Possible Reasons Why Your Bank Transfer is Delayed

One of the most frustrating experiences in the business world is waiting for your payment to come through. You love your work but getting paid is also pretty important to you – after all, you need to eat and to pay your rent! Your client notifies you that they sent their payment, but your bank tells you that the international bank transfer was not received.

Before you start accusing your client or customer of lying about sending payment, think about the reasons that could lie behind the bank transfer delay. There are a number of simple explanations as to why the bank transfer was not received. Have no fear, we’ve gathered some of the most common reasons for bank payment delays.  

1. Holidays

During the holidays, most banks either close entirely or stay open for just a few hours. When working with international companies, you’ll need to consider the holidays in the sending country as well as holidays in your own country in order to allow for an international wire transfer delay.

Payoneer Users: Payoneer processes USD transfers from our US banks, so you will need to keep in mind holidays that take place in the United States. If you are receiving funds in EUR, you will need to keep in mind holidays in Germany, and if receiving funds in GBP, keep in mind holidays in the United Kingdom. These holidays aren’t synchronized, so a public holiday in Germany could be followed by another one in the US, increasing the international bank transfer delay.

2. No Regulated Time Frame

Most banks transfer funds within an average of 3-5 business days. You may want to look into the regulatory time frames for any country you will be receiving money from. Differences in the time frame make the bank transfer delay worse.

3. Time Zone

This is relevant for international bank payment delays between destinations where there is a significant gap between the time zones. For instance, processing a transfer request from a US bank while located in Australia means that your request will be pending processing until the US bank opens, and vice versa, resulting in that frustrating reply of “international bank transfer not received.”

4. Weekends

Weekends are great for relaxing, but not for payment delays. If a transfer is made on a Friday afternoon, in most cases you will need to wait until after the weekend for the funds to be deposited in your account. You should also take note of what is considered the “weekend” in the sender’s country. For instance, in Bangladesh, people typically work Sunday through Thursday.

5. Time of Transfer

Initiating a transfer at the end of a business day can add to the total time it takes to receive a transfer, raising the risk that the bank transfer is not received when you expect it. Transfer requests processed at the end of the business day will not be sent out until the next business day. Considering that most banks close in the afternoon, and through the weekend, this could be a possible reason for an international wire transfer delay.

If after 3-5 business days you haven’t received the bank transfer, it is recommended to contact your bank provider and the payer. If you’re a Payoneer user and experiencing a bank payment delay, please contact our customer care team for further assistance.