Principal protection
Overview
Intermediary banks often process international wires before they reach their intended recipient. These banks may deduct processing fees from the amount of the wire. To help prevent you from paying unintended fees and to protect the intended total (principal amount) to reach the recipient, we offer principal protection at $15 per outgoing wire.
Without optional principal protection
We send international wires with the SHAR charge bearer code in ISO 20022 format, equivalent to the SHA code in the MT format, meaning any intermediary bank fees will be shared between the originating and receiving financial institutions. In other words, those fees will be deducted from the principal amount which may result in less funds reaching the beneficiary than intended.
With optional principal protection
Principal protection is a paid service that protects an outgoing international wire from reductions due to intermediary banking fees. The service helps ensure that the beneficiary receives the principal amount. You can elect principal protection for any international wires, including wires funded from either a Brex business account or an external bank account.
When principal protection is included, we send international wires with the DEBT charge bearer code in ISO 20022 format, equivalent to the OUR code in the MT format, meaning that any intermediary bank fees will be covered by the originating financial institution.
While principal protection wires use specific charge bearer codes to instruct processing banks not to deduct fees from the principal amount, deductions can still occur if the intermediary banks disregard or fail to ingest the charge bearer code.
When fees are deducted from USD wires with principal protection, our banking partner automatically covers any deductions and pursues reimbursement to ensure the beneficiary of your wire receives the full principal amount. You can review potential wire deductions in your dashboard by navigating to Accounts > Brex business accounts > Transactions and selecting the relevant transfer to open the wire details. If you require more information or confirmation of a reimbursement of deductions, contact Brex Support.
Note: To be eligible for principal protection reimbursements for USD wires, the wire must have been sent for the recipient to receive in USD and must not be subject to foreign currency exchange by external banks. Fees incurred from foreign currency conversion at the time of receipt by the beneficiary, or prior to reaching the beneficiary, will not be reimbursed. Additionally, fees associated with local currency international wire transfers that include principal protection are not guaranteed to be covered from intermediary bank fees. Fees are avoided on a best effort basis and will not be reimbursed for local currency wires.
When to use principal protection
Principal protection is completely optional. It’s meant to help protect you against unanticipated fees. If you know that the bank you are sending money to does not charge fees, then principal protection may not be necessary. You can still send a wire to 100+ countries, regardless of your choice.
Using principal protection
Any international wire can be marked for principal protection, including wires funded from either a Brex business account or an external bank account. However, by default, international wires will be sent without principal protection unless you elect to add it. If you elect principal protection for an international wire, you’ll see an invoice under Company Settings > Billing on a monthly basis. You can pay these invoices via autopay using either a Brex business account or a verified connected bank account.