Intermediary Bank Charges

Intermediary bank charges are fees taken by banks that sit between the sending bank and the receiving one, deducted from the payment itself as it passes. They are the usual reason a transfer arrives smaller than the amount sent, with neither the client nor the broker having charged anything. International transfers are often relayed through correspondent banks, and each may take a fee. Who bears them is set by a charge instruction chosen when the payment is sent: the sender pays all charges, the receiver pays them, or the two share, with the sender's bank charging its own fee and the rest coming out of the amount. That instruction is chosen once, at the start, and it cannot be revisited afterwards. Two consequences are worth carrying. A shortfall of this kind is not a broker fee and will not appear in a fee schedule, which is why comparing a fee schedule with an amount received can mislead. And a deposit that arrives short can fall below a stated minimum or leave a payment not matching its reference, which turns a banking deduction into an account problem — the sort resolved with the transfer receipt rather than by argument.