Steps for the sender

1. Check the expected delivery date you were given, counting business days in both countries. Before that date, the payment is probably just still moving. See why transfers take long.
2. Get the UETR and the exact payment instruction your bank sent: recipient name, account number or IBAN, SWIFT code, amount and currency. Compare every character with what the recipient gave you.
3. Ask your bank for the tracker status, and give the UETR to the recipient so they can quote it to their bank.
4. If it's late or stuck, ask your bank to open an investigation (trace) with the bank that has the payment. Ask for a case reference.
5. If the details were wrong, or you want the money back, ask your bank to request a recall. It can only ask, and once the money has been credited, the receiving bank usually needs the account holder's permission to take it back.
6. Don't resend until you know where the first payment is. Otherwise you risk paying twice.

Steps for the recipient

1. Ask the sender for the UETR, amount, currency and date, and a copy of the payment confirmation.
2. Contact your bank's international payments team, not just the app. Ask whether any incoming payment is pending, held or under review, quoting the UETR. A bank can often see an incoming payment before it appears in your balance.
3. Check the details the sender used: your name exactly as your account shows it, your account number, and your bank's SWIFT code. Also check which account and currency they sent to.
4. Answer any request from your bank quickly, such as the purpose of the payment or your relationship with the sender.

If it went to the wrong account

This is the case people fear most, and it's worth understanding how it happens:

• A wrong account number that doesn't exist usually can't be credited. The bank holds the money while it investigates, then returns it.
• A wrong account number that does exist can be credited to that account. Many banks rely mainly on the account number, and name checks vary from bank to bank and country to country.
• A wrong SWIFT code can send the payment to the wrong bank, which usually can't find the account and sends it back.

Getting it back: your bank can ask the receiving bank to return the money. Industry guidance recognises that once a bank has credited its customer, it generally needs that customer's permission to take the money back. Recovery is possible, but it isn't guaranteed and can take time. Act as soon as you notice the mistake.

If you think you were scammed

Common scams include a "supplier" or "school" emailing new bank details, a fake invoice, or someone you've only met online asking for money. If you paid the wrong person because you were tricked:

1. Call your bank immediately and say you have been the victim of fraud. Ask it to recall the payment and alert the receiving bank. Speed matters most here.
2. Report it to the police or your country's fraud or cybercrime reporting service, and keep the reference.
3. Keep everything: emails, messages, invoices and the payment confirmation.

Your rights and how to complain

• United States (remittance transfers): if the money wasn't made available by the date the provider disclosed, or a different amount arrived, you can report an error within 180 days of that date. The provider must investigate within 90 days and, if there was an error, refund you or deliver the money at no extra cost. If you gave the wrong account number, the provider must still try to recover the money, and may avoid a refund only if it meets strict conditions.
• Nigeria: complain to your bank first, in writing, and allow two weeks. If it isn't resolved, you can escalate to the Central Bank of Nigeria's Consumer Protection Department, with evidence of your complaint to the bank.
• Elsewhere: complain to your bank or provider first, then to the financial regulator or ombudsman in your country.

Preventing it next time

• Check the details before you send. Use our IBAN validator, NUBAN validator or SWIFT code checker. A valid format catches typing mistakes, but it doesn't prove the account belongs to your recipient.
• Confirm new or changed details by phone, on a number you already know, never by replying to the email that sent them.
• For a large payment to a new recipient, consider sending a small amount first and checking that it arrives.
• Use the recipient's name exactly as their bank holds it, and add their address and a clear purpose.
• Keep the UETR and confirmation for every international payment.

For Nigerian users

• Receiving from abroad: give senders your name exactly as it appears on your account, your 10-digit account number, your bank's name and its SWIFT code. If the money doesn't appear, ask your bank's international operations team whether an inflow is pending, quoting the UETR.
• Sent through a money transfer company? That's a different route. The payout is made in naira by the operator's partner bank or agent, so contact the money transfer company first. See how international money transfers work.

Sources

• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Regulation E § 1005.33 (remittance transfer error resolution: 180 days, 90-day investigation, remedies, incorrect account number conditions).
• Payments Market Practice Group, Best Practice Guidance for the Return of Funds and Rejects of Payments (September 2023, published by Swift): cancellation requests and the need for the beneficiary's debit authorisation once paid out.
• Central Bank of Nigeria, Complaints management, and the circular Industry Dispute Resolution System: Notification of Go-Live (PSM/DIR/CON/CWO/048/071, 27 February 2024).
• Tracker status and reason codes, as sourced on our SWIFT payment tracker.

Last reviewed 24 September 2026. Spot an error? Tell us through our corrections page.