When you send money to a bank account outside of its originating currency — like sending USD outside of the US, GBP outside of the UK, or EUR outside of Europe — we usually move it via the Swift network. You’ll see if the payment was made via Swift on your transfer receipt.
You can tell you've been charged a correspondent fee if the recipient gets less money than the amount you sent.
What are correspondent fees?
Correspondent fees are fees you're charged by correspondent banks in the Swift network.
Sending money via Swift is a bit like travelling from one airport to another — it’s not always possible to take a direct flight, so you may need to travel from city to city via several connecting flights. Swift works the same way.
The money will travel from one country to another, and — if your bank and the recipient’s bank don’t have a direct relationship — from bank to bank. We call these banks correspondent banks. They’ll often charge their own fee, which we call correspondent fees, and these will impact the amount your recipient gets.
How correspondent fees work
You set up the transfer from your bank and this banks sends a payment instruction through Swift.
If your bank and the recipient’s bank don’t have a direct relationship, the money will be sent through correspondent banks. These banks help to facilitate the transfer, and they charge a fee for doing so.
Once your money has reached the recipient’s bank, there’s a chance they’ll charge an incoming transfer fee for processing it.
The correspondent fees can be deducted at any stage of this process. It could be an outgoing transfer fee charged by your own bank, an intermediary fee from a correspondent bank, or even an incoming fee charged by the recipient’s bank. Wise doesn't set these fees.
How much can I be charged in correspondent fees?
The amount that other banks can charge you will vary, but we estimate anywhere between 15 and 50 USD or equivalent. The fee might be higher depending on the bank.
How can I avoid losing money due to correspondent fees?
Unfortunately, correspondent fees are just part and parcel of Swift payments. But we’re taking action to make sure you and your recipients aren’t left short-changed.
We’ve built a prediction tool based on the correspondent banks’ historical fees and speed. If our tool suggests your payment will be charged a correspondent fee, we’ll include it when calculating your transfer cost.
You can ask your sender to opt for the OUR charges — this option allows the sender to cover all the correspondent charges.
What to do if the recipient bank doesn't accept your transfer
If the recipient's bank doesn’t accept your transfer, the money will be returned to you. But you might not receive the full amount you originally sent. This is because correspondent fees, and any other charges incurred during the processing of your transfer, will have been deducted.
The specific fees and the amount deducted can vary depending on the banks involved and the terms of the transaction.