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SWIFT gpi Tracking: How to Follow a Cross-Border Payment

Published 17 October 2026

How SWIFT gpi tracking works: find your UETR, read status codes, see which bank holds the money, and know what to do when a payment stalls.

SWIFT gpi Tracking: How to Follow a Cross-Border Payment

SWIFT gpi tracking lets you follow an international transfer through every bank it passes, using one reference: the UETR (Unique End-to-End Transaction Reference). You ask your bank for the UETR, enter it into a tracker, and read the status and the name of the bank that currently holds the funds. It shows where a payment sits. It does not make the payment faster.

This guide is for finance teams in Lithuania who send or receive SWIFT payments in USD, GBP and other non-euro currencies, or to countries outside SEPA. It covers where to find the UETR, what each status code means, and which message to send when a payment stalls.

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TL;DR

  • The UETR is a 36-character reference that SWIFT states is attached to cross-border payments. Without it you cannot track anything.
  • Having a UETR does not guarantee gpi tracking: it has been mandatory on cross-border messages since 18 November 2018, gpi and non-gpi alike.
  • Tracking shows status, not speed. A payment can stay “in process” for days during compliance or AML checks.
  • A status that names the holding bank lets you send your bank a precise inquiry instead of a general complaint.
  • Prevent most delays before sending: complete beneficiary details, a clear payment purpose and an agreed fee instruction.

Table of Contents

What SWIFT gpi tracking actually shows

SWIFT gpi (Global Payments Innovation) is an industry service that offers end-to-end tracking of cross-border payments between financial institutions. Each bank in the chain updates the payment status against the same UETR. The sender, the receiver and the banks in between can therefore all look at one record.

Payment status shared across banks by UETR

Before gpi, a wire was close to a black box. You knew when it left your account and, with luck, when the beneficiary confirmed it. Everything in the middle was guesswork. The European Central Bank’s survey of correspondent banking in euro describes the same ecosystem from the supervisory side: payments move across several institutions that each run their own checks.

A gpi record can tell you:

  • the latest status of the payment;
  • the bank that currently holds the funds;
  • the value date;
  • the path through correspondent banks;
  • in many cases, which bank deducted a fee along the way.

The last point matters to treasury teams. If your supplier receives 18 USD less than the invoice, the tracker can often show where the deduction happened, rather than leaving you to argue with three institutions.

What it does not show

Tracking is not a speed guarantee. According to SWIFT figures reported by PaymentBrief, as of October 2024 about 90% of cross-border payments reached the destination bank within one hour, but only 43% reached the beneficiary’s account within one hour. The gap is internal processing, compliance and crediting windows at the last bank. The G20 target for 2027 is 75% of payments reaching the beneficiary account within one hour.

One-hour cross-border payment rates and target

So a tracker can show “delivered to the beneficiary’s bank” while your supplier still sees nothing in their account. That is normal, and it points the question at the right institution.

Step by step: how to track a SWIFT payment

  1. Send the payment through a bank or provider that supports gpi. Not every institution does. Ask before the first large transfer.
  2. Ask for the UETR. It is a 36-character code in the 8-4-4-4-12 format, for example four groups of hexadecimal characters separated by hyphens. Your bank may also call it the gpi tracking number. It is not the same as your internal payment reference.
  3. Check the format. If the code you were given is shorter, it is probably an internal reference, not a UETR.
  4. Enter the UETR in a tracker. Your bank’s online banking may include one. Public tools such as the Ohmyfin public status checker let you paste a UETR without a bank login. Banks can also offer their customers the Swift Frontend Tracker, an internet-based way to show customers what is happening to a payment.
  5. Read the status and the holding bank. Then decide whether to wait, share the UETR with the beneficiary, or open an inquiry.
  6. Share the UETR with the beneficiary. Their bank can search the incoming payment with it, which is faster than searching by amount and date.

A public checker only shows what the gpi network has recorded. If a bank in the chain does not update the status, the record may look stale even though the money is moving. In that case, rely on your bank’s own tracker or on a formal inquiry.

