The money left your account, but less arrived — that's the intermediary bankHow an international bank wire (SWIFT) works and why money goes missing

By Zhou Lan · Updated 18 Jun 2026 · about 9 min

This is for anyone moving money from one bank account to a bank account in another country: paying overseas tuition, sending a larger sum home, or anyone who needs a formal bank record. It isn't for small amounts where you just want to shave the fee, or cases where the recipient has no bank account at all — for those, a transfer app or cash pickup is usually a better fit. By the end you'll know how a wire is done step by step, who deducts from it along the way, and how to keep them from taking more than they should.

What a bank wire actually is

A bank wire moves money straight from your bank account to the recipient's bank account. Cross-border wires mostly travel over an international messaging network called SWIFT — think of it as the channel banks use to pass each other the instruction "please pay this amount to such-and-such account." It isn't a money-transfer company; it's a shared standard that banks worldwide run on.

A wire has a clear profile: formal, with a complete bank record, and suited to larger amounts. Many institutions — universities, visa offices, property sellers — only accept a bank-to-bank transfer. The trade-offs are a higher fee, 2–5 business days to arrive, and — this is the point of the article — the money can be deducted again by banks it passes through on the way.

The details to gather before you send

A wire's worst enemy is a typo. One wrong letter and the money can stall, bounce back, or even cost a return fee. Before you start, get all of this from the recipient and check it character by character:

• The recipient's name (spelled exactly as it appears on their bank account).
• The recipient's account number, or the IBAN common in Europe and many other regions.
• The receiving bank's SWIFT / BIC code (the key that identifies which bank it is).
• The receiving bank's name, country and city.
• Some countries also need a branch code, routing number or address on top of that.

How to read these and which ones get confused, the mistakes section covers in detail.

A bank wire in six steps

Interfaces differ from bank to bank, but the flow is much the same. Using online banking as the example:

1. Find the "international / overseas transfer" entry. In online or mobile banking it's usually called "International transfer," "Overseas transfer" or "Wire transfer."
2. Enter the recipient details. Type the name, account number / IBAN and SWIFT / BIC you gathered above letter by letter; the system will usually ask you to confirm twice.
3. Choose the send currency and amount. Note whether it's "debited in your home currency" or "delivered in the recipient's currency" — the two use different rates and margins. How fees and the margin eat your money walks through it.
4. Choose who pays the fees. The screen will show OUR / SHA / BEN (or a "who pays the charges" option). This single step decides how much less the recipient gets — see below.
5. Check the rate and every charge. Before you submit, the page shows the fee, a reference rate, and sometimes a cable / wire charge. Read them alongside the "recipient will receive" figure.
6. Submit and keep the receipt. Note the reference number — it's your proof for any later query. Arrival is usually 2–5 business days, slower across weekends or holidays.

Who the money passes through

Many people assume a wire goes "straight from my bank to their bank." Often it doesn't. If your bank and the receiving bank have no direct relationship, the money has to be relayed through one or more intermediary banks (correspondent banks) that hand it down the chain.

Every time it passes an intermediary bank, that bank can deduct a fee from the amount before passing it on. That's why the recipient often ends up with tens of dollars less than you sent — not because your bank charged more, but because the banks in the middle each took a cut. This cost is hard to predict precisely beforehand, because you usually don't know how many intermediary banks the money will go through.

Why money goes missing: the intermediary fee

The cost of one cross-border wire actually comes in three layers:

1. The sending bank's fee: charged by your own bank, visible before you submit.
2. The intermediary fee: each intermediary bank along the way takes a cut, hard to pin down in advance — this is the main reason money "goes missing."
3. The receiving bank's incoming fee: some receiving banks charge again for crediting an incoming international wire.

Stack the three together and you've explained the common confusion: "I only saw one fee, so why did the recipient lose so much more?" The gap mostly comes from the intermediary and receiving banks. To control it, the fee option in the next section is the key.

OUR / SHA / BEN: who pays, pick one

This seemingly minor option on a wire decides "who covers the intermediary fee," and so it decides how much the recipient actually gets:

• OUR — all charges on you (the sender). Every cost, intermediary fees included, is paid by you, so the recipient gets the full amount. The trade-off is one extra charge on your side, and it's usually a fixed amount collected up front. Best for tuition, paying a supplier — any case where "the recipient must receive an exact amount."
• SHA — shared (the most common default). You pay your own bank's fee; the intermediary fees come out of the transfer. The recipient gets a bit less, and exactly how much less isn't fully fixed in advance. Most everyday personal transfers use this.
• BEN — all charges on the recipient. Every cost comes out of the transfer; you pay only the principal, but the recipient gets noticeably less. Rarely used for ordinary personal transfers.

Remember one line: want the recipient to get the full amount, choose OUR; want to pay a little less yourself and can accept the recipient getting less, choose SHA.

The three fee options compared

When a wire is worth it

A wire isn't designed to "save on fees," but in a few situations it's still the best option:

• The amount is large. A flat fee is a small share of a big sum, and large amounts need a proper bank channel anyway.
• You need a formal bank record. Tuition, proof of funds for a visa, buying property, business payments — institutions usually accept only a bank-to-bank wire confirmation.
• The recipient specifically requires a bank deposit, and no cheaper compliant route covers that corridor.

The other way round: if you're sending a small amount and the recipient has a phone and a bank account, a transfer app usually delivers more; if the recipient has no bank account and needs cash pickup, Western Union / MoneyGram is more practical. Compare "how much the recipient receives" across options first, then decide whether to wire.

The most common mistakes

• One wrong character in the recipient details. A misspelled name, IBAN or SWIFT / BIC can stall the money, bounce it back and trigger a return fee. Check every character with the recipient; better yet, have them screenshot the standard receiving details their bank provides.
• Underestimating the intermediary fee and leaving SHA on default. When the recipient needs the full amount but you left it on the shared default, they end up short. Switch to OUR when the exact amount matters.
• Watching only the fee, not what the recipient gets. A low visible fee doesn't mean a low total cost — the rate margin and intermediary fee are the bigger chunk.
• Sending right before a Friday or holiday and expecting it to land fast. Wires are processed on business days; across a weekend or holiday it only gets slower. Leave time if the money is urgent.
• Trusting an "internal express channel" or a stranger posing as support. No legitimate channel privately "speeds up" your arrival or asks you to pay a fee first to "release" a transfer. If you hear that, stop right away.

Common questions

How many days does a wire usually take?
Commonly 2–5 business days, depending on how many intermediary banks it passes, the currency and how fast both banks process. Across a weekend or holiday it's slower. Go by your own bank's stated timing.

Why did the recipient get less than I sent?
Mainly the intermediary fees and the receiving bank's incoming fee along the way, plus the rate margin. To have the recipient receive the full amount, choose OUR (all charges on you) when you send.

Are SWIFT and IBAN the same thing?
No. SWIFT / BIC is the code that identifies "which bank"; IBAN is the number that identifies "which account" (common in Europe and beyond). They cover different jobs, and you often need both.

Can a wire be recalled?
Once sent it's usually hard to recall, especially after it has reached the recipient's account. That's why checking the details before you submit is critical — look twice rather than once.

Where to verify: wire fees, reference rates and arrival timing go by your own bank's current page and statements; standards like SWIFT / BIC and IBAN can be confirmed through the receiving bank's official channels; total cross-border cost can be cross-checked against public data such as the World Bank's "Remittance Prices Worldwide." This article is education, not investment or legal advice.
Update note (18 Jun 2026): first version — establishes the wire process, the intermediary-fee mechanism and the OUR/SHA/BEN framework.