On 15 October 2026, Bakai Bank announced the planned closure of its US dollar and euro correspondent accounts at Zhejiang Chouzhou Commercial Bank. A correspondent account lets one bank use another bank to handle payments. Bakai told customers to stop using those details for incoming USD or EUR transfers to Bakai Bank. Businesses need new payment details before sending more funds through this route. Read the official bank notice
This change calls for an immediate review of your cross-border payments. If your business relies on one bank route, losing it can disrupt customer payments, supplier deliveries and the whole order.
Check now: if your usual account cannot receive the next payment, do you have a backup you can use?
1. A single route can put Russia-related trade on hold
If your Russia-related trade has relied solely on the route above for USD or EUR transfers, you now need another way to handle those payments. Your customer may be ready to pay, but the old transfer details can no longer be used. Your supplier is waiting, and you have no other usable account. The order can stall at the payment stage.
Both sides may still want to trade. A receipt for a past successful transfer will not resolve new bank restrictions. Finding another bank at short notice can mean a fresh business review, account opening, activation and preparation for first use. While you wait, deliveries may slip and cash flow may tighten. You also have to keep explaining the delay to customers and suppliers.
Prepare a backup account before you need it. If you only start looking when your sole payment route closes, you lose time and control over how you fulfil the order.
2. Review your accounts even if you do not trade with Russia
Banking risks in international trade extend beyond the country where your customer is based. Bank policies, correspondent relationships, sanctions and political changes can all affect how you receive and send money.
For example, your customers may be mainly in Europe and usually pay in USD or EUR. If your payment setup also relies on this route, those payments cannot continue through it, even if the orders have no link to Russia. Being able to open an account does not tell you whether it can support your markets over time.
That is why we design accounts around your business from the start:
- Where are your customers, which banks do they pay from, and which currencies do they use?
- Where are your suppliers, and which accounts and currencies can they accept?
- After you receive the money, do you need to transfer, retain or exchange it?
- Which backup account can take over if your usual bank cannot handle a payment?
Choosing a bank because someone says opening an account is easy does not answer these questions. If you serve Europe today and enter another market next, review whether your existing accounts still fit.
3. Three steps to take now
1. Contact your bank manager if you use Chouzhou or this route
Give your bank manager the payment details you use, the currencies and the countries involved. Confirm which arrangements need to stop, change or undergo a new review. Ask for current transfer instructions.
If you have sent funds that have not reached the account, also ask the sending bank to trace them. Keep the transfer receipt and reference number. Find out where the money is before arranging a return, sending more documents or making another payment. This helps you avoid paying twice.
2. Review your business accounts if you use other banks
If you chose a bank simply because it would open an account, or have never checked your backup arrangements, we recommend a business bank account review with EZIPD. We check whether your accounts can support your actual trade.
| Review area | What we check with you |
|---|---|
| Customer payments | Whether your accounts suit your main customers' countries, sending banks and currencies |
| Supplier payments | Whether you can pay your actual suppliers after receiving funds, and which trade documents you need |
| Backup arrangements | Whether accounts at other banks are open and active, and you understand their conditions of use |
| Business changes | Whether your account setup still fits after changes in markets, customers or bank policies |
3. Prepare backup accounts at other banks
We strongly recommend that international trading businesses prepare backup accounts at other banks. Do not depend on one bank for all receipts and payments.
A simple business may need a main account and a backup. More complex markets, currencies and trades may call for a wider mix. Your business needs should determine the number of accounts. A backup must have a clear use; opening it and leaving it idle is not enough.
Accounts at different banks may still depend on the same key correspondent arrangements. We assess this shared reliance to help reduce the risk that one change affects several accounts at once.
4. How EZIPD plans accounts for the next change
We first map how money moves through your business before recommending banks. Alongside asking where you want to open an account, we need to know who pays you, whom you pay and why the trade works that way.
We discuss this background with banks. We check the countries they accept, currency functions, trade documents, fees and account use. We then plan the roles of your main and backup accounts. Each bank needs to understand the real trade and makes its own decision on whether to accept it.
Once the plan is agreed, we help prepare documents for Know Your Customer (KYC) checks, support account applications and complete the agreed handover. If you appoint us for post-opening Bank Service, we also help with activation, guidance for first receipts and payments, bank communication and follow-up documents. You keep final approval over payments.
The work continues as you use the accounts. When you enter a new market, change suppliers or face a bank policy change, we review the original plan. We check which accounts can stay in use, which need more documents and which functions another bank needs to handle.
This is Banking Intelligence in practice. We combine regular bank communication, experience from payments we have helped clients complete, and your current business needs. That gives you practical options for your next step.
5. Choose EZIPD to prepare before your business is disrupted
We help you look beyond which bank will open an account today. We also plan how you will receive and pay funds after opening, and how to respond when conditions change.
International trade depends on economic conditions, politics, local rules and bank risk policies. You cannot control all these changes. You can prepare account roles, backups and documents in advance. This reduces reliance on a single bank and the pressure to find a solution at short notice.
Better decisions come from fuller information, earlier preparation and follow-through in practice. EZIPD's decision engine draws on our team's professional judgment and hands-on experience. We help you understand your choices before funds move and act when bank conditions change.
Design First, Action Follow.
If you use a Chouzhou-related payment route, contact your bank manager now to confirm the impact. If you use other banks, contact us for a business bank account review. Tell us where customer payments come from, where your suppliers are, which currencies you use and which accounts you hold. We will review your main and backup arrangements around your business.