On an international wire, the SWIFT fee codes OUR, SHA, and BEN tell every bank in the chain who pays the processing charges. OUR means you, the sender, cover all fees so the recipient receives the full amount. SHA splits them: you pay your bank’s outgoing fee, and the recipient absorbs whatever the intermediary and receiving banks deduct. BEN pushes every charge onto the recipient, so the amount that lands is smaller than what you sent. Which one is right depends on a single question: does the recipient need to receive an exact figure?
Where the Code Shows Up
When you fill out an international wire form, the fee code sits in a field labeled “Details of Charges” or similar, usually a dropdown near the amount and currency. In the underlying SWIFT message it maps to Field 71A of the MT103, the standard single customer credit transfer.1SWIFT. MT 103 – Knowledge Centre As banks migrate to the newer ISO 20022 standard, the same choice appears under the “ChargeBearer” element with codes DEBT, SHAR, and CRED. The function is identical. If your bank’s interface still shows OUR, SHA, and BEN, that is what you work with.
OUR: You Pay Everything
Choosing OUR means you agree to cover every charge the transfer generates, from your bank’s outgoing wire fee through any intermediary fees and the receiving bank’s incoming fee. Your account gets debited for the transfer amount plus an estimated total of those charges. The recipient receives the full face amount, with nothing skimmed off along the way.
This is the right choice for commercial payments where a contract or invoice demands a precise figure. If you owe a supplier €50,000, OUR prevents a receiving bank from shaving off its €10 to €25 processing fee and leaving the supplier short.
The trade-off is cost and some unpredictability on your end. Your bank estimates intermediary charges upfront, and those estimates can run slightly high because the exact routing is not always known in advance. The outgoing international wire fee at major U.S. banks runs $25 to $50 depending on whether you initiate online or at a branch, and the intermediary surcharges stack on top.2Wells Fargo. Wire Transfers – Wells Fargo Online
One point to be clear on: OUR covers explicit processing fees. It does not lock in the exchange rate or eliminate currency conversion costs, which are a separate matter covered further down.
SHA: Fees Are Split
SHA splits the cost in a logical way. You pay your own bank’s outgoing wire fee. The recipient absorbs whatever charges the intermediary and receiving banks apply. This is the default for most consumer international transfers and the option your bank will pre-select if you do not change it.
The practical effect is that the recipient usually gets a bit less than the face amount. Send $5,000, and if an intermediary bank deducts $15 in transit, your recipient sees $4,985. For personal transfers where a few dollars of variance is acceptable, SHA strikes a reasonable balance. You know exactly what you are paying, and the deduction on the other side is small and roughly predictable.
SHA is also the only option for many euro-denominated transfers within Europe. The SEPA Credit Transfer Scheme requires shared charging for intra-SEPA payments, so European banks will not process one marked OUR or BEN. If you are sending euros within Europe, your bank may automatically override your selection to SHA.
BEN: The Recipient Pays Everything
BEN pushes every fee onto the recipient. Your bank, any intermediary banks, and the receiving bank all deduct their charges from the transfer amount before it reaches the beneficiary’s account. Your account is debited only for the face amount, with no separate fee line.
The arithmetic can get painful on the receiving end. On a $1,000 transfer, the recipient might see $930 to $960 arrive after three or four banks each take a cut. The sender appears to pay nothing extra, but that is somewhat illusory. The sending bank still collects its fee; it just pulls it from the transferred funds rather than charging it separately.
BEN is increasingly hard to use. Many banks have stopped offering it, and SEPA rules prohibit it within the eurozone. Even where it remains available, choosing BEN for a business payment invites trouble. If your contract says “pay $10,000” and the recipient receives $9,940, the payment obligation has not been met. Reserve BEN for situations where you and the recipient have explicitly agreed the recipient will absorb all costs, and both of you understand the final amount will be lower than the face value.
How to Choose
The decision reduces to one question: does the recipient need to receive a specific, exact amount?
- Pick OUR when a contract, invoice, or obligation requires an exact payment. The premium you pay is worth avoiding a dispute over a shortfall.
- Pick SHA for most personal transfers, family remittances, and situations where a small deduction is acceptable. This is the standard default and the least expensive option for the sender.
- Pick BEN only when the recipient has explicitly agreed to absorb all fees and understands the final deposit will be reduced. Confirm your bank still offers it.
Before you initiate the transfer, check your bank’s fee schedule for international wires. Most banks publish these in their account disclosures, and under the federal remittance transfer rule, institutions that send remittance transfers must disclose transfer fees and exchange rate charges before you finalize the transaction.3Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 1005.30 Remittance Transfer Definitions Knowing your own bank’s fee lets you confirm you have enough in the account to cover the principal plus charges when using OUR.
What Fee Codes Don’t Cover: Exchange Rate Markups
Fee codes govern who pays processing charges. They have no effect on currency conversion costs. When a transfer involves a currency exchange, your bank applies an exchange rate that typically includes a markup over the interbank mid-market rate. That markup commonly runs 1% to 3% of the converted amount, and it can go higher at some retail banks. On a $10,000 transfer, a 2% markup costs $200, which dwarfs the $25 to $50 wire fee most people focus on.
This matters because OUR guarantees the recipient receives the full amount in the destination currency, but it does not guarantee a competitive exchange rate. Two banks might both deliver the full €9,100 your invoice requires while charging you $10,100 and $10,300 respectively because of different FX spreads. For large or recurring international payments, comparing exchange rate markups usually saves more money than optimizing the fee code.
If You Picked the Wrong Code
If you realize right after sending that you selected the wrong fee code or entered wrong details, federal rules give you a short window to cancel. Under the CFPB’s remittance transfer rule, you can cancel an international transfer within 30 minutes of payment, as long as the funds have not already been deposited into the recipient’s account or picked up by the recipient.4Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 1005.34 Procedures for Cancellation and Refund of Remittance Transfers The 30-minute clock applies regardless of your bank’s normal business hours.
After that window closes, the remittance transfer error resolution process gives you a longer runway. Your bank has up to 90 days after receiving your error notice to investigate and determine whether an error occurred, then must report results to you within three business days of completing the investigation.5eCFR. 12 CFR 1005.33 – Procedures for Resolving Errors Qualifying errors include the wrong amount being transferred, a fee or exchange rate that differs from what was disclosed, and funds not being made available by the disclosed date. A fee code dispute will usually surface as one of those symptoms rather than as its own category, so document what the recipient actually received and compare it to what your disclosure stated you were sending.