In the case of international credit transfers and separately commissioned express credit transfers, the data contained in the transfer are forwarded to the beneficiary's credit institution via the Belgium-based Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), the only global provider of financial messaging services.
Under the agreement between the European Union and the United States of America on the processing of payment data and their transmission from the European Union to the United States, the US authorities may access financial transaction data routed through SWIFT to enable them to combat international terrorism and may store such data for up to five years. Transfers within the SEPA region are excluded from this agreement.