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Your employer is abroad and pays your salary monthly via SWIFT. Variations in arrival timing, FX rate and intermediary fees affect your take-home.
Details
Your employer is abroad and pays your salary monthly via SWIFT. Variations in arrival timing, FX rate and intermediary fees affect your take-home.
How to handle it: Ensure your bank details (BIC, IBAN/account, exact name + address) are on file with the employer's payroll. Track the UETR on Ohmyfin each month to predict arrival timing and spot any compliance holds early.
Whatever route you take, every SWIFT payment carries a 36-character UETR (Unique End-to-end Transaction Reference). Paste the UETR into the Ohmyfin tracker to see the latest available SWIFT status in seconds — settled, in flight, pending compliance, or rejected.
Key facts
Negotiate OUR charges instruction with your employer for predictable take-home.
For tax purposes, save the MT103 confirmation and the UETR each month.
If you are paid in a different currency than your home account, expect 0.5–2% FX spread.
Frequently asked questions
What is a UETR and why do I need one?
The UETR is the SWIFT-network identifier for your payment, mandatory on every payment since November 2018. It is the only way to track a payment in real time across all the correspondents in the chain.
How long should this kind of SWIFT payment take?
SWIFT GPI same-currency payments often settle in minutes. Cross-currency typically 4–24 hours. Compliance-heavy corridors can take 2–5 business days.
Is Ohmyfin tracking free?
Yes — free public tracking with 10 free scans per IP per day for individuals worldwide and 100 free credits when you sign up.
Can I cancel or recall the payment if needed?
Cancellation works only before the receiving bank credits the account. Recall (after credit) needs the beneficiary's consent. See /help/how-to-cancel-swift-payment and /help/how-to-recall-swift-payment.
Related — more from swift payment use cases and beyond
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