ZAR correspondent banking: who clears the South African rand

Tracing a ZAR chain

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

Who clears ZAR payments?

ZAR settles through SAMOS. Banks without direct access hold a nostro account with a correspondent that has it, so a ZAR payment reaches the beneficiary by settling at that correspondent first and moving inwards. In the current dataset 320 distinct institutions act as ZAR correspondents.

How concentrated is ZAR clearing?

The three largest ZAR correspondents between them serve about 32% of the banks that publish a ZAR 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 ZAR correspondent?

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