My SWIFT payment is stuck for 2 weeks — what should I do?

A SWIFT payment stuck for 2 weeks is almost always held at an intermediary bank for sanctions screening or missing beneficiary information. Track the UETR on Ohmyfin to see exactly which bank in the chain has the funds, then ask the sender to lodge an enquiry with that bank.

Details

Cross-border SWIFT payments normally credit in 1-5 business days. A 2-week delay points to one of four causes: sanctions or compliance screening at an intermediary bank, missing or ambiguous beneficiary details (name, address, IBAN), an incorrect or unreachable correspondent BIC, or a recall request that hasn't been completed yet.

Step 1 — track the UETR on Ohmyfin. You will see exactly which bank in the chain currently holds the payment and which status code applies (ACSP, PDNG, RJCT, etc).

Step 2 — share the screenshot with the sender. Ask the sender to file an enquiry with their bank quoting the UETR and the bank that's holding it. The sender's bank can issue an MT199 enquiry to that bank for free.

Step 3 — if the holding bank responds with a sanctions / compliance request, the sender (and beneficiary) need to provide proof of source of funds, invoices or contracts. Without that, the payment can be returned automatically after 30 days.

Step 4 — if no response within 5 business days, the sender can request a recall (camt.056) and re-send the payment with corrected details.

Key facts

• Use Ohmyfin to identify which bank holds the payment
• Most 2-week stalls are sanctions / compliance screening
• Sender's bank can file a free MT199 enquiry
• Provide source-of-funds documentation if requested
• After 5 days no response — sender can recall via camt.056

Frequently asked questions

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