The document discusses building the first digital correspondent banking network for digital banks, EMIs, IFEs and e-wallets. It notes that while fintech has disrupted many banking verticals, correspondent banking remains untapped. It then outlines some of the challenges with the current correspondent banking system, including that it is outdated, time-consuming to establish relationships, and poses compliance nightmares. The document introduces the BRIDGES platform as aiming to address these challenges by providing a fully digital onboarding process, seamless API integration, and built-in compliance functionality. This would allow BRIDGES to efficiently onboard and service a wide range of financial institutions and their customers.

1. Building the first digital correspondent
banking network for digital banks
digital correspondent
BRIDGES .
platform
platform
Correspondent banking
banking network for digital banks,
EMIs, IFEs and e-wallets
Analysis and research by Vladislav Solodkiy
'October 2023
Correspondent banking
bridges
"Fintech has disrupted many banking verticals, but (digital)
correspondent banking remains an untapped niche."

2. 16
$227B
trx revenue2
$130T
trx value2
5.4B
of cross-border
trxs is estimated
for 20201
$125B
$20B
$39B
$43B
25k other
providers
(MTO, Fintech,
crypto)
B2B $127T
$1.4T
B2C
$1.1T
С2B
$0.7T
С2C
493k banks3
process
79% of CB trx value
$103T
processed
$153B
gained
$27T
processed
$76B
gained
trx processing trx processor revenues >
< trx volumes
80%
80%
Cross-border flows
through corrbank
system generates
67% of industry
revenue
40%
55%
60%
^
4 out of 5 of all FIs
process CB trx through
corrbanking channels3
342
correspondent
banks4
79% of value in cross-border trxs
is moved by correspondent banks
Most of CB trx value
comes from B2B and
is processed by the
corrbank system
Market
Correspondent
banking
market size
Analysis and research
by Vladislav Solodkiy
linkedin.com/in/vsolodkiy

3. highlights
BRIDGES Platform highlights
The first .digital. correspondent banking platform
tailored to digibanks, EMIs, e-wallets, IFEs, &
MTMSBs
The first correspondent .monoliner.
that thinks about (bank-clients and) end-users
The first direct two-way correspondent banking payment rails
with .integrated compliance orchestration. engine
2
Intro
Correspondent banking market highlights
There is no
There is no
There is no
There is a huge demand, lack of supply chain, significant problems from customers, a crazy payment
volume, a high-margin business, and zero acquisition cost if you have anything to suggest.

4. 4
* — mPesa, Africa; AliPay/WeChatPay, China; LinePay, Japan; KakaoTalk Pay, South Korea; Paytm, India, etc.
■ FI and non-FI — financial institution — a term used by regulators for banks and
non-FIs ‘bigger than usual business clients of banks’ (MTIs, brokers, exchanges,
everyone who handles end-users’ funds)
■ MTI, MSB, MT — money-transfer institution (money service business, money transmitter)
with a license to hold and operate clients’ funds that still require a master bank account;
■ Digibanks — licensed digital banks and not-licensed neobanks in the US and worldwide;
■ EMI — Electronic Money Institution, the most common license in the UK and EU for digibanks, fintechs and BaaS;
■ E-Wallets — digibank-like entities without license that are bigger than any bank in Asia & MEA*
■ IFE — International Financial Entity (banks licenced in Puerto Rico, part of the NY FedRes area),
a popular license for digibanks and international banking business in the US, especially in LATAM corridors
■ CBR — a correspondent banking relation (CB — correspondent bank) that consists of core-banking integration (a ledger within each system) &
a compliance engine (incl. KYC, KYB, AML and transaction monitoring - especially KYCC problem, know your customers’ customers);
■ SWIFT — an interbank messaging system, not a payment rail, that has a ledger of bank-participants and “codes” (processes) to execute
transactions. A hierarchical linear system with only a few well-connected intermediary banks across the globe that provide anchor integrations
for others (like JP Morgan, DeutscheBank, Barclays, Citi, BNP Paribas);
Glossary: Fintechs as the key players
in cross-border payments Direct reverse correspondent
banking — a decentralized
horizontal model (BRIDGES) where
all network participants are
mutually integrated and establish
two-way corridors instead of only
sending out (as SWIFT)
horizontal model (aka BRIDGES) where

