
---

# Wire transfer

> A wire transfer is a fast, bank-to-bank electronic payment (in the US, typically via Fedwire or, internationally, via SWIFT) that is generally final once settled. Its speed and finality make wires a prime target for payment fraud and hard to recover.

_Published 2026-10-05 · Updated 2026-10-05 · By RealPayee_

## Related terms

- [ACH (Automated Clearing House)](https://realpayee.com/glossary/ach): ACH is the US network for batch electronic payments between bank accounts, used for payroll, vendor payments and direct debits.
- [Authorized push payment (APP) fraud](https://realpayee.com/glossary/authorized-push-payment-fraud): Authorized push payment fraud is when a victim is tricked into sending a payment themselves to an account controlled by a fraudster.
- [Positive Pay](https://realpayee.com/glossary/positive-pay): Positive Pay is a bank service that matches checks presented for payment - and with ACH Positive Pay, incoming ACH debits - against the items a company issued or authorized, flagging exceptions for review.

## Why it matters for finance teams

Most payment fraud reaches AP as a request that looks legitimate. Understanding wire transfer helps your team spot it and apply the right control: verify bank-detail changes and large payment requests with the real person, out-of-band, before money moves. Our free [bank-change policy template](https://realpayee.com/templates/vendor-bank-change-policy) puts that into a written rule.

Full glossary: https://realpayee.com/glossary · All terms as JSON Lines: https://realpayee.com/feeds/glossary.jsonl

## Related

- [Wire fraud prevention: how to stop bank wire fraud](https://realpayee.com/wire-fraud-prevention) - Controls that prevent business wire fraud: out-of-band verification, payment thresholds, dual approval and audit trails. (markdown: https://realpayee.com/wire-fraud-prevention.md)

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