SWIFT Payment Guide: Intermediary vs Correspondent Banks, OUR/SHA/BEN

A SWIFT payment is only as good as the details you put into it. Most failed, delayed or short-paid international transfers come down to a handful of avoidable issues: a name that doesn't match, the wrong charge option, sending in the wrong currency, or not understanding which banks sit in the middle. This guide covers what to prepare, what the jargon means, and the mistakes worth avoiding.

The short version

• Get the details exactly right: beneficiary name as it appears on the account, account number or IBAN, the bank's BIC, and a full address.
• Choose the charge option deliberately: OUR, SHA or BEN decides who pays the fees — and whether your payee receives the full amount.
• Send in the currency the payee's account is held in, or the receiving bank may convert at its own rate.
• Expect intermediary banks unless your provider has a direct route — and expect them to possibly deduct fees.
• Always keep the UETR so the payment can be traced.

The details you'll need

OUR, SHA, BEN — who pays the fees?

• OUR: You (the sender) pay all charges, including intermediary and receiving-bank fees. Your payee should receive the full amount. Costs more upfront, but essential when paying an exact invoice amount.
• SHA (shared): You pay your bank's fee; the payee bears intermediary and receiving fees. The most common default. Your payee typically receives slightly less than you sent.
• BEN: The payee pays everything, deducted from the amount. Cheapest for the sender; least predictable for the recipient.

In pacs.008 messages these appear as DEBT (OUR), SHAR (SHA) and CRED (BEN). Payments within the EU/EEA in European currencies generally must use shared charges. Even with OUR, a small deduction can occasionally occur along some routes — gpi tracking will show where.

Correspondent bank vs intermediary bank — what's the difference?

The terms are often used interchangeably, but they describe different things:

• Correspondent bank describes a relationship: a bank that holds an account for another bank and provides services — especially settling a currency — on its behalf. A Hong Kong bank's USD correspondent in New York is where its USD nostro account sits.
• Intermediary bank describes a role in a specific payment: any bank that sits between the sending bank and the beneficiary's bank and passes the payment along. An intermediary is usually a correspondent of one of the banks involved.

So: every intermediary is acting as someone's correspondent, but a correspondent only becomes an intermediary when it handles a payment in the middle of the chain. The more intermediaries, the more hands — and potential fees — along the way.

Other terms you'll meet:

• Ordering / remitting bank: the sender's bank
• Beneficiary bank (account-with institution): the recipient's bank
• Nostro / vostro: a bank's account held at another bank, seen from each side
• Lifting fee: a charge deducted by an intermediary or receiving bank
• Value date: the date funds are made available to the beneficiary bank
• UETR: the unique 36-character tracking reference for the payment
• FX margin: the difference between the rate you're given and the mid-market rate — often a bigger cost than the transfer fee itself

Mistakes worth avoiding

• Name mismatches: Use the exact account name. For businesses, the registered legal entity name.
• Wrong currency: Sending USD to a local-currency account means the receiving bank converts it — usually at a rate you didn't see.
• Changed bank details by email: Business email compromise is one of the most common frauds in cross-border trade. Always verify new or changed bank details by phone with a known contact before paying. Once funds are credited to a fraudster, recall is difficult.
• Ignoring returns risk: If a payment is rejected, it comes back minus fees and possibly converted twice. Double-check first.
• No reference: Include the invoice number so the recipient can match the payment.

What this means for your payments

SWIFT reaches almost any bank account in the world, but it rewards preparation. Collect complete, verified details; choose OUR when the full amount must arrive; send in the payee's account currency; and keep the UETR. Just as importantly, compare the FX rate as well as the fee — for many transfers, the exchange rate costs more than the SWIFT charge.

Sources

1. SWIFT — ISO 20022 end of coexistence: 10 days to go (Nov 2025) — www.swift.com
2. SWIFT — Swift GPI — www.swift.com