5. Compliance nightmare
Secured deposits model hinders speed
Developers-unfriendly old tech8
Time-consuming relationship setup5
Corrbanking drawbacks slow down.
financial flows
The current system lags
behind its potential due to:
5
Banks, digital banks, & neo-banks are rapidly evolving & entering the market.
The Correspondent banks they use are not. The supply for fintech stays the same.
Offline onboarding6
Calls, meetings & document ping-pong
6-9 months to fully operational CBR7
No APIs
No SDKs
Offline support9
Large trx freezes
Manual processing8
Trx pending status up to 12 weeks
No trust
No transparency
No efficiency or flexibility
Problem

6. Secured deposits model hinders speed
Time-consuming relationship setup#
Fully-digital onboarding process
Orchestrating core-banking systems
Compliance nightmare
Developers-unfriendly old tech#
BRIDGES addresses every challenge
of the correspondent banking
6
Clear proposal and expectations
Transparent requirements
Online documents submission &
application approval
No need to replace your
core-banking and compliance
systems - we are integrating
(mirroring and sync) on top
APIs & Clear integration
documentation
One compliance language
(translation) for all chain
participants
KYCC problem solving
Dedicated dashboards
for each corrbank. Direct
CB-to-client messaging. Full
browsable trx history
Direct buffer accounts
monitoring (see more)
BRIDGES
Plug’n’play ready-to-go tech.integration
Orchestrating compliance systems
Solution
Correspondent banking challenges l Real customers' pain
The problems after SVB, Silvergate, and Signature
banks have made demand even higher
monitoring

7. A lot of money to be made
yet noone is interested.
But for no bank CBRs are at the core of their business model.
They are retreating and scaling down (see our research).
7
4 out of 5 FIs process
international trx through
corrbanking channels3
79% of value in CB
trxs is moved by
correspondent banks,
generating $150+B
revenue p.a.
SWIFT provides the information
but doesn’t provide the payment
rails. (see the model). Each new
legacy CBR requires tailored
complex tech integration.
Costly compliance slows down the
most fast-growing segments (ecom,
fintech, crypto, trade finance) (see
research). New AMLA regulations
of Jan 2024 make it even worse.
SWIFT works only one-way and
relies on the pre-loaded deposit
model which needs constant
monitoring and forecasting,
creating liquidity collapses.
CBRs are hard to establish and very expensive to maintain
A lot of money
Problem
Opportunity: It is a real cash cow and can quickly become operationally profitable, which is critical in the current economic situation.
starting from January 1st, 2024, FinCEN is introducing a new
regulation, AMLA, which requires banks to conduct KYCC,
which affects correspondent banks the most

8. From competitors to
BRIDGES clients
New entrants only offer band-aids.
and target different markets
Legacy corrbanks Fintech . Blockchain solutions
Motivation CBR as a tertiary revenue
stream leveraging their
convenient geo location
Focus on the end-user pains:
to speed up small transactions
for smaller costs
DLT creates streamlined
trustless flows in disparate
siloed networks
Drawbacks Offering CBR within current
system with their tech and
risk-based assessments
are not profitable.
Lack of licence leads
to compliance challenges, limits
clientele and trx processing
capacity
Build tech with no focus on
banks-clients, ignoring legal
aspects and other industry
pains and specifics
Target market Low-risk banks & FIs C2C, B2B, P2P Banks, FIs, B2B, P2P
8
Competition
digital banks, European EMIs, Asian
e-wallet giants, Puerto-Rican IFEs,
MTsMSBs, and brokers, all facing the
same and the same issue
There are around 550+ competitors across the globe,
including the two largest (JP Morgan and Deutsche
Bank) and the five banks we are connected with,
however, none of them are fully focused on this business.
Ripple have chosen XRP games over correspondent
banking, and do not pay close attention to compliance.
Ripple works for small crypto-related transactions but is
not a wholesale solution.

