Tuesday 10 January 2006

SWIFT code and Saudi Arabia

I went to the bank today to ask them about my SWIFT code so that my American customer could do an international transfer to my account. I was told it was on my bank statement and that having the branch BIC code would not be enough, I would have to request my own SWIFT code if I didn’t have one. The first statement is definitely false. The second is I believe false as well because every payment software I have designed always needed a SWIFT branch BIC code and an account number so in theory the branch BIC code and the account number should be enough. I’ll go back tomorrow and talk to my account manager rather than the person at the desk.

Back at home, I called a friend who works for a Middle Eastern company my old company used to partner with. He is in a bit of a quandary because my old company ceased to exist just when he signed a contract to deliver a system based on our software. He can either contact the American company that took over the software (and for whom I’m going to Atlanta in 2 weeks time) or decide to build the pieces he needs from scratch. In both cases, he’s likely to want me to get involved, in which case I might end up spending some time in Saudi Arabia.

It never rains, it pours. So I am now in a situation where, if all the prospects I have become real contracts, I’ll have to refuse work. Or find a way to be in 3 different places at the same time.

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