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The short answer
A SWIFT transfer from Italy to Nigeria usually passes through one or more correspondent banks, and under the SHA or BEN charge options each may deduct its fee from the money in transit, so less arrives than you sent. The instructed amount on the SWIFT message stays the same; the gap is the sum of those deductions. Choosing OUR, sending in the account's own currency and giving the correct correspondent details reduce the shortfall.
You sent €1,000 from your Italian bank to a cousin in Enugu and the credit shows less. The Italian bank says it sent the full amount; the Nigerian bank says it credited what it received. Both can be right. The missing money was most likely deducted by one or more banks in between, known as correspondent or intermediary banks, and the charge option on your order decided whether those deductions came out of the money or out of your pocket.
Why a transfer to Nigeria passes through other banks
Your Italian bank and the Nigerian bank rarely hold accounts with each other. A SWIFT payment therefore moves along a chain: your bank pays a correspondent bank that holds an account for the Nigerian bank in that currency, and that correspondent credits the Nigerian bank. Sometimes there is more than one link. GTBank, for example, tells senders that its own account number with its correspondent bank, and that correspondent's name or SWIFT code, form part of the payment details, and that value is given when the funds reflect in GTBank's offshore accounts.
The SWIFT MT103 standard (BNZ specification, November 2021) builds this into the message. Field 56 names the intermediary, field 57 the beneficiary's bank. Field 33B carries the instructed amount, which stays the same along the chain, while field 32A carries the interbank settled amount, which can fall as banks take their charges. Field 71F records sender's charges deducted by the sending bank and prior banks, and 71G any receiver's charges.
Where the shortfall comes from
- Your charge option. Under SHA or BEN, intermediaries are allowed to deduct their fee from the money in transit. Under OUR, the cost is meant to be billed back to you instead.
- The number of correspondents. Each one can take a fee. You cannot see the route in advance.
- Conversion along the way. If euros are sent to a naira account, or to a bank that cannot take euros directly, a bank in the chain converts at its own rate, which can look like a fee.
- The receiving bank's own crediting charge, where it applies one.
How much does each correspondent take? There is no official tariff. A UK-focused guide by NairaCompare (June 2026) reported intermediary charges of "$10 to $25 per correspondent bank"; treat that as a third-party estimate, not a rule, and note it was written for sterling and dollar wires from the UK.
Worked example: tracing a €40 gap
Illustrative example. You order €1,000 on SHA. Your Italian bank charges its fee to your account separately, so €1,000 leaves. One correspondent deducts €25 and the Nigerian bank applies €15 when crediting a euro domiciliary account. Your cousin sees €960. The MT103 or payment confirmation would still show €1,000 as the instructed amount (33B), and the difference of €40 is the sum of the two deductions. Had you chosen OUR, the credit should have been €1,000 and the €40 would have been charged back to you, as Banca Sistema's foglio informativo describes for its OUR option: charges claimed by the beneficiary's bank and intermediaries are added to the bank's own commissions.
How to keep the deduction down
- Ask the recipient for their bank's full inflow instructions, including the correspondent for the currency you are sending, and put it in the banca intermediaria field. A direct correspondent route can mean fewer hops.
- Send in a currency the account holds: euros to a euro domiciliary account, rather than euros to a naira account.
- Use OUR when the amount must be exact, and ask your bank how it bills claimed charges.
- Send fewer, larger payments rather than many small ones if the fees are flat.
- Compare with a money transfer operator, where the price shown up front usually includes delivery; see the FX margin on euro to naira transfers for how to read their quotes.
If you want the charges explained
Ask your Italian bank for the SWIFT confirmation (MT103 or, since November 2025, the ISO 20022 pacs.008 equivalent that eco.com's support notes describe, which carries the charge bearer and the payment's UETR tracking reference). Give the UETR to the recipient so their bank can match the incoming credit and say what it received. The Nigerian bank can tell your cousin the amount that reached its correspondent account; the difference between that and the instructed amount is what the chain took. The wider trend may help: a November 2025 note by Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie said Nigeria's removal from the FATF grey list "will likely ease restrictions in correspondent banking relationships". For more on charge codes, see OUR, SHA or BEN.
Where Pryme fits
A recipient with a Pryme account has euro account details in the app, and sending from Pryme shows the rate and the fee before you approve. Outside Nigeria, Pryme works through regulated partners. See sending with Pryme.
Questions people ask
Why did less money arrive in Nigeria than I sent from Italy?
Usually because correspondent banks deducted fees from the payment in transit, which they may do under the SHA or BEN charge options, or because the money was converted along the way.
How much do intermediary banks charge on transfers to Nigeria?
There is no published standard. One third-party UK guide reported $10 to $25 per correspondent bank in June 2026; the actual amount depends on the route and banks involved.
Can I get intermediary fees refunded?
Only if a bank took a charge it was not entitled to, for example under OUR. Ask your bank for the SWIFT confirmation and raise it with them.
Does choosing OUR stop intermediary deductions?
OUR tells every bank in the chain that you bear the charges, so they should be billed to you rather than taken from the money. Your bank may debit them to your account later.
Sources
- BNZ: SWIFT MT103 message specification (Standards MT November 2021) · accessed Oct 2026
- GTBank: Foreign currency inward transfer (FX inflow) · accessed Oct 2026
- Banca Sistema: Foglio Informativo Bonifici (last updated May 2024) · accessed Oct 2026
- NairaCompare: How to send money from the UK to Nigeria via SWIFT (9 Jun 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
- eco.com Support: What is an MT103? Swift wire confirmations and the move to pacs.008 · accessed Oct 2026
- Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie: Nigeria's exit from the FATF grey list (Nov 2025) · accessed Oct 2026
This article is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice. Products described are provided under the terms on this site and are subject to regulation and eligibility.