Cancel an international money transfer

Short answer

To cancel an international money transfer, contact the provider immediately through the channel on your receipt. For a covered US remittance, the federal cancellation right applies when the provider receives your request within 30 minutes after payment, can identify the transfer, and the recipient has not picked up the money or received it in an account.

Check which transfer you made

The CFPB explains that the remittance rules generally cover electronic transfers of more than $15 sent by a US consumer to another country through a remittance transfer provider. A bank or money-transfer company can qualify. An entity making 500 or fewer such transfers in both the previous and current calendar years is excluded from that provider definition.

That scope matters when reading a receipt. A domestic wire and an international consumer remittance can have different cancellation protections. Start with the service and transaction you actually used.

Source: CFPB remittance transfer definition and rights · Checked on October 18, 2026

Make the cancellation request now

Find the provider’s official cancellation contact on the receipt or inside the service you used. Give the transfer reference and enough identifying information for the provider to locate the payment. Say clearly that you want to cancel it, and keep the time and any confirmation.

Regulation E, section 1005.34 allows an oral or written cancellation request. The provider must receive it no later than 30 minutes after payment, with sufficient identification, while the funds remain uncollected and undeposited.

Warning

The 30-minute rule does not guarantee that money can be recovered after the recipient has collected it or received it in an account. Contact the provider immediately instead of waiting for the window to end.

Source: CFPB cancellation guidance · Checked on October 18, 2026

Keep two deadlines separate

For a valid cancellation under section 1005.34, the refund is due within three business days after the provider receives the request. The rule covers the money provided for the transfer, including fees and taxes to the extent their refund is not prohibited by law. A request to cancel and the later refund are separate steps.

Transfers scheduled in advance have a different cancellation timetable. The CFPB’s consumer guidance says they may be cancelled up to three business days before the transfer is made. Check the receipt’s instructions; state law or the provider’s own policy may allow a longer period.

Source: Regulation E cancellation and refund rule and CFPB cancellation guidance · Checked on October 18, 2026

If the issue is money that has not arrived, keep the receipt and ask the provider about the payment’s status. Our wire transfer not received guide explains the information to gather for that conversation.