Source: https://rivet.global/blog/panama-companies-correspondent-banking-international-wires
Published: 2026-10-05 · Updated: 2026-10-05 · By Rashidatou K.

# Panamanian companies and international wires: why dollar payments take longer than they should

Panama uses the dollar, yet wires from the US to Panamanian banks can be slow. How correspondent banking works, what causes holds, and faster options.

## Key takeaways

- Panama uses the US dollar, but payments from the US to Panamanian banks are international wires that pass through correspondent banks.
- Correspondent banks apply their own compliance checks, which can hold payments and request information.
- Panama left the FATF grey list in 2023, but many correspondent banks still treat Panama payments with care.
- US account details let US clients pay by ACH, which avoids the correspondent chain.

A Panama City logistics company invoices a Houston client US$27,400. Panama uses the dollar, so the founders expect the payment to arrive like a domestic one. It arrives four days later, after the correspondent bank asked the client's bank to confirm the purpose of the payment. The client paid on time; the route did not.

## The dollar, across a border

Panama has used the US dollar as legal tender since 1904, alongside the balboa coin. There is no exchange rate. But a payment from a US bank to a Panamanian bank is still an international payment. It travels as a wire through one or more correspondent banks, US banks that hold accounts for the Panamanian bank.

## Why wires get held

Correspondent banks screen each payment. A wire can be held when:

- the sender, beneficiary or purpose is incomplete or inconsistent,
- a name resembles one on a screening list,
- the amount or pattern differs from what the bank expects.

The correspondent then asks the sending bank for information, which asks the client, which asks you. Days pass.

Panama left the FATF grey list in October 2023 after strengthening its anti-money-laundering framework. That helped, but correspondent banks still apply their own risk assessments to payments into Panama.

## Reduce the holds

1. Make sure invoices and payment references state what the payment is for.
2. Give clients your company's exact legal name and address as the bank holds them.
3. Ask clients to send the purpose in the wire details.

## Or avoid the route

US account details in your company's own name let a Houston client pay by ACH, as a domestic payment. No correspondent chain, no international screening step, and the money usually arrives in one to two business days. You can then hold the dollars, pay suppliers or move funds to your Panamanian bank.

## Where Rivet fits

A Rivet business account accepts registered companies after verification, including Panamanian companies. Approved companies get US account details in their own name on every plan, euro and sterling details from the Growth plan, and payouts in 120+ countries, including to their Panamanian bank. Rivet is not a bank; regulated partner institutions hold the funds.

## Questions

### Why are wires to Panama slow if Panama uses the dollar?

Because the payment still crosses borders. It goes from the US bank to a correspondent and then to the Panamanian bank, and each step can hold it for checks.

### What causes a wire to be held?

Missing or inconsistent information about the sender, beneficiary or purpose, or a match against screening lists. The correspondent may ask the sending bank questions before releasing it.

### Is Panama still on the FATF grey list?

No. FATF removed Panama from its list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring in October 2023. Banks still apply their own risk assessments.

### How can US clients pay a Panamanian company faster?

By ACH to US account details in the company's name, which avoids international correspondent routes.