If you only have the old MT103 reference

Many finance teams still ask for an “MT103 copy” as proof of payment. A copy is useful, but the useful parts are the UETR and the Field 20 sender reference. We explain what to request in Finance Teams: Stop Asking for MT103, Request pacs.008, UETR, Field 20. Ask for those fields explicitly, so you do not wait a day for a document that lacks them.

Reading gpi status codes

Trackers use short ISO-style codes. The tracker pages describe them as follows, per the Ohmyfin tracker description:

Code Meaning What you do
ACSP Payment in flight, accepted and being processed Wait, but note how long it has stayed on one bank
ACSC Settled at the next bank in the chain Normal progress; the next bank now processes it
ACCC Credited to the beneficiary Ask the beneficiary to check their account and statement
PDNG Pending Check the holding bank; if it does not move, open an inquiry
RJCT Rejected Ask your bank for the reject reason and the return route
CANC Cancelled Confirm that funds returned to your account

A few practical notes:

  • ACSP is not a problem in itself. It is the status most payments carry for most of their journey.
  • ACCC means the final bank credited the beneficiary. If the beneficiary still cannot see the money, the issue is on their side: account number, account type, or internal posting.
  • RJCT means money should come back, not vanish. Returns can also lose fees to intermediary banks, so the amount you get back may be lower than what you sent.

Why a payment can sit “in process” for days

Tracking solves the question of where, not why. The Reevol Academy explanation of correspondent banking notes that a payment can show as in process for days because of compliance, sanctions screening or manual anti-money laundering reviews at intermediary banks. The common causes are:

  • Sanctions or AML screening. A name match, an unusual country or an unclear payment purpose triggers a manual review.
  • Missing or inconsistent beneficiary data. A name that differs from the account holder’s name, or an IBAN with a typo, creates a repair queue.
  • Cut-off times and time zones. A payment that reaches a bank after its cut-off waits for the next business day. Different holidays in different countries add more days.
  • Currency or routing constraints. A payment in a currency the receiving bank does not hold directly needs another correspondent.

Intermediary banks, fees and routing

The more banks in the chain, the more places a fee can be deducted and a check can happen. The ECB-linked explanation of correspondent banking says that gpi transparency helps identify where fees are deducted and where delays occur. That is why tracking shifts the question from “where is my payment?” to a specific follow-up.

Routing also depends on the structure around the payment. Founders who run entities in several jurisdictions often see this first-hand: for example, setting up a remote bank account in Singapore as a foreign founder adds a different set of banks and corridors to the same transfer. When you design who pays whom, look at the number of hops, not only the headline fee.

To reduce fee deductions, consider the fee instruction on the payment (who bears the charges) and read our guide to the treasury checklist for cutting SWIFT fees. For the currency side of the same problem, see how to stop SWIFT currency conversion losses with gpi.

What to do when the status stops moving

Use the status to make your inquiry specific. A message that says “where is my payment?” gets a generic reply. A message with the UETR, amount, date and holding bank gets handled faster.

  1. Wait a sensible time first. A payment that moved within the last business day usually does not need an inquiry.
  2. Collect the data. UETR, amount, currency, value date, sender and beneficiary names, and the current holding bank from the tracker.
  3. Contact your bank, not the intermediary. You have no relationship with the intermediary. Your bank does, and it can send an inquiry on your behalf. Banks commonly use an MT199 message for free-format inquiries, as the Reevol guide describes.
  4. Ask the right question. Is the payment held for screening? Is additional information required from the sender or beneficiary?
  5. Answer information requests quickly. Invoices, contracts or a purpose-of-payment statement often release a held payment.
  6. Ask the beneficiary to contact their own bank if the tracker shows ACCC or delivery to the final bank.

If the payment is rejected or cancelled, ask for the return route and expected date, and reconcile the amount you receive against the original, because intermediary charges may apply.

