Last reviewed: · Curated by Ohmyfin Organisation editorial.
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.
Details
When you send an international wire, your bank usually does not have a direct account with the beneficiary bank. So the payment hops through one or more correspondent banks — each holding accounts ("nostro" / "vostro") with both ends — until it reaches the beneficiary.
Each correspondent bank in the chain may take a small fee, screen the payment for sanctions, and apply its own cut-off times. This is why an international wire can arrive minus a few dollars and a day later than you expected.
Ohmyfin maintains a free directory of 8,000+ correspondent banks indexed by SWIFT/BIC code at /swift-codes — and the Ohmyfin payment tracker shows which correspondent banks your specific payment passed through.
Key facts
Routes payments between banks without a direct relationship
Holds nostro/vostro accounts with both endpoint banks
May deduct fees, apply sanctions screening, enforce cut-offs
8,000+ codes searchable 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. Before sending, the route depends on your bank's nostro relationships.
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