Beneficiary Customer

The beneficiary customer is the party that is ultimately meant to receive the money in a credit transfer. The term is used in SWIFT payment messages: in the MT103 it is field 59, which holds the beneficiary's account number and name and, often, address, while ISO 20022 messages call it the creditor. The beneficiary customer holds its account at the beneficiary bank, which credits the funds; it is the counterpart of the ordering customer, who instructs the payment. Under the FATF Travel Rule and related wire transfer rules, the payment must carry the beneficiary's name and account identifier, and banks in the chain screen this data against sanctions lists. Errors, such as a name that does not match the account, can cause delays, repairs or returns, which is why services like beneficiary validation check details before sending.