9. BRIDGES will make trx flows
efficient for 330+ future clients
330+
270+
traditional &
digital banks
in high-risk
jurisdictions1
1 — 276 banks in high-risk jurisdictions, excl. high-risk banks from US and Europe. 2 — 2% of all banks in the top geo for these industries: USA, Canada, UK, EU, Singapore, India, Japan
7,861 US banks
non-members of FRS
(domestic market)21
230+ banks
that serve high-risk
customers
(incl. International clients,
crypto, art, gaming, etc.)2
150
neobanks &
challenger
banks20
82% outside US
52 IFEs19
(in Puerto
Rico)
14M international traders 3k MSBMT
21k Fintech
companies
504 crypto
exchanges
394 EMIs
In the UK and EU
Base-level stakeholders (end-beneficiaries)
10
Future targets
Our direct clients
in need of an efficient CBR
High-risk
customers
CBRs retreat pushes further limitations on high-risk18
clients
432 trust
companies
(in the US)
Market
I understand this problem firsthand and know all competitors not from TechCrunch, CB Insights or FT Partners’ reports, but as their client
The cross-border economy is growing each year.
The demand for cross-border payments is rapidly
increasing as well.
CBRs retreat pushes further limitations on high-risk clients
in need of an efficient CBR

10. .The BRIDGES Platform. makes CBR easy and fast
11
Built-in compliance
No more Chinese Whispers — universal
compliance workflow allows BRIDGES to onboard:
■ FIs from high-risk jurisdictions
■ Banks that serve high-risk clients
■ Digital banks with unconventional
business models
No matter how innovative you are
we can work with you!
■
■
■
Seamless and quick FIs onboarding
API-integration allows to establish CBR with ease:
■ All integration terms are available online
No more phone-call Odyssey and dismissed requests
■ Transparent onboarding process & requirements
No more unexpected surprises or hidden costs
■ Online document uploading & quick decision-making
Integration will take weeks instead of months
■
■
■
Compliance check
data
Product
compliance workflow allows YOU to onboard:
Fintech has disrupted many banking verticals, but correspondent banking remains an untapped niche.
Like “Wise for banks”: on the way to digital
correspondent banking
Compliance requirements from regulators have
become more stringent, making it impossible to
address this as an ad hoc business.

11. first CBDC-
friendly bank
Without any additional integrations
Once integrated BRIDGES
supercharges any bank
MVP stage for bank-partners
(see the process in action)
1. We allocate a team for bank
onboarding and integrate of charge
2. The compliance engine and core-
banking functionality are up and
running within a month (better - week)
3. Bank-partner gets profit on
bankfintech clients by reusing
existing infrastructure in the first
month
Future products
12
Sweep Deposits
program
Smart Treasury
(beyond Fed rates)
BaaS for
fintechs
Paid-in capital
loans
Cross-border
Stablecoin Issuance
AI-fueled
AML engine
Digital Identity solution
for end-users
supercharges
Product
Complimentary products
Correspondent banking as a client acquisition channel for the digital identity product
Like Worldcoin, but useful
Like Worldcoin, but useful
Your correspondent bank-clients store tons of
data about their end-users (senders and
recipients), including images of IDs, real-time
photos and videos, social and business
connections, presentations and docs, reasons
for transactions, etc.
You generate thousands of new government-
accepted KYC-ed profiles for end-users,
which could be an amazing basis for services
like digital identity (online-voting and
elections, automation of visa-application
processes, check-ins in airports, and more).

12. Revenue flows
Business model: Revenue flows
13
Compliance checks
Transaction fees
Treasury
Service fees
internal cost margin
Onboarding fee
Monthly subscription fee
Domestic incoming
Domestic outgoing
International incoming
International outgoing
KYCKYB
Transaction monitoring
Extended checks
AML screening
Fed rates, etc
We buy from bank partners
in bulk & re-selling to retail
We sell not
transactions, but
provenance
Our Minimum: $100k revenue per client
Our Target: $1+M ARR per client
[Biggest & most profitable
revenue stream in Arival]
Business model
Two things about the correspondent banking market:
#1, everyone knocking every door every day;
#2, this is WOM market, if you need to advertise it - something goes wrong. Minimum:
Target:
You buy from bank partners
You sell not
revenue stream in the future]
Business target: at least $1m per year, 10 clients for the first year ($10m ARR), 30 clients ($30m ARR) , etc

