OUR, SHA and BEN SWIFT Charges Explained (2026)

Key takeaways

With OUR the sender pays all charges, with SHA the sender pays its own bank and the beneficiary pays the rest, and with BEN the beneficiary pays all charges.
Intermediary banks deduct their fees from SHA and BEN payments in transit, which is why a supplier can receive less than the invoice.
Airwallex's US fee schedule lists US$15 for a SHA SWIFT transfer and US$25 for OUR, while Lloyds Bank's tariff adds £12 or £20 for OUR depending on the destination.
HSBC UK does not set a fixed OUR fee; it charges the customer's account for whatever intermediary and recipient banks claim.
PSD2 Article 62(2) requires each party to pay its own provider's charges for payments within the EU, and UK and EEA banks offer only SHA for those payments.
In ISO 20022 messages OUR is DEBT, SHA is SHAR and BEN is CRED, and many banks default to shared charges when no code is sent.

OUR, SHA and BEN: the short answer

Every SWIFT payment carries a charge code that tells the banks along the way who pays their fees. SWIFT is the messaging network banks use to send payment instructions across borders. There are three codes in use for cross-border payments:

OUR: the sender pays all charges, its own bank's fee and the fees of the banks in between, so the beneficiary should receive the full amount.
SHA (shared): the sender pays its own bank's fee and the beneficiary pays the rest, so banks in between may deduct fees from the amount on the way.
BEN (beneficiary): the beneficiary pays all charges, including the sending bank's fee, so the most is deducted before the money arrives.

Code	Sender's bank fee	Intermediary bank fees	Beneficiary's bank fee	What usually arrives
OUR	Sender	Sender	Sender, where the receiving bank claims it	The full amount
SHA	Sender	Beneficiary, deducted in transit	Beneficiary	The amount less intermediary deductions and the receiving bank's fee
BEN	Beneficiary, deducted from the amount	Beneficiary, deducted in transit	Beneficiary	The amount less all charges

Source: Helm Editorial Team, from bank tariffs and payment standards listed in the references, as published on 29 October 2026. Each bank applies the codes under its own terms.

The beneficiary is the person or company receiving the payment. An intermediary bank, also called a correspondent bank, is a bank that passes the payment between the sending and receiving banks when they have no direct account with each other. A US dollar payment between two banks outside the United States often passes through one.

In short: use OUR when an invoice must be paid in full, use SHA when the rules require it or the payee has agreed to bear its own costs, and use BEN rarely. The rest of this guide sets out where the charges come from, what banks publish for each option, the UK and EEA rules and what to do when a payment arrives short.

Where SWIFT charges come from

A SWIFT payment can attract four separate costs. The charge code decides who bears the first three. The fourth, the exchange rate, sits outside the charge code altogether.

Cost	Who sets it	How it shows up
Sending bank fee	The sender's bank, in its published tariff	Debited to the sender, or deducted from the amount under BEN
Intermediary (correspondent) fees	Each bank in the chain	Deducted from the amount under SHA and BEN; billed to the sender under OUR
Receiving bank fee	The beneficiary's bank, in its own tariff	Deducted before crediting the account, unless the sender has paid it
Currency conversion	The bank or provider that converts	A rate below the market rate, or a stated percentage fee

Source: Helm Editorial Team, from the HSBC UK and Lloyds Bank tariffs and Airwallex's US fee schedule, as published on 29 October 2026.

The intermediary fees are the hardest to predict. HSBC UK's business price list states that the bank cannot tell a customer in advance what other banks will charge to process a payment. Under OUR, HSBC UK charges the customer's account for any charges that intermediary or receiving banks claim, after the payment has gone. Other banks add a fixed surcharge for OUR instead, as the next section shows.

Conversion is a separate decision. If you send US dollars to an account held in another currency, the receiving bank converts them at its own rate, and the charge code has no effect on that rate. Send in the currency of the beneficiary's account, or agree in writing who converts.

What banks publish for OUR and SHA

Banks and payment providers publish their SWIFT fees in different ways. Some charge more for OUR, some bill the intermediary fees afterwards, and some publish one fee without stating the charge code. The table shows what each published on the date of review.

