Correspondent banks involved in most cross-border funds transfers via SWIFT. Banks (respondents) open accounts in large financial institutions to settle the payments between each other. Those accounts called Nostro.
Standard Settlement Instructions (SSI) - default instructions of a bank or other financial institution for the payments and delivery of securities. In cross-border payments usually, it is a list of nostro accounts in correspondent banks.
While normally Standard Settlement Instructions are stored in a SWIFTRef database, and most of the banks involved in cross-border payments can access this information, sometimes it is useful to check them yourself in advance. Examples of such situations:
- You would like to understand if the bank can receive a payment in a specific currency.
- To check if the beneficiary's bank has a common correspondent bank with the sender's bank to speed up the payment.
- To check if there are options available for correspondent banks and manually place a 'good' one.
The largest correspondent banks for USD currency are:
- JPMorgan Chase Bank National Association
- Citibank NA
- The Bank of New York Mellon
- Standard Chartered Bank
- Wells Fargo Bank National Association
How Do I Find a Correspondent Bank Online?
There are 3 ways how to get a list of correspondents for a specific bank including their SWIFT codes:
- Ask customer service of the bank by phone or visit the branch.
- Look at the official web site of the bank or search for 'standard settlement instructions %bank name%' or 'correspondent banks %currency% %bank name%'.
- If you want to save up time, you can also get this information here on Ohmyfin. Search your bank by swift/bic code in the form above. We rely on the up-to-date database of a large financial data provider.
How Standard Settlement Instructions Look Like?
Usually, it is a list of currencies, correspondent banks and account numbers in those banks. Here is an example for Hipotekarna Banka:
Some of the banks share the list of correspondent banks on their official web sites. For example, Kreissparkasse Esslingen-Nuertingen or RAIFFEISENLANDESBANK.
Find Your Bank by Country and Get a List of Correspondent Banks
We understand that finding a bank by a SWIFT/BIC code or a name could be challenging. You can select a country below and find a bank in the list. After that you will be able to get its correspondents banks and other useful information related to SWIFT money transfers.
SECURITY NOTICE: Business Email Compromise (BEC)
Fraudsters use correspondent banking information for Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks, impersonating banks to steal funds or payment credentials.
- NEVER update payment instructions based on email alone
- NEVER provide account credentials to verify a payment
- ALWAYS verify any payment-related requests via phone using a number from the bank's official website (NOT from the email)
- ALWAYS confirm changes to supplier/vendor banking details through established verification procedures
Suspect fraud? Report it to your bank immediately and to Action Fraud (UK) or your local authorities. Learn more about payment fraud
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