Correspondent Bank
A correspondent bank is a financial institution that provides services on behalf of another bank, typically used to route international payments between two banks that do not have a direct relationship. Search 8,000+ correspondent banks → · Track your payment free →
Details
When you send an international wire, your bank usually does not have a direct account relationship with the beneficiary's bank. Instead, the payment hops through one or more correspondent banks — each holding "nostro" accounts at the institution before it and "vostro" accounts on behalf of the institution behind it. "Nostro" (Latin: "ours") refers to an account a bank holds at a foreign bank in the foreign currency. "Vostro" ("yours") is the mirror — a foreign bank's account held at your bank. These bilateral account relationships form the global correspondent banking network that moves trillions of dollars every day.
Each correspondent bank in the chain processes the payment in sequence: it receives the SWIFT message, debits the sending bank's nostro account in its books, credits the next bank's vostro account, and forwards the SWIFT message onward. Each step typically deducts a small fee — commonly $10–$35 per hop but variable — and runs its own sanctions screening against OFAC, EU, UN, HMT and other lists. This is why international wires sometimes arrive slightly short and later than expected.
The correspondent banking network has been contracting due to de-risking — major banks terminating correspondent relationships with smaller or higher-risk institutions to reduce compliance costs. The number of active correspondent banking relationships globally fell by roughly 25% between 2011 and 2022 (BIS CPMI data). This means some payment corridors now route through more hops than before, or are harder to serve at all.
The SWIFT GPI tracking trail (visible on Ohmyfin) shows every correspondent bank that has touched your payment, in order, with the timestamp, fees deducted, and status code applied at each hop. This transparency was not possible before GPI — senders had to call their bank, which called the first correspondent, which called the next, in a chain of manual inquiries that could take days.
Ohmyfin maintains a free directory of 8,000+ correspondent banks indexed by BIC/SWIFT code at /swift-codes. Each entry shows bank name, city, country, BIC, and SWIFT network status. When you track a payment by UETR on Ohmyfin, the correspondent banks shown in the tracking trail are linked to their /swift-codes entries so you can verify each one immediately.
Key facts
- Routes payments between banks that have no direct account relationship
- Holds nostro (own foreign-currency) and vostro (on behalf of others) accounts
- Each hop may deduct a fee ($10–$35 typically) and run sanctions screening
- SWIFT GPI makes every correspondent hop visible in real time on Ohmyfin
- Global correspondent network contracted ~25% since 2011 due to de-risking
- 8,000+ correspondent bank BIC codes searchable free on Ohmyfin
Frequently asked questions
How do I know which correspondent banks my payment will use?
Once the payment is sent, the SWIFT GPI status visible on Ohmyfin lists every correspondent bank that touched it, with timestamps and fees. Before sending, the route depends on your bank's nostro relationships — ask your bank's international payments desk if you need to know in advance.
Can a correspondent bank hold my payment?
Yes — a correspondent bank can place a payment on hold for sanctions screening, AML investigation, missing beneficiary data, or a cut-off time miss. When Ohmyfin shows ACWP (accepted with pending change) or an unusually long ACSP (accepted, settlement in progress), the payment is typically being held at a correspondent for review.
Why did the beneficiary receive less than I sent?
Each correspondent bank in the chain may deduct a fee before forwarding the payment. If the MT103 field 71A is SHA (shared) or BEN (beneficiary pays), those correspondent fees come out of the payment amount. The Ohmyfin tracker shows fees deducted at each hop so you can see exactly which bank took what.
What is the difference between a correspondent bank and an intermediary bank?
In practice the terms are often used interchangeably. Technically, "intermediary bank" specifically refers to the bank in MT103 field 56 — the bank that routes funds from the sender to the beneficiary bank. "Correspondent bank" is the broader term for any bank providing services (including payment routing) on behalf of another bank, covering the full nostro/vostro network.
How does de-risking affect my payment?
De-risking can mean payments to certain countries or smaller banks take more hops, cost more, or are harder to route. In extreme cases, a payment to a jurisdiction with limited correspondent access may take several days or require multiple conversion legs. Check /how-long for corridor-specific timing guides.
Related guides
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