FAQ

1. What is payment cost & charge codes in Swift/Wire transfer?

When a person makes an international wire transfer they can choose who pays the transfer charges.

OUR: The transfer fees are expected to be paid before you initiate the transfer. This means the transfer amount is expected to be delivered in full to the beneficiary. A payer must select this charge code so that the client does not have to bear the cost.

BEN: The transfer fees are expected to be covered by the beneficiary of the funds ie. client. This means that any fees will be deducted from the amount you are transferring. As a result, the money will reach Nium’s account short which will, in turn, result in a short payment made to the client’s wallet.

SHA: The transfer fees are expected to be shared. This means some of the charges are expected to be paid before the transfer is made and some are expected to be deducted from the amount you are transferring before they reach the beneficiary. As a result, the money will reach Nium’s account short which will, in turn, result in a short payment made to client’s wallet.

The payer must ensure that they select "OUR" as the Charge indicator or Charge Code.

In some cases, it is possible that Sender’s bank is not enabled to process payments with charge code "OUR" and hence, even though the sender chooses OUR, there might be a deduction on the fee.

In case the payers have confirmed that they have used the "OUR" charge code and yet there was fee deduction then reach out to Nium’s Tech support team for further assistance. We will check the reason for deductions.

2. What should the client tell their payers when making wire/swift transfers to global virtual accounts?

Always tell payers to choose "OUR" as the charge code when initiating the payment. Do not use SHA or BEN as the charge code.