Correspondent Bank Checker
Find out whether your international transfer is likely to pass through a correspondent bank, and what to ask.
A correspondent bank is a bank that holds accounts for other banks and passes their payments on. When your bank and the receiving bank do not hold accounts with each other, one or more intermediary banks carry the money between them, and each may take a fee. No public list shows which correspondent a bank uses, so this page does not look one up. Answer three questions to see whether one is likely, then use the message below to ask the bank.
Will My Payment Use a Correspondent Bank?
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Message to Copy for Your Bank
Only your bank knows the route. Add the details below if you want them in the message. Both are optional.
Go Deeper
What a Correspondent Bank Is
The BIS describes correspondent banking as an arrangement in which one bank, the correspondent, holds deposits owned by other banks, the respondents, and provides payment and other services to them. At its most basic it means the respondent opens an account at the correspondent, and the two exchange messages to settle payments by crediting and debiting that account. The BIS says these relationships are especially important for cross-border payments, and much less so for domestic ones, because domestic payments now use national payment systems.
How a Payment Reaches the Other Bank
Say bank A sends money to bank C.
- A and C hold accounts with each other. The money goes straight across. One bank is the correspondent of the other.
- A and C do not. A finds bank B, which A and C both deal with, and B passes the money on. B is the intermediary bank.
- Even B may not know C. The BIS says the chain can have several intermediaries, and that it can run through more than two countries.
You never see this chain when you make the payment, and you cannot choose it. Your bank does.
The Banks in the Chain
| Name | What it is |
|---|---|
| Sending bank | The bank of the person who pays. The BIS also calls it the originating or ordering bank. |
| Receiving bank | The bank of the person who is paid. The BIS also calls it the beneficiary financial institution. |
| Correspondent bank | A bank that holds accounts for other banks and provides payment services to them. |
| Respondent bank | A bank that uses an account at a correspondent. |
| Intermediary bank | A bank in the middle of the chain, between the sending bank and the receiving bank. |
| Nostro and vostro accounts | The names of the accounts between banks. A nostro account is held by the respondent at the correspondent, and the correspondent's view of it is the vostro account. |
Why Less Money Can Arrive
The BIS report says that, by market practice in 2016, an intermediary bank typically deducts a fee from the amount of a payment sent as an MT 103 message, so the recipient does not get the full amount. It says banks do not deduct fees from the interbank cover messages, MT 202 COV. Banks change their practices, so ask your bank about its own routes. Banks also give the sender a choice of who pays the charges.
| Option | Who pays |
|---|---|
| OUR | The sender pays all the charges, and the recipient receives the full amount. |
| SHA | The sender pays the charges of the sending bank, and the recipient pays the correspondent bank's charges, so the recipient gets the amount minus them. |
| BEN | The recipient pays all the charges and receives the amount minus them. |
The meanings above are from the ANZ Transactive guide. ANZ notes that SHA is not available for payments in Australia, so a bank may offer only some of the options. Ask which ones yours offers.
Serial and Cover Payments
The BIS describes two ways a payment can travel over SWIFT when the sending bank has no account with the receiving bank. In the serial method one payment message, an MT 103, passes from bank to bank along the chain, and the money moves with it. In the cover method the MT 103 goes directly to the receiving bank, and a separate cover payment carries the money through the intermediary banks. The BIS says the cover payment is sent as an MT 202 COV, so that every bank in the chain can see who is paying and who is paid.
What to Do
- Ask the bank, because nobody else knows the route. Some banks publish instructions for senders. BPI, for example, lists what a sender needs and says that no routing number, sort code, IBAN or ABA is needed for BPI.
- Use the SWIFT/BIC code and any intermediary details that the receiving bank gives you for the currency of your payment. Check the format of a code on our SWIFT code checker.
- Pick the charge option OUR if the recipient must receive the full amount, and ask what it costs.
