Correspondent Banks

Most cross-border payments in the world are sent over the SWIFT network. According to official statistics, on average 44.8 million messages were processed by SWIFT in 2022. While the internet is full of articles on how SWIFT is reliable and becomes even better over time, those who pay often using SWIFT know that sometimes it takes several months to receive their payment. Here we have collected everything you need to know from basic terms to methodologies of SWIFT payments investigation.

Fin Messages

Information between banks in the SWIFT network transfers with Fin messages. The most common one is MT103:

Each MT103 message can be identified by UETR code or Sender's Reference Number.

Correspondent Banking

Most cross-border payments go via correspondent and/or intermediary banks. A correspondent bank is a third-party financial institution that acts as a go-between for domestic and foreign banks that need to conduct cross-border payments with each other.

There could be more than one bank involved between the sender's bank and the beneficiary's. The basic rule of safe SWIFT transfers - the more banks in a chain, the more potential problems could happen.

Lost SWIFT Payments

SWIFT payments cannot be irrevocably lost, but they can take an unacceptable time for a funds transfer.

Steps to Recover Lost SWIFT Payments:

  1. Understand the current status: Check the status of your payment in the GPI Basic Tracker.
  2. Request a status from the beneficiary's bank: If your payment is in progress, take the MT103 form and ask the beneficiary to contact their bank.
  3. Perform a payment investigation or recall: If your payment is delayed for more than 3 weeks, the sender's bank can initiate an investigation.
  4. Check for results: If the issue persists, escalate the situation by contacting the right person responsible for international payments.

Note: If a payment is blocked due to sanctions, you may need a license to unblock it.

Alternatives