For a smaller bank or payment institution, the barrier to a new corridor is rarely technology. It is the months of due diligence, legal work and relationship-building that must happen before the first payment can move — and the uncomfortable fact that a larger correspondent may simply decline the relationship. When active correspondent relationships contracted by around 22% globally between 2011 and 2019, and by roughly 30% in Latin America since 2012, the institutions with the least bargaining power lost reach first.

Why corridor-building stalls

Building a corridor from zero means finding a partner, agreeing terms, exchanging documentation, satisfying both sets of compliance teams and then keeping the relationship alive. For a smaller institution, the fixed cost is disproportionate, and the outcome is uncertain. Many corridors are never built because the economics never close.

Participation instead of construction

A hub changes the unit of effort. The corridor already exists as a route inside the network, so the institution joins reach rather than assembling it. One compliance function checks each operation once — reliance confirmation, sanctions screening, agent mandate, profile fit and network anomaly signals. Where a route requires a partner, it is already a participant.

This does not mean skipping diligence. Admission still depends on standards, and access can be tiered, so a new member may start with defined corridors and limits.

Where the diligence still applies

Participation rests on a reliance agreement built on FATF Recommendation 17, which allows a regulated institution to rely on due diligence performed by another. But reliance does not transfer legal responsibility. Each party keeps its own duties, and cross-border reliance is not permitted everywhere — local-law limits are checked per jurisdiction.

Realistic expectations

The gain is narrower and faster: quicker access to a route that already works, without building each relationship by hand. It is not a promise of instant global coverage, and phases matter — early corridors run on licensed partners before later infrastructure is owned directly.

In short

  • The real barrier to a new corridor is process, not technology.
  • De-risking withdrew reach from smaller institutions first.
  • A hub lets an institution join existing routes rather than build them.
  • Diligence continues; access is tiered by admission outcome.
  • Reliance does not transfer legal responsibility, and local limits apply.

Explore how smaller institutions join the network at /apply/.