13. around
150,000
CBRs4
17
Cross-border flows are handled by the few.
>50%
of corridors have limited
correspondent coverage11
Declining number of CBs4
128k
96k
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Increasing number of CB trxs4
40k
60k
~350
corrbanks4
1:400 – 1 corrbank maintains on avg 400 relations
Concentrated industry dominated by JPMorgan (up to $6T a day10
) and Deutsche Bank
De-risking limits geo coverage & adds hurdles
Cross-border volumes are rising1
, but corridors and CBRs are shrinking11
due to stricter AML/CFT policies (Deutsche Bank scaled back CBRs by 60%12
after the Danske Bank scandal).
It leads to higher trx fees through longer payment
chains4
with 83% of trxs being processed via chains
of 3 and more corrbanks13
Market
Correspondent banking market size l Analysis and research by Vladislav Solodkiy l linkedin.com/in/vsolodkiy

14. compliance nightmare
Players do not serve high-risk clients
due to compliance nightmare
18
animation
Chinese Whispers problem
Jurisdictional legal restrictions1
, varying compliance
processes and requirements, and manual data handling
lead to the loss of compliance data and slow processing
1 — Many respondent banks may not lawfully share certain types of customer due diligence data with corrbanks due to strict data protection and bank secrecy laws.6
Compliance
data check
>$270B
compliance costs
per annum16
Compliance costs each bank
4-10% of revenue.16
60% of CB B2B trx are processed
manually for at least 20 min.8
It makes 1.5M+ FTE per year globally.
up to $4B p.a.
for one bank17
~5% of all cross-border trxs
cost banks 25x–35x more in
compliance than in processing17
Problem
Correspondent banking is not just about payment rails, but it also involves the orchestration of core-banking systems, compliance systems,
and knowledge of the regulatory requirements in the US (as the main corridor for correspondent banking services).
Must have: you also integrate compliance to avoid stuck transactions, which is a significant problem for all correspondent banking providers

15. BRIDGES Platform
BRIDGES Platform product line for every corridor
24
ACH-out + . ACH-in + . Local account opening
Description We receive funds from
overseas and deliver to the
client bank locally through
domestic ACH
We also enable client banks not
only to send but also to receive
funds from end-users to their
correspondent accounts
We open local accounts in target
currencies on behalf of the client
banks from other jurisdictions
for their end-users
Directions non-US FIs > US accounts US end-users > non-US account Both ways
What it means
for end-users
Send trx to the BRIDGES local
master account instead of
moving funds over the border
Send local trx to a corr.account
using beneficiary overseas bank
account as a reference number
Non-US banks can own and fully
manage their US-based bank account
in the same way as their local ones
for every corridor
2
1 3
The first one-to-many corridors offer
a single one-time BRIDGES integration
is all that is needed to access all our corridors*
* — As we offer a US-in corridor to clients from different jurisdictions, we will open the US-out corridor through them as well.
US
EU
UK
Singapore
Product
a single one-time integration: you suggest reversing correspondent
banking relationships to give clients the ability to reduce required
deposits and top-ups, generate additional profits for them, and create
an amazing user experience for their end-users.
What if?: to become a monoliner in the correspondent banking business by focusing solely on this service and making it awesome
Reverse correspondent banking model
You receive funds from
Send trx to your local CRB
You also enable client banks not You open local accounts in target

16. 1. You fill an online form, directly uploading
all digital documents into our system
2. You install our compliance solution that
integrates your current provider into the
database and the user-friendly interface.
3. You connect with the BRIDGES Platform
via our high-throughput API.
4. To eliminate secured deposits we install
our core on top of your infrastructure (we
already work with many: CrossRiverBank,
Evolve, Mbanq, Railsbank, Contis, etc.)
25
Correspondent account
opened within a month
BRIDGES
Product
Target: Correspondent account
Correspondent banking isn't a favor,
but a service
You?
you install
Evolve, Mbanq, Railsbank, Contis
already work with many: C
our core on top of your infrastructure
connect clients with your Platform
Pain: NO ONE 100% happy with their current correspondent bank provider - this is why everyone is always looking for 2nd, 3rd, 4th partners (just in case and to avoid dependency)
Correspondent business isn't about engagement and retention -
it is everything about capacity and CHURN (because of low capacity).
When it’s opened - it is so hard to maintain it