Bank or provider	Sending fee as published	OUR as published	Receiving fee as published
Airwallex (US fee schedule)	SHA, including RTGS and Fedwire: US$15 per transfer	US$25 per transfer	Fedwire collections US$15; most other currencies 0%
HSBC UK (Business Price List, dated 11 February 2025)	International payment by Business Internet Banking: £17	Your account is charged any fees claimed by intermediary or recipient banks	Under £100: free; £100 or more: £6; sender or intermediary charges deducted before credit
Lloyds Bank (International Services Tariff, dated February 2022)	International Moneymover Standard: 25p per £100, minimum £13, maximum £30	Extra £12 to the USA, Canada, Switzerland, Monaco, San Marino, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man; £20 to the rest of the world outside the UK and EEA	Handling charge £2 up to £100 and £7 over £100, deducted unless the sender pays it
Relay (US business account)	SWIFT international wire: US$25 on Starter, US$22 on Grow, US$20 on Scale	Not stated	Incoming domestic wire US$5

Sources: Airwallex US fee schedule (last updated 19 October 2026); HSBC Bank plc Business Price List; Lloyds Bank International Services Tariff; Relay, Overview of Relay Subscription Plans. As published on 29 October 2026. Fees change; check the provider's current page.

What the difference means on one payment

On Airwallex's US schedule, OUR costs US$10 more than SHA on each transfer. If a single intermediary bank deducts more than US$10 from a SHA payment, the supplier receives less than the invoice, and the buyer usually has to send the shortfall in a second payment, which carries a second sending fee. For an invoice that must be paid in full, OUR is often the cheaper choice in total, not the more expensive one. At Lloyds the same calculation runs against the £12 or £20 OUR surcharge.

For the receiving side, Lloyds' tariff shows how OUR protects the beneficiary: its handling charge on incoming payments is deducted unless the sender pays it. HSBC UK's list states that sender or intermediary charges are deducted before a payment is credited.

The UK and EEA rule: SHA only

Inside the European Union, the choice is made for you. Article 62(2) of the second Payment Services Directive (PSD2), Directive (EU) 2015/2366, requires that for payments within the Union where both payment service providers are located there, the payee pays the charges of its own provider and the payer pays the charges of its own provider. That is the SHA model.

Banks apply it in their tariffs. Lloyds Bank's tariff states that SHA "is the only charging option available within the UK and the EEA". HSBC UK's price list states that SEPA payments must use the SHA charging code. SEPA, the Single Euro Payments Area, is the system for euro bank transfers between the EEA countries and a few others, including Switzerland, Monaco and San Marino.

In the ISO 20022 payment message format, a separate code, SLEV, meaning "following service level", is used for SEPA credit transfers. Nordea's file guidance states that only SLEV should be used with SEPA credit transfers, and that its default is SHAR (shared) when no code is given.

In practice, OUR and BEN are only an option for payments that leave the UK and EEA, or arrive from outside them. A UK importer paying a German supplier in euros pays its own bank and nothing more; a UK importer paying a Chinese supplier in dollars can choose OUR.

How the charge code is carried: field 71A and ISO 20022

The charge code travels inside the payment message. In the older SWIFT MT103 format it sits in field 71A. In ISO 20022, the message standard banks now use for cross-border payments, it sits in the Charge Bearer element, with four-letter codes that map to the three familiar ones.

MT103 field 71A	ISO 20022 Charge Bearer	Meaning
OUR	DEBT	Borne by the debtor (the payer)
SHA	SHAR	Shared
BEN	CRED	Borne by the creditor (the payee)
No equivalent	SLEV	Following service level; used for SEPA, and not allowed in cross-border (CBPR+) flows

Source: BNY, ISO 20022 pacs.008 training module (December 2025), slide 13; Nordea charge bearer guidance. As published on 29 October 2026.

This matters when you pay from accounting or treasury software that creates payment files. If the file sends DEBT, the bank treats the payment as OUR; if it sends nothing, many banks default to shared. Check the default in your payment template rather than assuming.

Which charge code to choose

The right code depends on the payment and the agreement behind it.

Situation	Code to use	Why
Paying a supplier invoice that must arrive in full	OUR	A short payment can hold up shipment while the supplier queries the gap
Paying a deposit to release production	OUR	Suppliers often start work only when the full deposit is received
Euro or other payment within the UK and EEA	SHA (required)	PSD2 and bank tariffs allow only shared charges
Payment where the contract says each side bears its own bank costs	SHA	It matches the contract
Refund or return of funds the payee asked for	BEN or SHA, as agreed	The payee has agreed to bear the cost
Small payments where a fixed deduction is a large share	OUR, or a local rail	A fixed intermediary fee hits small amounts hardest

Source: Helm Editorial Team, as published on 29 October 2026.

