Returned wires
Overview
There are a number of reasons you might have one of your outgoing wires returned to your account. Incorrectly entered payment details are the most common culprit. If a wire is returned, we advise you to contact the beneficiary and make sure that the payment details are correct before re-attempting. This includes confirming the account name and number, required intermediary banks, and the currency the counterparty account can accept. The returning institution determines the reasons for the wire return. Their initial messages may lack clarity, so it’s ideal to confirm the instructions with the beneficiary.
Common return reasons
Here are several of the more common reasons that institutions give for returning a wire:
Transfer not authorized
The beneficiary did not authorize this transaction and asked that it be returned. Contact the beneficiary prior to reattempting the transfer and ask them to provide authorization upon receipt.
Originated requested return
The beneficiary asked to have the wire returned. Contact the beneficiary prior to reinitiating the transfer to make sure that they’ll accept the funds.
Unable to apply
This is a general message that lets you know the financial institution couldn’t apply your transaction. You should have the counterparty ask their bank for more details.
Duplicate entry
The beneficiary already received a duplicate transaction, so returned this one.
Incorrect payment information
This is a general message that’s provided when a transaction's instructions don’t match the information registered on the beneficiary account. You should have the counterparty ask their bank for correct details.
Invalid amount
Either the beneficiary or another bank in the chain did not accept the transaction based on its amount. Contact the beneficiary prior to reinitiating the transfer to make sure you send the correct amount.
Invalid currency
The beneficiary account cannot receive funds in the designated currency. Contact the beneficiary prior to reinitiating the transfer to make sure you denominate your transfer in the correct currency.
Beneficiary account closed
The beneficiary account is closed. Contact the beneficiary prior to reinitiating the transfer to confirm their account details.
Beneficiary not found
The account details provided did not match to an existing account. Contact the beneficiary prior to reinitiating the transfer to confirm their account details.
Ineligible to receive wires
The beneficiary’s account cannot receive wires. Several factors could have caused this, but it’s most often a case of an ACH-only account number, routing number, or BIC code. Contact the beneficiary prior to reinitiating the transfer to confirm their account details.
Invalid beneficiary routing number or BIC code
The transfer referenced an incorrect routing number or BIC code. Contact the beneficiary prior to reinitiating the transfer to confirm their account details.
Invalid beneficiary account number or IBAN
The transfer referenced an incorrect account number or IBAN. Contact the beneficiary prior to reinitiating the transfer to confirm their account details.
Ineligible to receive payment rail
The beneficiary’s account cannot receive the payment. Contact the beneficiary prior to reinitiating the transfer to make sure that you use the correct payment method.
Return amount
When a wire returns to your account, its total amount may have funds deducted from it. This is either because an intermediary bank issued fees during transit or due to FX drift. Brex does not charge fees for processing returned transactions.
Fees
Charges can occur if an outgoing transaction uses incorrect instructions and the recipient bank has to return it. This charge covers the costs of financial institutions that manually intervene. Brex does not determine these charges, and doesn’t have direct information on why they’re issued. They typically range between $10 and $75 USD, but they can fluctuate significantly. It's important to note that these fees can apply even if the transfer is not successful.
FX drift
Financial gain or loss can occur for international transactions due to fluctuations in foreign exchange (FX) rates when international wire transactions are returned.