Steps for amending or disputing international payments

These instructions include several different options, including:

  • lodging a follow-up instruction
  • recall payment
  • beneficiary claiming non-receipt of payment
  • payments received in incorrect currency. 

Please note these are applicable to international payments in a ‘Processed’ status only.

The Correspondence team will update you with progress of the amendment, trace or recall. Note that fees may apply.

Lodging a follow-up instruction

We’ll need an official letter on company letterhead scanned and emailed to the International Payments Correspondence team at ipc_north@nab.com.au, opens in new window.

The letter needs to be signed by the signatories of your account and contain:

  • the bank reference (TT reference) of the payment 
  • the payment currency and value
  • instructions for whether you would like to amend, trace or recall the payment
  • the payment details you want to amend (if applicable).

How to find the bank reference (TT reference)

  1. Go to Payment Register in NAB Connect
  2. Select the Payment ID of the international payment in question
  3. Select Payment Acknowledgement and refer to the bank reference. 

Recall of funds

If a payment was made in error or to the wrong beneficiary, you can lodge a recall of funds.

  1. We send a request to the overseas bank to return the funds. Please note we can’t provide a timeframe or guarantee of the return of funds. 
  2. We rely on the overseas bank to process the request and the beneficiary’s consent to return the funds if the payment has cleared in the account.
  3. An international payment in a processed status may take up to three business days to be received by the beneficiary. 
  4. After the three days, if the beneficiary claims that they have not received the funds, a follow up instruction can be sent to assist in clearing the payment.

Before lodging a follow-up instruction, use the NAB Connect Transaction history (simple) screen to check the payment tracking. You can check the 'Payment Acknowledgement' advice to verify that the payment instructions and details are correct. 

How to locate your Payment Acknowledgement Advice

Refer to the 'Payment Acknowledgement advice' for a copy of the payment instruction sent to the overseas bank. 

  1. Navigate to the Payment Register menu in NAB Connect
  2. Select the Payment ID of the international payment in question
  3. Select the Payment Acknowledgement.

Recall and re-effect

If the payment currency sent was not the beneficiary bank’s local currency (e.g USD to Hong Kong), the funds may have been credited to the beneficiary in the local currency (i.e the incorrect currency). This will usually result in the beneficiary receiving an amount significantly less than the original payment amount. In this scenario, a ‘recall and re-effect’ can be lodged.

To do this, we send a request to the overseas bank to recall the funds credited to the beneficiary’s account and re-process as per the original payment instruction. To expedite this process, please advise your beneficiary they will need to provide consent for the funds to be recalled.

Please note

Follow-up options include amending payment details and lodging a trace for the payment.

Amend payment details

This involves modifying the beneficiary name, account number, payment instructions or beneficiary bank details. Please note that incorrect beneficiary or beneficiary bank information may cause processing delays and/or non-payment.

Trace payment

This involves NAB sending a request to the overseas bank to confirm the status of the payment. A trace should only be lodged if payment tracking in the NAB Connect simple transaction history view is unavailable. Please note, as NAB relies on the overseas bank, we cannot provide a timeframe or guarantee of a response.

If you would like assistance with any of the above, contact the International Payments Service desk on 1300 888 413.

Related guides

See some of our other guides to help you get the most out of NAB Connect.

Contact us for NAB Connect enquiries

Call us

Monday to Friday, 7:30am to 8:00pm (AEST/AEDT)
Saturday, 9:00am to 2:00pm (AEST/AEDT)

Within Australia: 1300 888 413

Overseas: +61 3 8641 9930

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