- Ask whether your bank can track the payment. BPI's page says it tracks outward cross-border remittances in real time with SWIFT gpi.
What This Page Uses
The explanation of correspondent banking, intermediaries, the serial and cover methods and the fees comes from the BIS Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures report, Correspondent banking, July 2016. The charge options OUR, SHA and BEN come from the ANZ Transactive Global quick reference guide for payments. The BPI example comes from BPI's pages on sending money through a correspondent bank and GPI tracking. The checker itself applies these to your answers and looks nothing up. We last checked on 20 September 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a correspondent bank?
A correspondent bank holds deposits owned by other banks and provides payment and other services to them. The bank that uses the account is the respondent. In a cross-border payment the respondent opens an account at the correspondent, and the two settle payments by crediting and debiting that account.
What is an intermediary bank?
An intermediary bank sits in the middle of a payment chain, between the sending bank and the receiving bank. The BIS says a chain of one or more intermediaries is needed when the sending bank has no direct account relationship with the receiving bank, that this is very common, and that a chain can involve banks in more than two countries.
Will my international transfer use a correspondent bank?
Probably, if your bank and the receiving bank are in different countries and do not hold accounts with each other. If they do, the money can go straight across. Only your bank knows the route, so use the checker above and then ask the bank.
How do I find out which correspondent bank my payment used?
Ask your bank. No public list shows which correspondent a bank uses, because each relationship is an agreement between two banks. Some banks can track a cross-border payment and give you a reference. BPI's page, for example, says its outward cross-border remittances are tracked in real time with SWIFT gpi.
Why did less money arrive than I sent?
A bank in the middle may have deducted a fee. The BIS report of July 2016 said that, by market practice, an intermediary bank typically deducts a fee from a payment sent as an MT 103 message, so the recipient does not receive the full amount. The charge option you chose also matters: with SHA the recipient pays the correspondent bank's charges, and with BEN the recipient pays all charges.
What do OUR, SHA and BEN mean?
They say who pays the charges. With OUR the sender pays all charges and the recipient gets the full amount. With SHA the sender pays the sending bank's charges and the recipient pays the correspondent bank's charges. With BEN the recipient pays all charges. These meanings are from the ANZ Transactive guide, and a bank may offer only some of the options.
Is there a public list of correspondent banks?
No public list says which correspondent a given bank uses. Correspondent banking is a bilateral agreement between two banks. Some banks publish instructions for senders on their own pages, and the bank's page or your bank is the place to look.
Do I need a correspondent bank for a local transfer?
Usually not. The BIS says correspondent banking matters much less for domestic payments, because they use national payment systems. A payment in a foreign currency between two banks in the same country may still use a bank that holds accounts in that currency, so ask your bank.
Should I put the correspondent bank's details on the transfer?
Only if the receiving bank tells you to. Use the SWIFT/BIC code and any intermediary details that the receiving bank gives you for the currency of your payment. BPI's page, for example, lists what a sender needs and says that no routing number, sort code, IBAN or ABA is needed for BPI.
What are nostro and vostro accounts?
They are the accounts that banks hold with each other. A nostro account is held by a respondent bank at a correspondent, and the correspondent's view of the same account is the vostro account. The BIS says reciprocal correspondent relationships may use them to settle foreign exchange transactions.
What are the serial and cover methods?
They are two ways to send a payment over SWIFT when the sending bank has no account with the receiving bank. In the serial method one MT 103 message passes along the chain of banks with the money. In the cover method the MT 103 goes directly to the receiving bank, and a separate cover payment, an MT 202 COV, carries the money through the intermediary banks.
Is anything I choose or type stored or sent?
No. The page runs in your browser and looks nothing up. What you choose and type is not stored or sent.
How current is this page?
The explanation is from the BIS report of July 2016, the ANZ Transactive guide and BPI's pages. Banks change their routes, fees and charge options, so confirm them with your bank. We last checked on 20 September 2026.
