2025 Session Last amended: 1990 session

§ 336.4A-405 — Payment by Beneficiary's Bank to Beneficiary

Plain-Language Summary

This section sets when a beneficiary's bank has actually paid the beneficiary: payment occurs when the beneficiary is notified of the right to withdraw the credit, the bank lawfully applies the credit to a debt the beneficiary owes, or the funds are otherwise made available. Once the bank pays, it generally cannot impose a condition or agreement letting it take the money back if it does not receive payment of the order, and any such condition is unenforceable. Two narrow exceptions let the bank recover from the beneficiary: where a funds-transfer system rule makes the payment provisional and the required notices and agreements were in place but the bank was never paid, and where a system that nets obligations and has a loss-sharing agreement fails to complete settlement. In those cases the bank's acceptance is nullified, no payment by the originator to the beneficiary occurs, and the bank may recover the payment from the beneficiary.

Practical Notes
Once a beneficiary’s bank makes wire transfer funds available to you (or notifies you that you can withdraw them), payment is complete and the bank usually cannot claw it back. The exceptions are limited to provisional payments under a funds-transfer system rule, or a settlement failure in a netting system with a loss-sharing agreement, where the bank can recover the funds from the beneficiary.