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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.

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.

01What it usually meansA 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.
02Evidence neededCheck 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.
03What not to doDo 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.
04Correct next actionDocument 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.
05How Unicorn Currencies helpsUnicorn 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.
An international wire arrived short usually means charges, routing, correspondent-bank deductions, or conversion reduced the landed amount. Compare the instructed amount, received amount, charge option, route, currency, and payment proof before deciding whether a supplier top-up is needed or the next payment route should change.
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.

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