Write the choice into the contract and the invoice. A line such as "Payment by SWIFT in USD, all bank charges for the buyer's account (OUR)" settles the question before the first payment. For buyers from China, our guide on how to pay Alibaba suppliers covers when suppliers expect OUR.

When a payment arrives short

If a payment arrives short, work through these steps:

Get the payment message. Ask the sending bank for a copy of the MT103 or the ISO 20022 confirmation. It shows the charge code that was actually sent, which is not always the one that was requested.
Trace the deductions. Ask for the payment's UETR, the unique end-to-end transaction reference that SWIFT tracking uses, so either bank can see which bank in the chain deducted what.
Agree who makes up the gap. If the payment was sent as SHA against an invoice that required OUR, the payer usually sends the difference.
Fix the template. Set the charge code in the payment template or file so the next payment goes as agreed.

Timing and charges are linked. Each extra bank in the chain can add both a fee and a delay; our guide to how long an international wire takes covers the time side.

When you are the one being paid

Ask payers to send OUR and state it on every invoice. Where the payer is in the United States, the charge code question can often be avoided altogether: a payment to US account details by ACH or Fedwire is a domestic transfer with no correspondent chain. Our guide to SWIFT, ACH and Fedwire explains the difference.

Where Helm fits

Helm is a financial technology company, not a bank. Accounts are held with regulated partner institutions.

Sending: international payments to suppliers by SWIFT, or by local rails in the supplier's currency where available, with the rate, fee and expected arrival shown before you send. See international payments.
Receiving: USD account details in the company's own name, a routing and account number that receives ACH, Fedwire and SWIFT, so US payers can pay by a domestic transfer. EUR details (IBAN, SEPA and SWIFT) and GBP details (sort code, Faster Payments and SWIFT) sit alongside. An IBAN is the international bank account number format used in Europe.
Converting: currency conversion between balances, so you can pay a supplier in the currency of its account.

Each client has a named account manager, and review questions are answered in writing within one business day. Helm agrees pricing with each business in writing before the account opens, and shows the rate, the fee and the expected arrival before you confirm each payment.

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USD, EUR and GBP accounts in your company's name, with a named account manager.

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Questions

What does OUR mean on a SWIFT payment?

OUR means the sender pays all the charges, including its own bank's fee and the fees of intermediary banks, so the beneficiary should receive the full amount. Banks either add a fixed OUR surcharge or bill the sender for the charges other banks claim.

What is the difference between SHA and OUR?

Under SHA the sender pays only its own bank's fee, and intermediary and receiving bank fees come out of the amount. Under OUR the sender pays those fees as well, so the full amount arrives.

What does BEN mean in a wire transfer?

BEN means the beneficiary bears all charges, including the sending bank's fee, which is deducted from the amount. It is the least common option and is not available for payments within the UK and EEA.

Why did my supplier receive less than I sent?

The payment was most likely sent as SHA or BEN, and an intermediary or receiving bank deducted its fee on the way. Ask your bank for the payment message, which shows the charge code that was sent, and use OUR for invoices that must arrive in full.

How much does it cost to send a SWIFT payment with OUR?

It depends on the bank. Airwallex's US fee schedule lists US$25 for OUR against US$15 for SHA, Lloyds Bank's tariff adds £12 or £20 to its standard fee, and HSBC UK charges whatever intermediary and recipient banks claim.

Can I choose OUR for a payment within Europe?

Not for payments within the UK and EEA. PSD2 requires each side to pay its own provider's charges, and banks such as Lloyds and HSBC UK offer only SHA for those payments.

Does OUR guarantee the full amount arrives?

OUR is designed so that the full amount arrives, and it covers the fees of banks in the chain that honor it. The receiving bank applies its own tariff, and a currency conversion at the receiving bank is not covered by the charge code.

What are DEBT, SHAR and CRED?

They are the ISO 20022 charge bearer codes. DEBT corresponds to OUR, SHAR to SHA and CRED to BEN. A fourth code, SLEV, is used for SEPA payments and is not allowed in cross-border SWIFT payments.

Which charge code is the default?

Many banks default to shared charges when no code is given; Nordea's file guidance, for example, sets SHAR as its default. Check the setting in your payment template or accounting software.

References

HelmHelm is a business account for companies that trade internationally: USD, EUR and GBP accounts, international payments, collections and currency exchange, with a named account manager. Questions: [email protected].

This guide is general information for businesses, not financial, legal or tax advice. Rules, fees and timings were checked against the sources listed on the review date and may change.

OUR, SHA and BEN SWIFT charges explained