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The short answer
A Swift confirmation from your Canadian bank shows the amount and currency sent, the date, the beneficiary's name, account and bank code, who pays the charges, and a payment reference. The most useful field for tracing is the UETR, a 36-character Unique End-to-end Transaction Reference that every Swift payment carries; give it to the receiver so their Nigerian bank can find the payment.
What you are holding
After you send a wire, your bank gives you a confirmation: a screen in online banking, a PDF, or a printed advice at the branch. Some banks will also give you a copy of the outgoing Swift message itself, often called an MT103. The layout differs from bank to bank, but the same core information appears on all of them, because the Swift message carries it from bank to bank.
The fields, one by one
- UETR
- Unique End-to-end Transaction Reference: a 36-character code. Swift says every Swift payment carries one and intermediaries must pass it on.
- Sender's reference
- Your bank's own reference for the payment . Useful when you call your bank.
- Value date, currency, amount
- The date and the amount sent, usually in USD for Nigeria.
- Ordering customer
- You: name, address and account.
- Intermediary bank
- A correspondent the money passes through, if named.
- Beneficiary's bank
- The Nigerian bank and its Swift/BIC code.
- Beneficiary
- The receiver's account number and name.
- Remittance information
- Your message to the receiver, such as an invoice or pupil name.
- Charges
- Who pays: OUR (you pay all), SHA (shared), BEN (receiver pays).
Labels differ: one bank prints "beneficiary institution", another "receiving bank". Match by content, not by the exact words. Barclays' own international payments page, for example, describes the three charge options the same way: OUR, where you pay all charges; SHA, where you pay your bank's fees and the receiver pays the others; and BEN, where charges are deducted from the payment.
Which reference a Nigerian bank needs
Give the receiver three things: the UETR, the value date and the exact amount and currency sent. With those, their bank's international operations team can locate the payment. Swift says any party in the chain can locate a payment by its UETR and that a basic tracker is available free to Swift member institutions, so the Nigerian bank does not need to wait for your bank to answer.
Your bank's own sender's reference is useful only to your bank. Nigerian banks may also ask for the sender's name exactly as shown, which matters if the account is joint or in a business name.
What the confirmation does not prove
- That the money has arrived. It shows the payment left your bank. Arrival is shown on the receiver's statement or by a tracker update.
- The final amount. Intermediaries may deduct fees even when you chose OUR, and the Nigerian bank may convert to naira at its own rate.
- That the beneficiary details are right. It repeats what you typed. A wrong digit in the account number appears faithfully on the confirmation.
Checks to run as soon as you get it
- Compare the beneficiary account number and name with what the receiver sent you, character by character.
- Check the Swift/BIC code belongs to the receiver's bank; see Swift codes for Nigerian banks.
- Check the currency: if the receiver gave a domiciliary account, it should say USD (or the account's currency).
- Note the charges option so you know why less may arrive; see intermediary fees.
- Save the PDF somewhere you can find it in a year. It is evidence for a recall, a complaint, or a source-of-funds question.
If the payment has not arrived
Give the receiver the UETR and ask them to raise it with their bank. At the same time, ask your bank to open a trace. If your Canadian bank does not resolve a complaint, the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI) can review it once the bank has had 56 days without a final response, or once you are unhappy with that response. Our guide to delayed Canada-Nigeria transfers sets out the order of steps.
Keeping confirmations useful
A confirmation is only useful if you can find it when you need it. Rename each PDF with the date, the receiver and the amount, for example "2026-10-24 Mum Enugu USD 700", and keep them in one folder. Banks may let you download past confirmations for a limited time only, so do not rely on going back to online banking a year later.
When a Nigerian bank, school or lawyer asks for "proof of payment", send the confirmation together with a short note: the date, the amount and currency, the UETR, and what the payment was for. That saves a round of questions and lets the receiving side match the money quickly.
- For family support, the confirmation is your record if a remittance or source-of-funds question comes up later.
- For a property or school payment, it is the start of your paper trail.
- For a complaint, it shows exactly what you instructed.
Where Pryme fits
Within Pryme, every transfer has its own record in the app, and any customer can generate a regular or a verifiable receipt or statement through Pryme's partner VerifyDoc.ai, which anyone can check is genuine and unaltered. That is useful when a school, landlord or bank in Nigeria asks for proof of payment.
Questions people ask
Where is the UETR on my bank's confirmation?
Look for a 36-character code, sometimes labelled UETR, tracking reference or end-to-end reference. If you cannot find it, ask your bank; Swift says every Swift payment carries one.
Is an MT103 proof that I paid?
It is proof the payment instruction left your bank with those details. Proof of receipt is the receiver's statement or a tracker update showing the credit.
Why does my confirmation show USD when I paid in CAD?
Your bank converted CAD to USD before sending, because most Nigeria wires settle in dollars. The rate is usually on the confirmation or your account statement.
Can my Nigerian bank trace the payment without my bank?
Yes, if you give them the UETR. Any bank in the chain can locate a Swift payment by its UETR.
Sources
- Swift: What is a UETR? (undated page) · accessed Oct 2026
- OBSI: Can OBSI help? (page (c) 2026) · accessed Oct 2026
- Barclays: International payments (undated page) · 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.