Payment Fees – The Difference Between BEN, OUR and SHA 11

I have received a couple of recurring questions about payment fees, specifically the difference between BEN, OUR and SHA. So, lets get straight to it…

Payment Fees / Transaction Charges

The sending bank and receiving bank in a payment transaction may charge a fee for processing the payment. Within each payment specific codes are used by the sending bank to understand how any payment charges or payment fees should be handled.

If you’re sending money abroad, you will be asked how you want any transaction fees to be managed. Here is what you need to know.

The Difference between BEN, OUR, SHA

  • BEN (BENeficiary) –
    • The Payee (recipient of the payment) will incur all of the payment transaction fees
      • Typically, the recipient will receive the payment minus the transfer charges
    • The Payer (sender of the payment) will not pay any payment fees
  • OUR –
    • The Payer (sender of the payment) will bear all of the payment transaction fees
      • Normally you will be billed separately for the payment transfer
    • The Payee (recipient of the payment) will not pay any payment fees,
      • The beneficiary will receive the full amount of the payment
  • SHA (SHAred) –
    • The Payer (sender of the payment) will pay all fees charged by the sending bank
      • You will be billed separately for the payment transfer
    • The Payee (recipient of the payment) will pay all fees charged by the receiving bank
      • The recipient will receive the payment minus any correspondent /intermediary fees

Where to Indicate Payment Fees

If you’re submitting the payment via an App, internet banking or a paper form you’ll select one of the above options from a drop down list. But if you’re generating the payment within your ERP system, here’s where you specify this information:

MT101 – Field 71A: Detail of Charges

In the MT101, specify the appropriate value in field 71 (detail of charges) as follows:

  • :71A:BEN
  • :71A:OUR
  • :71A:SHA
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PAIN.001 – Charge Bearer: <ChrgBr>

In the PAIN.001, specify the appropriate below value in the Charge Bearer <ChrgBr> tag

  • CRED –
    • The Payee (recipient of the payment) will incur all of the payment transaction fees
  • DEBT –
    • The Payer (sender of the payment) will bear all of the payment transaction fees
  • SHAR  –
    • The Payer (sender of the payment) will pay all fees charged by the sending bank
    • The Payee (recipient of the payment) will pay all fees charged by the receiving bank
  • SLEV –

 

11 thoughts on “Payment Fees – The Difference Between BEN, OUR and SHA

  1. Reply Shailendra Dec 18,2018 3:54 am

    Hi,
    You have shared a great deal of info. I have a query, I have recently swift transferred 13,200 Euros to a bank in Indonesia from my Indian bank account, my banker did the transaction via SHA and the beneficiary received only 12,185 Euros. Now the beneficiary is asking me to pay the balance 1,015 Euros – stating that due to SHA the money is lost in between. Could you please help me understand this.

  2. Reply Joy Mar 18,2019 9:23 am

    Hi Shailendra,
    Legally speaking you are not obliged to pay 1,015 Euros to your beneficiary. It is quiet evident from your comment that charge type selected as “SHA” by your bank while transferring.

  3. Reply Chris Bray Jun 4,2019 2:53 pm

    Hi @Joy,

    I believe that your statement is incorrect. If the amount invoiced was 13,200 and the amount received was 12,185, the invoice has not been paid. It is up to the payer to determine how to send the payment in order to settle the full invoice.

    Legally, it is option to the beneficiary to start court action to retrieve the outstanding balance.

    What should have happened was that the bank should have been instructed by the sender to use OUR as the payment instruction. This may be the fault of the sender or the fault of the bank, but it is not clear that the beneficiary agreed to accept a reduced amount and they are fully entitled to want to be paid the full amount of the invoice. They could, for example, have paid in cash or via a credit or debit card, or even Western Union or PayPal without charges being accrued by the beneficiary.

  4. Reply Jon Grah Dec 12,2019 6:54 pm

    I think the elephant in the room is:

    How did 13,200 EUR become 12,185 EUR 1,015 EUR is one heck of an intermediary/transaction fee.

  5. Reply fariz Jan 14,2020 3:55 am

    My opinion- EUR 1015 is big amount if the bank select SHA option as charges. It quite weird the agent/ intermediary charge this big amount. Please check your advice/ remittance slip whether the instructing bank charge you EUR 13200 or 12,185. If they debit your account EUR 13200, u can ask your bank to check what happen to the EUR1015?

  6. Reply Tracy Allen Jan 25,2020 4:45 pm

    Hello guys, I need a serious sender of MT103 direct, Plus or Manual download. Receiver is ready!!! Contact me via : tracyallen358@gmail.com

  7. Reply Pradip Bhoir Jul 27,2020 6:28 am

    Hi Team,
    I have same query on Charge type : SHA

    What if there is an overseas payment and to complete the payment there are 3 more intermediary banks involved between Payer bank and Payee bank. All those 3 Intermediary banks has specific charges to process the payment.

    Now in case of charge type – SHA, who will bear the charges charged by those 3 Intermediary bank.

    If anyone has any document to go through on SWIFT payments, please share – bhoir.pradeep110792@gmail.com

  8. Reply Arthi May 11,2021 3:52 pm

    Hi, What is the pain001 equivalent tag for Field 71F (Sender Charges) ?
    Can someone assist?

  9. Pingback: Return (those hidden fees) to sender - Currencycloud

  10. Reply Maha Jan 16,2022 5:51 pm

    In case of (our) who will bear the cost of ordering bank ?
    If it is on the same bank then it should take it from payer from the beginning?

  11. Reply Steve Aug 30,2022 12:02 pm

    This kind of charge looks like a double conversion charge. This has happened a few times with a customer who paid in USD, it got converted into GBP then back into USD along the way. These banks are playing silly fuckers and taking money where they want… Whole banking system is a joke and the sooner we get change the better… get these old boomers out of the finance system.

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