Your international wire arrived short.
The supplier received less than you sent. That usually means the payment moved through one or more intermediary banks and charges were deducted along the way.The missing amount is usually not random. It is usually built into the way the payment was instructed.
When this happens, most businesses blame the receiving bank first. In many cases the real issue sits earlier in the chain. The payment was sent under a charging instruction that allowed intermediary banks to deduct their fees before the money reached the supplier. The result is simple: the supplier sees less than the invoice amount and comes back to you for the difference.
What actually caused the shortfall
International wires often pass through intermediary or correspondent banks before reaching the beneficiary bank. If the payment was sent with shared or beneficiary-side charges, those banks can deduct fees from the amount in transit. The supplier receives the remainder, not the full original amount.
What SHA, OUR, and BEN mean in practice
SHA means charges are shared: you pay your sending bank, and intermediary deductions can still come out of the amount on the way. OUR means you absorb the route charges so the supplier should receive the full amount. BEN means the beneficiary bears the charges. The practical problem is that many businesses are not told clearly which instruction was used when the wire was sent.
What to do now
First confirm the amount actually credited to the supplier, then ask your bank or provider for the payment details and charging instruction used.If the supplier needs the full invoice amount urgently, you may need to top up the shortfall — but only after understanding what was deducted and whether the same problem will repeat on the second transfer.
How to stop this happening again
Future payments need the right charging instruction before they are sent, especially where supplier relationships are sensitive and invoice precision matters.If the supplier expects the full amount, the payment route and charging model need to be set up for full delivery rather than hoping the chain will not deduct.
The issue is rarely that the payment failed. The issue is that the route took money out on the way.