Nostro and vostro accounts

Roles that need it

• Treasury Operations Analyst
• Reconciliations Analyst
• Payments Operations Analyst
• Payments & Cash Management Sales (Financial Institutions)
• ALM Analyst

Skills it belongs to

• Correspondent banking and financial institutions coverage
• Treasury and cash flow management

Related concepts

• Correspondent bankingCorrespondent banking is an arrangement in which one bank (the correspondent) holds deposits for another bank (the respondent) and makes and receives payments for it, usually in a currency or country where the respondent has no direct access. It underpins most cross-border payments and requires due diligence on the respondent.
• Nostro reconciliationNostro reconciliation is the daily matching of a bank's own records of expected payments and receipts with the statements (camt.053 or MT 950) sent by its correspondents. Unmatched items, called breaks, are investigated and resolved so that balances, interest and fees are correct and missing payments are found early.
• Cover paymentA cover payment is a cross-border payment method in which the customer payment message goes directly from the payer's bank to the payee's bank, while the funds travel separately through correspondent banks as an interbank transfer (MT 202 COV or pacs.009 COV). The cover message must carry payer and payee details so that intermediaries can screen them.

Sources

• Correspondent banking, CPMI report (2016), Bank for International Settlements (external site) accessed 31 Oct 2026
• CPMI glossary, Bank for International Settlements (external site) accessed 31 Oct 2026

Updated 31 Oct 2026.