How settlement chain tracing works
A payment rarely reaches its destination in one hop. SwiftSSI reconstructs the whole path from the data banks already publish, so you can see where funds actually settle.
Start from a respondent bank
Search by BIC or institution name and pick a settlement currency. The instruction table shows every standing instruction on file for that bank, with the asset category and the nostro account number.
Follow the nostro relationships
Each instruction says the respondent holds its account for that currency with a named correspondent. SwiftSSI takes that correspondent and looks up its own instruction for the same currency, then repeats.
Stop at the clearing institution
The chain ends when a bank holds no onward instruction for the currency, or names itself as account holder. Either way it has direct clearing access, and it is labelled as the ultimate clearer or a direct participant.
Handle the awkward cases
Where two banks hold accounts with each other the trace stops and reports a reciprocal relationship rather than looping. Where a bank publishes several correspondents, every route is shown, with preferred instructions flagged.
Common questions
- What is a standing settlement instruction?
- An SSI is a bank's published statement of where it wants to receive funds in a given currency, for a given asset category. It names the account-holding institution — the correspondent — and usually the account number held there.
- What is the ultimate clearer?
- The last institution in a settlement chain: the bank that holds no onward instruction for that currency because it has direct access to the clearing system, so funds settle there.
- Why does a chain sometimes have more than one route?
- A bank can publish several instructions for the same currency, for example one per asset category or a preferred and a secondary correspondent. SwiftSSI shows each distinct route separately rather than picking one.