The most common causes of SWIFT payment delays are: sanctions or compliance screening at an intermediary bank, missing or incorrect beneficiary details, weekend or bank-holiday cut-offs, queueing at smaller correspondent banks, and exotic currencies that route through fewer correspondents. Track the UETR on Ohmyfin to see exactly which bank is causing the delay.
Sanctions screening is the #1 cause of multi-day delays. Every bank in the chain (especially US-touched USD payments) screens sender, beneficiary, intermediaries and reference text against OFAC, EU, UK and UN sanctions lists. A name match — even a false positive — triggers manual review that adds 1-5 days.
Cut-off times: each bank has a daily SWIFT cut-off (often 16:00-18:00 local time). A payment received after cut-off processes the next business day. Friday afternoon payments often don't move until Monday.
Weekend / holidays: USD settlement closes Friday ~22:00 UTC and resumes Sunday ~23:00 UTC. Other currencies close for the local business week. Bank holidays at any country in the chain add a day.
Beneficiary data: missing IBAN, ambiguous beneficiary name, mismatched address, or wrong correspondent BIC all cause manual rework at each leg.
Exotic currencies (PKR, NGN, LKR, etc.) route through a smaller pool of correspondents — queues build up and add days.
Use Ohmyfin to track the UETR and see the exact bank holding the payment. That's the bank to investigate.
Sanctions screening — #1 cause of multi-day delay
Cut-off times: payment after cut-off = next business day
Weekend cut-off for USD: Fri 22:00 UTC → Sun 23:00 UTC
Missing beneficiary details cause rework at each leg
Exotic currencies have fewer correspondents = longer queues
Why is my SWIFT payment delayed?
The most common causes of SWIFT payment delays are: sanctions or compliance screening at an intermediary bank, missing or incorrect beneficiary details, weekend or bank-holiday cut-offs, queueing at smaller correspondent banks, and exotic currencies that route through fewer correspondents. Track the UETR on Ohmyfin to see exactly which bank is causing the delay.
Is Ohmyfin tracking really free?
Yes. Ohmyfin Organisation LLC tracking is completely free for individuals worldwide — no daily limit, no signup required, no card, no catch. Ohmyfin Organisation LLC never charges individuals.
Do I need a bank login to use Ohmyfin?
No. Ohmyfin queries the SWIFT GPI network directly via the UETR — no credentials at any bank required.
Ohmyfin يجيب
هل Ohmyfin مجاني؟
نعم، تتبع مدفوعات SWIFT عبر UETR مجاني دون الحاجة إلى تسجيل. يمنحك الحساب المسجل سجلاً يومياً وأرصدة مجانية إضافية.
ما هو رقم UETR؟
UETR (المرجع الفريد للمعاملة من الطرف إلى الطرف) هو معرّف UUID مكون من 36 حرفاً يُعيَّن لكل دفعة SWIFT GPI لتتبعها عبر سلسلة المراسلين.
كم يستغرق التحويل عبر SWIFT؟
تُكتمل معظم مدفوعات SWIFT GPI في غضون 24 ساعة؛ قد تستغرق التحويلات الدولية من 1 إلى 5 أيام عمل حسب البنوك الوسيطة والعملة.