OUR, SHA and BEN: who pays the charges on an international wire

Three codes decide who pays the banks on an international wire. Under OUR the sender pays every charge and the beneficiary should receive the full amount. Under SHA the sender pays their own bank and the beneficiary absorbs the intermediary charges. Under BEN the beneficiary pays everything. SHA is a common default, and a frequent reason invoices are paid short.

The three codes, in one table

Every SWIFT payment carries a charge code chosen by the sender when the payment is created. It tells each bank on the route who is paying for its work. The code travels with the payment message, so the beneficiary's bank and any correspondent bank in between can read it.

The names are short for "our" (the sender's side pays), "shared" and "beneficiary". In the newer ISO 20022 message format the same choices appear under different labels, typically DEBT for OUR, SHAR for SHA and CRED for BEN, so a bank statement or a payment confirmation may show either set.

SHA is the default, and that is why amounts arrive short

Many online banking screens preselect SHA, and many payers never change it. The sender sees one fee from their own bank and assumes the transfer is complete. The beneficiary then receives the amount minus whatever the intermediaries and their own bank deducted, and an invoice that was paid in full on one side stays partly open on the other.

For a single payment the gap may look too small to chase. Across a year of monthly invoices from several clients it becomes a reconciliation problem: every short payment has to be explained, written off or claimed back, and each of those steps takes someone's time. How to trace a deduction that has already happened is covered in why an international wire arrives short.

Each beneficiary bank presents this differently. Some show the gross amount and the deducted charges on separate lines, others show only the net credit. If your statement shows only the net figure, ask your bank for the incoming payment details: they usually include the instructed amount and the charge code, which tells you whether the deduction was expected under the payer's instruction.

When to ask a client for OUR, and how to write it on an invoice

Asking for OUR makes sense when the invoice must be settled to the exact amount: a fixed monthly retainer, a payment that closes a contract, or any flow where short payments regularly turn into follow-up emails. It moves the cost of the route to the payer, so it belongs in the commercial terms, not only in the payment instructions.

• One option is to put it in the contract first. A line such as "All bank charges, including intermediary charges, are borne by the client" gives the invoice something to point to.
• Repeat it on every invoice, next to the bank details: "Charges: OUR. Please instruct your bank to pay all transfer charges."
• Agree in advance what happens with a short payment, for example that the difference is added to the next invoice.

Some clients will refuse, and that is settled in the commercial terms. Where a client pays from the same currency area as the account, a local rail is often the simpler answer, as the sections below explain.

The limits: not every sending bank honours OUR

OUR is an instruction, and banks treat it differently. Some sending banks do not offer it for every currency or route. Others offer it for an additional fee, set in their own tariff. And an intermediary on the route may still deduct a charge even when the message says OUR, in which case the payer can ask their bank to claim it back, with no certainty of the outcome.

So OUR reduces short payments without ruling them out. Treat it as one tool alongside the right account details and the right rail, and keep a tolerance in your reconciliation for small differences on SWIFT payments.

Euro inside SEPA: why the codes matter less there

For EUR payments between banks in the SEPA area, the question is largely settled by the rules. SEPA credit transfers run through SEPA clearing, usually without a correspondent chain, and under EU payment rules, when both banks are in the European Economic Area, the sender and the beneficiary typically each pay their own bank's charges. In practice that works like SHA without the intermediary deductions.

This is why a client in the SEPA area paying EUR to an IBAN usually has no charge code to choose. The full amount leaves their account, and the beneficiary's bank may apply its own charge for an incoming payment, according to its tariff. Check the IBAN before sharing it with the free IBAN checker.

What to put in your payment instructions, line by line

Clear payment instructions prevent most charge disputes before they start. A complete block on an invoice usually has these lines:

Where possible, give each payer the details that match their location. ArtPay provides a multi-currency business account in USD and EUR: USD via ACH and Wire through SSB Bank, USD via SWIFT through Portage Bank, and EUR via SEPA through ClearBank. A client in the United States can pay USD as a domestic transfer, and a client in the SEPA area can pay EUR by SEPA transfer, which can avoid the charge code question for those clients. For SWIFT payments, the transparent fixed fee for your route is confirmed in a written quote before activation. More on setting up invoices for clients abroad is in receiving international client payments, and the four rails are compared in ACH, Wire, SWIFT and SEPA.

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Who this is for, and who it is not for

This guide is for registered companies that invoice clients abroad or pay contractors and suppliers in other countries, in USD or EUR, and want amounts to arrive as invoiced. If you want to see the cost of each of your routes before choosing how to receive and pay, request a written quote.

Sources: Swift — about the network, European Payments Council — SEPA schemes and clearing and settlement mechanisms, EU Payment Services Directive (PSD2).

This guide is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Payment rules and timings vary by bank and country; confirm the details for your route with your provider.