SWIFT or SEPA: choosing the rail before you track

The easiest payment to track is the one you do not need to track. For euro payments within SEPA, the transfer normally settles on defined cut-off cycles and does not go through correspondent chains. For Lithuania-specific timing, see our note on SEPA cut-off times and avoiding D+1 delays.

Use SWIFT when you need to pay outside SEPA or in a currency other than euro. Then gpi tracking is your visibility tool.

SEPA SWIFT
Typical use Euro payments in the SEPA area Other currencies and countries outside SEPA
Chain of banks Usually direct Often one or more intermediaries
Tracking Standard bank status UETR and gpi status
Demivolt fee, incoming 0 € for SEPA In 25.00 € for SWIFT In
Demivolt fee, outgoing 0.40 € for SEPA Out 30.00 € for SWIFT Out

The fees above are the published Demivolt fees. Intermediary banks can charge their own fees on a SWIFT payment, and those are outside our tariff. You can estimate a SEPA transfer with our SEPA fee calculator.

A pre-send checklist that prevents most stalls

Tracking is useful, but preparation removes most reasons to use it.

  • Match the beneficiary name exactly to the account holder’s name.
  • Check the IBAN or account number and the BIC twice.
  • Write a clear payment purpose, with an invoice number where possible.
  • Keep the invoice and contract ready in case a bank requests them.
  • Send early in the business day, and avoid the days before local holidays at either end.
  • Decide who pays the fees, and record the UETR in your accounting system the moment you receive it.
  • Tell the beneficiary the expected path and the UETR before they start asking.

Our perspective: visibility is a control, not a luxury

We work with SMEs, e-commerce companies and cross-border businesses, and the same pattern appears often. The payment itself is rarely the problem. The problem is that nobody in the finance team can say where it is, or what the next step is. That costs time, and it damages relationships with suppliers who are waiting.

Our view is that tracking should be part of the payment process from the first transfer, not something you set up after a payment goes missing. That means three habits. Keep the UETR with every international payment record. Ask your provider how they handle inquiries and what information they need. And choose the rail deliberately: SEPA when the payment is in euro and inside the area, SWIFT when it is not.

We also think clear communication matters as much as the technology. Regulated infrastructure, segregated client funds and transparent fees are the basis; a payment that is held for compliance review is then a process you can explain, not a surprise. If your business moves money across borders, you should know the fee, the route and the contact for each payment.

— dd

Cross-border payments with a dedicated IBAN

If your business sends and receives international payments regularly, a dedicated business account removes a lot of manual work. With Demivolt you can open business accounts with dedicated IBANs and handle SEPA and SWIFT payments in one place. Account opening, account verification, monthly maintenance and the Dedicated Client Manager carry no fee, and fees for payments are listed in the table above. To start, get started with Demivolt or contact us with your payment corridors.

Frequently asked questions

Where do I find the UETR for my payment?

Ask the bank or provider that sent the payment. It is usually in the payment confirmation, in the transfer details in online banking, or in a copy of the payment message. It is a 36-character code in the 8-4-4-4-12 format, and it is not the same as your internal reference.

Can I track a SWIFT payment without a bank login?

Often yes, if the payment is gpi-tracked. Public checkers accept a UETR and show the latest status without a login, for example the Ohmyfin public checker. If the payment does not appear, it may not be gpi-tracked, so ask your bank for its own status.

Does gpi tracking make payments faster?

No. Tracking gives visibility and a shared reference. A payment can still wait for compliance, sanctions screening or manual AML review. What tracking changes is that you know which bank holds the funds and can ask a precise question.

What does it mean if the status is ACCC but the beneficiary sees nothing?

ACCC means the payment was credited to the beneficiary’s account at the final bank. The beneficiary should check their statement and ask their bank to search with the UETR. Common causes are internal posting delays or a payment applied to a different account.

Does every SWIFT payment have a UETR?

A UETR has been mandatory on cross-border SWIFT payment messages since 18 November 2018, but its presence alone does not mean gpi tracking. Tracking depends on the banks in the chain updating the status.

Sources

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