Documentation

FX-settled International Wires

When sending an international payment through the Swift network, it's important to understand the different charge bearer codes that can be used to split the fees associated with a transfer between the originator and beneficiary. In order for the beneficiary to receive payment in full, the sender must cover any transfer related fees which are to be paid on top of the explicit amount sent to the beneficiary. Column never charges additional fees on top of the agreed upon amount.

While it is standard practice for banks to charge a fee for processing international wire payments, you can indicate who will pay the bank charges associated with a payment. When making an international wire via Swift, Column supports the following charge bearer codes:

• DEBT (Originator Pays All, equal to OUR in old MT messages): With this option, the originator of the payment is responsible for paying all fees associated with the transfer, including those charged by the sender's bank, the intermediary banks, and the receiving bank. This ensures that the full amount of the payment is received by the beneficiary without any deductions. However, it may be more expensive for the sender as they are bearing the full cost of the transfer.
• CRED (Beneficiary Pays All, equal to BEN in old MT messages): When using this option, the beneficiary of the payment is responsible for paying all fees associated with the transfer. This may result in the beneficiary receiving less than the full amount of the payment, as the beneficiary will need to cover any fees charged by intermediary banks and the receiving bank. While this may be beneficial for the sender, as they will not need to pay any fees, it may result in the beneficiary receiving less money than was sent.
• SHAR (Shared Costs, equal to SHA in old MT messages): When using this option, the fees associated with the transfer are split between the originator and beneficiary. The originator pays the fees charged by their bank, while the beneficiary pays the fees charged by the intermediary banks and the receiving bank. This option may be a good compromise between CRED and DEBT options as both the originator and beneficiary share the costs of the transfer.

To avoid banks deducting additional fees from your transfer, you should select DEBT as the charge code. Countries generally abide by the provided charges indicator, but in certain jurisdictions, the provided indicator may be ignored.

USD-settled International Wires

Principal-protected, or full-value USD international wires, are a type of international wire transfer where the full value of the transfer is guaranteed to be received by the beneficiary. This means that the beneficiary will receive the full amount of transferred funds, even if intermediary banks lift fees before the funds are credited to the beneficiary. Column can support principal protection on USD-denominated international wires by using DEBT in the charge_bearer field. Reach out to us if you are interested in learning more about this product offering!