AED correspondent banking: who clears the UAE dirham

Tracing a AED chain

Each instruction names the institution holding that bank's AED account. Following those links repeatedly ends at a bank that publishes no onward AED instruction — the ultimate clearer, with direct access to UAEFTS. That is where the money actually settles before moving inwards to the beneficiary.

Who clears AED payments?

AED settles through UAEFTS. Banks without direct access hold a nostro account with a correspondent that has it, so a AED payment reaches the beneficiary by settling at that correspondent first and moving inwards. In the current dataset 342 distinct institutions act as AED correspondents.

How concentrated is AED clearing?

The three largest AED correspondents between them serve about 24% of the banks that publish a AED instruction. Concentration matters because the withdrawal of one correspondent can affect a large number of respondent banks at once.

How do I find a bank's AED correspondent?

Search the bank's BIC, select AED, and the chain resolves hop by hop to the institution that clears the currency, including the nostro account number on each relationship.