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The value date of a payment is the date on which the funds are actually credited to (or debited from) an account for interest-calculation purposes. It is not necessarily the date the payment instruction was sent. Track your payment and check its value date free →
On a SWIFT MT103, the value date appears in field 32A as the first 6 characters (YYMMDD), immediately followed by the 3-letter ISO currency code and the settlement amount. Example: 260315USD25000,00 means value date 15 March 2026, USD 25,000.00. This value date is the interbank settlement date — the date on which the sending bank's nostro account is debited and the beneficiary bank's account is credited at the interbank level. The beneficiary bank then credits the customer's account on or before the value date.
For same-day urgent international wires (marked with payment priority U in block 2), the value date equals the send date. For most standard cross-border payments, the value date is one or two business days after the send date, depending on currency clearing calendars and cut-off times. Currency cut-offs are critical: the USD Fedwire cut-off is 18:00 ET, the EUR TARGET2 cut-off is 18:00 CET, the GBP CHAPS cut-off is 16:00 GMT. A payment sent after the cut-off will have a value date of the next business day at the earliest.
The value date has direct financial significance beyond simply "when will I see the money". For corporate treasury, an incorrect or unexpected value date affects cash-flow forecasting, overdraft calculations, and interest accrual on both sides. A beneficiary bank that credits before the value date is effectively giving the beneficiary interest-free credit. A bank that credits late is in breach of settlement obligations and the beneficiary may be entitled to compensation — in SEPA, this is a regulatory requirement under PSD2.
The value date shown in the SWIFT GPI tracker (visible on Ohmyfin) is the value date from the MT103 or pacs.008 message. If a correspondent bank changes the value date while processing — which can happen when a payment misses a cut-off and has to be re-dated — Ohmyfin will show the updated value date from the most recent status record. A payment delayed by a sanctions hold may have its value date extended to reflect the actual settlement date.
Public holidays in the sender's country, the correspondent banks' countries, and the beneficiary's country all affect the value date. For example, a USD payment sent from the UK on a US public holiday will miss the Fedwire value date and settle the following US business day. For payments to Asian corridors, time zone differences mean the effective value date is often one day later than the send date. See /how-long for corridor-specific timing guides.
Usually yes — funds typically become available on the value date, although the beneficiary bank may take a few hours to post the credit visibly. If your bank credits you before the value date, they are granting interest-free credit. If they credit late, they owe you compensation under many regulatory regimes (e.g. PSD2 in Europe).
Currency cut-off times, public holidays, and payment priority all affect the value date. A standard (non-urgent) payment sent after the day's cut-off will have a value date of the next business day. If the next day is a public holiday in the clearing currency's country, the value date moves further still.
Yes — if a payment misses a cut-off or is placed on a compliance hold, the correspondent bank may re-date the value date in the SWIFT message to reflect the actual settlement date. The updated value date will appear in the SWIFT GPI tracking record visible on Ohmyfin.
The Fedwire cut-off (the main USD same-day settlement system) is 18:00 Eastern Time. CHIPS (Clearing House Interbank Payments System) processes during business hours and settles positions at end of day. A cross-border USD wire sent through a European bank must arrive at the US correspondent before the applicable cut-off to settle that business day.
Most banks show the value date as the "transaction date" on your statement — the date the credit or debit was effective for interest. Some banks also show the "posting date" (when the entry was booked). For incoming SWIFT wires, the value date in field 32A of the MT103 is the date your bank must credit your account at the latest.
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