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Payment problem — Short-paid or deducted

An international wire arrived short

You are in the right place when an international wire arrived short. The supplier may see less than the invoice amount even though treasury instructed the full value — usually because of OUR, SHA, BEN charges, intermediary deductions, or FX.

Built for B2B importers and exporters in Europe, the UK, the USA, Canada, and the UAE with recurring international supplier, customer, and treasury payment flows.

Canada-specific version

Payment problem map

StateShort-paid or deducted

IssueInternational wire arrived short

  1. 01Identify stateMatch observable facts to the payment state
  2. 02Collect evidenceReferences, beneficiary details, and bank messages
  3. 03Choose next actionWait, trace, documents, escalation, or recall request
  4. 04Coordinate issueOne owner controls supplier and bank follow-up

Unicorn Currencies helps organise evidence and determine next action. Bank outcomes are not guaranteed.

Problem state

Compare sent amount, received amount, currency, fee option, intermediary deductions, and FX conversion on the payment message. Reconcile the charge path before discussing top-up with the supplier or changing route on the next payment.

01

What it usually means

A short arrival usually means fees were deducted in the correspondent chain, at the receiving bank, or through conversion — not that the sender failed to instruct the invoice amount. Both sides can be factually correct: you sent X; the supplier received X minus deductions.

02

Evidence needed

Check sent amount, received amount, currency, fee option OUR, SHA, or BEN, intermediary bank deductions, FX conversion, and bank charges. Pull charge fields from MT103 or PACS.008 and any supplier bank credit advice showing the net amount.

03

What not to do

Do not assume the supplier received the wrong amount because of one party only; reconcile rail fees, FX, and deductions first. Do not change to OUR on the next payment without understanding what deducted on this one.

04

Correct next action

Document the deduction path and share it with the supplier. Decide whether commercial terms require a top-up, whether SHA or BEN should be avoided on future supplier payments, and whether landed-value instructions need to change before the next invoice run.

05

How Unicorn Currencies helps

Unicorn Currencies helps organise the payment proof, references, beneficiary details, supplier messages, and timeline so the next action is clear. Depending on the payment state, that may mean waiting inside the rail window, requesting a trace, preparing a proof pack, supporting escalation, coordinating an amendment, or preparing a recall request. Unicorn Currencies does not control SWIFT, correspondent banks, beneficiary banks, or partner banks, and cannot guarantee recall, recovery, release, or bank action.

Key question

Who is responsible when an international wire arrives short?

Responsibility depends on the charge option, payment route, bank deductions, FX conversion, and the commercial agreement with the supplier. Check whether the payment was sent as OUR, SHA, or BEN before deciding whether a top-up is owed.

Related payment states

Amount arrived short exampleIntermediary deductionsIntermediary bank deducted fees from wireOUR payment still arrived shortSupplier received less than invoice amountPayment problems hub
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Unicorn Currencies Limited is registered with FINTRAC as a Money Services Business and registered with the Bank of Canada as a Payment Service Provider under the Retail Payment Activities Act. UK services are provided by Unicorn Currencies Ltd as a corporate intermediary through authorised partners where regulated payment or e-money services are required. Legal and regulatory information.