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CUPCUP

CUP correspondent banking: who clears the CUP

Banks without direct access to CUP clearing settle through a correspondent that has it. CUP settles through its domestic clearing system.

CUP in the instruction data

Aggregate figures from the current SWIFT standing settlement instruction dataset.

2
banks publish a CUP instruction
3
correspondents serve CUP
100%
served by the top three
1
countries represented

Individual instructions, BICs and account numbers are available to subscribers.

Tracing a CUP chain

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

Who clears CUP payments?
CUP settles through the local clearing system. Banks without direct access hold a nostro account with a correspondent that has it, so a CUP payment reaches the beneficiary by settling at that correspondent first and moving inwards. In the current dataset 3 distinct institutions act as CUP correspondents.
How concentrated is CUP clearing?
The three largest CUP correspondents between them serve about 100% of the banks that publish a CUP 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 CUP correspondent?
Search the bank's BIC, select CUP, and the chain resolves hop by hop to the institution that clears the currency, including the nostro account number on each relationship.
Trace a CUP chainHow it works

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