Banking with SEAWire
Overview
The SEAwire program enables officers working under a Seagoing Employment Agreement
(SEA) to have their paychecks automatically deposited into their home country bank accounts.
Every month, instead of receiving your paycheck in cash (USD), your wages will instead be
deposited directly into your personal bank account in the currency you have specified. If you
have specified a currency other than USD, your wages will be converted into the other currency
at the foreign exchange rate that applies on the date the payment is deposited into your bank
account. Wages for each month will generally be deposited within the first 10 days of the next
month.
SEAwire allows SEA employees to wire their US Dollar pay to their bank accounts in
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US Dollars - USD
Euros - EUR
Pound Sterling - GBP
Canadian Dollars - CAD
Australian Dollars - AUD
Croatia Kuna - HRK
Czech - koruna - CZK
Hong Kong - dollar - HKD
Hungary - forint - HUG
Mexico - new peso - MXN
New Zealand - dollar - NZD
Norway - krone - NOK
Poland - zloty - PLN
Singapore - dollar - SGD
South Africa - rand - ZAR
Sweden - Krona - SEK
Switzerland - franc - CHF
Turkey - lira - TRY
Indonesia, India and the Philippines were not included as there are already systems in place
that enable officers from those countries to have their pay transferred directly to their home
bank accounts.
Details
HAL does not charge any fee for this service. In addition, HAL will be absorbing the wire transfer
fees charged by HAL's bank. Your bank, or the banks it works through, may charge their own
fees for which each individual would be responsible. If these fees are charged, we still expect
(but cannot guarantee) your costs to be less than those you incur under the current process
which requires you to deposit your USD paycheck to your into your account through a different
service.
Once enrolled in the program, you do not have to enroll again every time you begin a new
sailing assignment. The prior enrollment will continue.
You may withdraw from the program at any time. If your banking information ever changes, you
need to immediately send us a new enrollment form with the corrected information.
Enrollment
To enroll in the program, you need to complete a SEA Staff Wire Set-Up and Maintenance
Form. Please download the form, complete all the information on the lines highlighted in
yellow by typing the information (to facilitate accuracy), sign it, scan it and email it to
[email protected].
You will need the following information to complete the form:
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The exact name(s) on your bank account. (Note: Be sure that if you and your spouse are
owners of the same account, that you provide both of your full names.)
The full name of your bank.
Bank Information
The full address of your bank.
Bank City, State (Province), and Country
Your International Bank Account Number (IBAN)
The SWIFT Code of your bank.
The Sort Code of your bank.
Other Bank Routing Information (e.g., CAB, ABI, or other banking codes)
Since payments will be sent by HAL from New York or London, you will need to inquire
whether your bank uses a correspondent bank when receiving wire payments from
HAL's bank, JPMorgan Chase. If so, you will need to get from your bank the following
information for the correspondent bank
o Full name of Correspondent Bank
o Full address of Correspondent Bank
o Correspondent Bank City, State (Province), and Country
o Correspondent IBAN (International Bank Account Number)
o Swift Code and Sort Code for the Correspondent Bank
o Other Correspondent Bank Routing Information (e.g., CAB, ABI, or other banking
codes)
If you have any questions about your wire instructions you should directly contact your
bank to obtain the proper information for your purposes of wiring funds to your account.
This will facilitate accuracy and timeliness of wire payments to your bank account, as
well as minimize the potential for errors.
Withdrawing from the Program
If you want to withdraw from the program at any time, send an email to
[email protected].
Changing Information
If your banking information changes at any time, you will need to complete a new form and
complete the enrollment process.
Reporting of payment activity by currency will be presented on an individual’s Statement of
Earnings, as generated from the Cruise Administration Payroll (CAP) system.
Many answers to common questions can be answered on SEAWire FAQ page.
SEAWire FAQs
What is the cutoff time for the effective date of my enrollment into the SEAwire program?
Provided you accurately complete the SEAstaff Wire Set-up & Maintenance Form and submit it
to the Seattle Human Resources department (Attention: Ade Suchyar) no later than the 25th of
a given month, your net pay for the payroll in the month submitted will be processed by wire. To
enhance accuracy and security over the SEAwire process, if your SEAstaff Wire Set-up &
Maintenance Form is received after the 25th of the month, your enrollment will be effective in
the subsequent payroll processing cycle and current payroll will be processed by check.
If I want to be paid in USD and reside in the United States, should I enroll in SEAwire?
No. You should enroll in the ADP Direct Deposit program with the Payroll Department in Seattle.
The ADP Direct Deposit program can only process USD wire payments to those residing in the
US.
Will the SEAwire program allow me to pay multiple bank accounts?
No. Our HR and Payroll system is not currently set up to handle multi-currency and multi-bank
processing.
Why is it so important to provide precise payment instructions to the enrollment process
for the SEAwire program?
Your SEAwire payment will reject and not post to your bank account unless you provide us
accurate and complete your banking wire instructions. This will cause delays in processing your
net payroll payment.
Why do I need to use the SEA Staff Wire Set-up & Maintenance Form to enroll in
SEAwire?
We need the SEA Staff Wire Set-up & Maintenance Form for documentation for SarbanesOxley purposes, as well as to obtain your certification and authorization that the information you
provide for the SEAwire program is accurate and complete.
Why do I need to type the enrollment information into the SEA Staff Wire Set-up &
Maintenance Form?
