Last reviewed: · Curated by Ohmyfin Organisation editorial.
On a SWIFT MT103, field 71A specifies who bears the correspondent-bank fees on the payment. There are three valid codes: OUR, SHA and BEN.
Details
OUR — the ordering customer (sender) pays all charges, including foreign correspondent fees. The beneficiary receives the full amount.
SHA (Shared) — the sender pays their own bank's fees; the beneficiary pays any foreign correspondent fees. This is the SEPA / EU default.
BEN — the beneficiary pays all charges, deducted from the amount they receive.
Key facts
OUR: sender pays everything; beneficiary gets the full amount
SHA: each side pays its own bank
BEN: beneficiary pays everything
Lives in field 71A of an MT103 message
Frequently asked questions
Why did the beneficiary receive less than I sent?
Either the charges code was SHA or BEN (correspondents deducted fees), or FX margins applied at one of the banks. The Ohmyfin payment tracker shows fees deducted at each hop.
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