Key Takeaways
- International bank transfers can involve multiple financial institutions, and confirmation that a payment has been sent does not guarantee that the recipient has received the funds.
- Correspondent banks, banking hours, daily cutoff times, weekends, and public holidays can affect cross-border payment processing.
- Incorrect account details, incomplete payment instructions, and incompatible banking message formats can cause additional reviews or payment returns.
- Financial crime and sanctions screening may require banks to request further information, potentially delaying or preventing a transfer.
- Senders can ask their banks to trace overdue payments using transaction references such as the Unique End-to-End Transaction Reference (UETR) for payments carried over Swift.
Judge Lawrence Army is a retired Massachusetts judge who spent nearly three decades practicing family, criminal, and real estate law before being appointed as an associate justice with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Probate and Family Court, a role he held from 2021 until his retirement in 2025. Over his judicial tenure, Judge Army presided over more than a thousand cases involving divorce, custody, guardianship, and estate matters. He earned his JD, cum laude, from Suffolk University Law School after completing a BA in communications at Seton Hall University, and he was admitted to the Massachusetts State Bar in 1996.
Following retirement from the bench, he founded Concili8, LLC, an alternative dispute resolution practice, and he also advises Hamilton Reserve Bank clients on asset protection and offshore structuring, areas where international bank transfers can sometimes face unexpected delays.
An international bank transfer lets a person or business send money to an account in another country. The sending bank starts the payment, but other banks may help carry it to the receiving bank.
The recipient gets access to the funds after that bank completes its processing. A confirmation that a transfer has been sent does not necessarily mean the money has arrived.
Several things can slow the payment. Banks may operate on different schedules, use intermediary institutions, or need more information before completing a transfer.
Checks required by financial regulations can also take time. Even after the payment reaches the receiving bank, the money may not be credited to the recipient’s account immediately.
Not every pair of banks has a direct arrangement for moving money between them. Some transfers therefore go through a correspondent bank, an institution that helps another bank make payments across borders.
The payment may pass through more than one bank before reaching its destination. Each additional step can add processing time, although an intermediary does not necessarily cause a long delay.
Timing also depends on when banking systems are operating. A payment submitted after a bank’s daily cutoff may not begin processing until the next business day.
Weekends and public holidays can interrupt settlement, the step in which banks complete their payment obligations. Different operating schedules matter more than how many time zones separate the countries.
Sometimes the difficulty lies in the payment instructions. An incorrect account number, a recipient name that does not match bank records, or missing country-specific details may prevent a transfer from proceeding normally.
A bank might seek clarification or return the payment rather than credit the wrong account. That is different from a transfer waiting for the next scheduled processing period.
Information can cause trouble even when the sender enters the details correctly. Banks and payment systems in different countries may require different data or use different message formats.
A payment message is the electronic set of instructions accompanying the transfer. If systems cannot handle that information automatically, a bank may need to review or process it manually.
Banks must also check payments against applicable financial crime and sanctions requirements. A transfer may prompt questions about the people involved or the purpose of the payment, leading a bank to request additional information.
These checks can delay completion without meaning the transaction is unlawful. A payment prohibited under applicable sanctions rules may instead have to be blocked or rejected.
Arrival of the funds at the receiving bank does not always mean the recipient can use the money. That bank may process incoming transfers in batches, conduct further checks, or wait until its next operating period to credit the account.
In a study of Swift payments, substantial delays on some routes occurred after payment instructions reached the receiving bank, rather than during the journey between banks.
When a transfer is overdue, the sender can ask the sending bank to check its status and whether any information is missing. Payments carried over Swift have a unique end-to-end transaction reference, or UETR, that banks can use to trace them.
Some banks show tracking information to customers online; others require customers to request an update.
For payments tied to a supplier invoice or another deadline, the date funds become available to the recipient matters more than the date they leave the sender’s account. Before scheduling a time-sensitive transfer, the sender can ask the bank about expected delivery, cutoff times, and tracking options.
Those details help businesses allow for processing time without assuming that an estimated arrival date is guaranteed.
FAQs
Why do international bank transfers take longer than expected?
International transfers may pass through intermediary banks, operate across different banking schedules, or require additional compliance checks. Processing can also be delayed by incorrect payment details or the receiving bank’s internal procedures.
What is a correspondent bank in an international transfer?
A correspondent bank is a financial institution that provides payment services to another bank, helping it transfer funds across borders when a direct banking relationship is unavailable. A payment may pass through one or more correspondent banks before reaching the recipient’s bank.
Can weekends and public holidays delay international payments?
Yes, weekends and public holidays can interrupt banking operations and settlement processes in the countries involved. Payments submitted after a bank’s daily cutoff time may also remain pending until the next business day.
Can a bank hold an international transfer for compliance checks?
Yes, banks may review transactions to meet applicable financial crime prevention and sanctions requirements. They may request additional information about the sender, recipient, or payment purpose before deciding whether the transaction can proceed.
How can someone trace a delayed international bank transfer?
The sender can contact the sending bank and request a payment status update or investigation. For payments carried over Swift, the Unique End-to-End Transaction Reference (UETR) can help participating banks trace the transaction across the payment chain.
About Judge Lawrence
Judge Lawrence, widely known by his full name Lawrence Army, is a retired Massachusetts judge who spent nearly three decades in family, criminal, and real estate law before serving as an associate justice with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Probate and Family Court from 2021 to 2025. A graduate of Seton Hall University and Suffolk University Law School, he founded Concili8, LLC, an alternative dispute resolution practice, after retiring from the bench, and he also advises Hamilton Reserve Bank clients on asset protection and offshore structuring matters.