If you need to open a nostro account, the first step is finding banks that offer them. You can start with your current bank to see if nostro accounts are offered. If not, you can search online for banks that allow you to establish nostro accounts in other countries.

The Vostro account is simply a record of the amount of money that the bank holding the account owes to the other bank. Vostro account is a term used to describe an account held by another bank on behalf of the bank which owns it. Suppose a domestic bank (State Bank of India) opens a foreign account with Citigroup (the USA) in currency $ USD.

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Modern retail banking is derived from 13th and 14th century Italy, where both depositors and retail banks maintained ledgers of their account balances. The ledger kept by the depositing customer called it a nostro ledger; the bank kept the corresponding vostro ledger. The Euro bank will set up the account, but it is not a typical checking account.

A nostro account and a vostro account are two different types of bank accounts that are used in international trade and finance. Nostro and vostro are terms that are used to indicate which bank is holding the account, with nostro meaning “our” in Latin and vostro meaning “your” in Latin. An Indian dealer Mr. A want to pay amount in US dollars to the dealer in US for import of goods. Now Mr. A will approach his bank to set the dollar account on difference between nostro and vostro account behalf of him as he wanted to make payment in dollars against the goods imported from US. The local bank approached by Mr. A will approach to the foreign bank with which the bank is having banking relations and physical location in India for opening of NOSTRO Account. Say domestic bank approached by Mr. A is state bank of India which opens account with Bank of America in New York then the account opened by SBI is referred as NOSTRO Account.

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You open a nostro account with a U.S.-based bank which allows you to hold money in U.S. dollars. Nostro accounts are usually held by banks and large corporations that are involved in international trade. By holding funds in another bank in a foreign currency, the bank can conduct international trade transactions and foreign exchange without having to convert its local currency into foreign currency. Unlike Nostro accounts, these types of accounts are not confined or restricted to banks; they can be used by any other entity if they want to use them. The motive that lies behind a Vostro account is the need for the entities and banks to gain a physical presence in all the countries. For example, a bank that operates in the United Kingdom or any other country will also want to be able to work in other countries like China, Spain, Japan, the United Kingdom, and other parts of the world.

For instance UBS of Switzerland opening an account in SBI in India, this is vostro account for SBI India. Currency conversion fees may be charged as well, if one side of the transaction expects to receive a currency that is different from the currency that is sent. It takes a bit of working through to get the process straight in your mind, but it’s an established practice in international banking, and will be happening somewhere in the world, right as you read. The difference between the two is that it is described from the point of view of the two different banks i.e., depositor and holder. Whereas Vostro accounts that have credit balances are viewed as a type of liability.

Nostro Account vs. Vostro Account

Nostro and vostro accounts are used when one bank opens and maintains an account with another bank. These two “accounts” actually refer to two sets of accounting records maintained for the same account. Nostro refers to the records held by the account opener, while vostro refers to the records held by the account provider. The nostro account is a way of keeping track of how much of the bank’s money is being held by the other bank. This is similar to an individual keeping a detailed record of every payment in and out of his or her bank account so that she/he knows the balance at any point in time.

Vostro is a reference to “yours” and refers to “your money that is on deposit at our bank.” A vostro account is like any other account held by a bank. The account is a record of money owed to or maintained by a third party, typically another bank, but it can be either a company or an individual. Both banks in the venture must record the amount of money being stored by one bank on behalf of the other bank. The terms nostro and vostro are used to differentiate between the two sets of accounting records kept by each bank. Nostro is a current account that a bank holds with a bank in a foreign country. Such accounts are operated in the currency of that foreign country.

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From the domestic bank’s point of view, a Vostro account is just the same as any other ordinary bank account as it is payable on demand and is denoted by the same domestic currency of the country. For example, imagine that a particular USA-based bank wants to open an account in a particular India-based bank that has the currency of INR (Indian Rupees). A nostro account is a bank account that is held by one bank in another bank’s currency.

• Most currencies can be held for free; some account fees and currency holding fees may apply.
• The account holder will have the ability to buy or sell in the eurozone using the euro currency.
• ICICI provides financial services and promotes economic development and growth.
• Say that a U.S.-based company is interested in doing business in France.
• The bank which holds the nostro vostro account is called a facilitator bank and works in partnership with other banks to process international transfers, payments, and exchange.

A Nostro account is a mechanism that banks use to keep track of all funds being held in other banks in the currency of the country where the funds are held. The Nostro account is maintained in a foreign currency that can be converted for use in foreign exchange and foreign trades. A bank may have a Nostro account in any country that has a convertible currency, such as the euro, British pound, and the US dollar. If a currency is not convertible, a bank may work with a third party in the foreign country to carry out the transaction on its behalf.

Modern global finance requires that banks transact and communicate with partners all around the world. As a result, financial institutions often rely upon correspondent banks and intermediary banks in order to carry out interbank transactions. If a United States resident wants to open a euro account, they do not necessarily have to travel to Europe to open the account.