How to properly understand international wire transfers?

Question

I am having a ridiculous time with international (inwards, to Australian account) wire transfers. They have about a 50% chance of succeeding, and I don't know who is being honest with me when things go wrong. It has been this way for years.

I've also seen that money in transit 'vanishes' for about a week at a minimum. I assume that some financial entity is holding onto the funds and floating them, skimming interest.

Apart from gaining an understanding of this flawed process, is there any other reliable method of having people transfer money to my account? Bank staff at my bank have not provided any help in understanding, apart from saying, in effect "it's not us".

Thank you.

Answer 1

International wires using SWIFT are reliable way of getting funds. The issue could be because you are not giving the right details to your counterparty. Any incorrect details on wires would get it rejected.

The timelines typically would be around 2-4 days depending on various things. There are alternatives like getting a paper check mailed to you and you cash it [this takes more time] or depending on which countries you operate in, there could be special remittance services.