The primary reason for typing the information on the SEA Staff Wire Set-up & Maintenance
Form is so that it is legible. If we cannot read the form due to deterioration of the form due
caused by poor hand writing or loss of clarity in the scanning process, then processing errors
and delays are likely to occur.
If I don't know what my bank account wire instructions are to complete the SEA Staff
Wire Set-up & Maintenance Form what do I do?
Call your financial institution and have them provide it to you so that your SEA Staff Wire Set-up
& Maintenance Form can be completed accurately and completely.
What is an IBAN?
The International Bank Account Number or IBAN, as it is commonly called, is a bank account
number structured according to the ECBS (European Committee for Banking Standards)
standards. Every bank account number in a participating European country can be converted
into an IBAN - please contact your bank for details. The IBAN has a maximum of 34
alphanumeric characters.
What is a SWIFT code?
The SWIFT address is an 8 or 11 alphanumeric characters long international standard uniquely
identifying your financial institution. The SWIFT address is also known as BIC (Bank Identifier
Code). Please contact your bank for details.
What is a Sort code?
A sort code is a number which is assigned to a branch of a bank for internal purposes. Banks
use sort codes as it is easier than writing the full address of the branch out and it tells customers
which branch they are at.
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In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the numbers are six digits long, usually formatted
into pairs separated by hyphens (e.g. 12-34-56).
In Germany, these numbers (called "BLZ", for "Bankleitzahl", meaning "bank routing
numbers") are eight digits long, normally formatted 3-3-2 (e.g. 100 200 30).
In Canada, the bank transit number is 8 digits long. This is divided into a 5 digit branch
number and 3 digit institution code, for example 10000-200.
In Australia, the BSB number is 6 digits long; two groups of three numbers (eg. 100200). In Sweden, the number is four digits long(e.g. 1234), or, in the case of some
accounts at the bank Swedbank, they are five digits in length (e.g. 1234-5) and precede
the bank account number for inter-banking purposes, with a hyphen added after the
fourth digit.
Some branches contain sub/child branches which will be identified by the parent sort
code rather than a unique one.
Most banks print the sort-code of your initial branch on your debit or cheque book. Please
contact your bank for details.
What is a CAB and ABI code?
The CAB and ABI codes are part of the IBAN and refer to the city and branch location of your
bank. Please contact your bank for details.
What date is used for the foreign exchange rate for the currency conversion for the net
pay?
Your wages will be converted into the other currency you have selected based on the marketdetermined exchange rates being used by the Company at the time your ship's payroll is
processed. As there is always time required to process the payroll and because it may take up
to 4 banking days for the wire payment to be credited by your bank to your account, the rate
used may vary (positively or negatively) from the actual spot rate in effect on the day your
account is credited.
What is a foreign exchange spot rate?
The foreign exchange spot rate is the rate on a given day at a given time and represents the
market rate for a specified currency.
Where does the foreign exchange rate come from?
The foreign exchange rates come from Reuters.
If I live in country where the native currency is something other than the USD, EUR, GBP,
CAD, or AUD can I still make a payment in one of these currencies to a bank account in
the country where I reside?
Yes. What will happen, however, is that unless you have an account in the currency for which
you enrolled in the country where you reside, then your SEAwire payment will be made in the
currency you specified during enrollment and converted automatically by your bank into the
native currency of your bank account. HAL is not responsible for the foreign currency
conversions into your native bank account currency.
What fees do SEAstaff pay for the SEAwire program?
The only fees SEAstaff pay for are fees charged by correspondent banks and / or fees charged
by your bank.
What is a correspondent bank?
A foreign bank's representative who regularly performs services for a bank which has no branch
in the relevant center, for example to facilitate the transfer of funds.
What fees does the Company pay for the SEAwire program?
HAL pays for the wire fees charged by its bank, the bank initiating the wire transfer to the
SEAstaff bank accounts.
Is the Company making money off my wire payment?
No. The Company is absorbing a substantial portion of SEAstaff wire transfer costs. This is
service that the Company is offering to its SEAstaff.
How will I be notified of wire payments made to the account that I enroll for the SEAwire
program?
Your Statement of Earnings (SOE) will reflect the wire payments made to your account during
the month of payment. The SOE will also reflect a history of payments made over a specified
period in order to assist you in facilitating your review.
Will I have to re-enroll if I change assignment on another HAL vessel?
No. The SEAwire program has been designed to allow for one-time set-up, provided information
originally provided does not change.
Will I have to complete a new SEA Staff Wire Set-up & Maintenance Form when my
personal information or banking instructions change?
Yes. If changes in your personal or banking wire instructions change, you will be required to
renew your SEAwire program set-up by submitting a new SEA Staff Wire Set-up & Maintenance
Form
Can I send additional monies via the SEAwire program (i.e., gratuity, Officer Incentives,
bonuses, etc.)?
At this time we do not offer this option. More information will be announced on this as
developments and automation transpires.
On what day of the month will the SEAwire payment be processed?
The answer to this question depends on the timing of when payroll for SEAstaff is completed by
the Seattle Payroll department. Typically, the payroll processing is completed by the 4th or 5th
working day of the month, and every attempt will be made to process and release SEAstaff wire
payments on the following working day. This generally means that your wire payment will be
credited on approximately the 10th calendar day (or next business day if the 10th falls on a
weekend) of the month.
How many days will it take for my SEAwire payment to arrive in my bank account?
SEAstaff should generally expect receipt of their wire payment no later than the 10th calendar
day (or next business day if the 10th falls on a weekend) of the month. Every effort will be made
to pay SEAstaff as soon after month-end as possible.