BICs / SWIFT Codes Key facts and information

BICs / SWIFT Codes – what’s in a name?BICs (Business Identifier Codes) are also known as

SWIFT Codes ISO 9362 BEIs (Business Entity Identifiers) SWIFT-BICs SWIFT IDs

For the purpose of this presentation we will refer to them as BICs…

BICs – a brief historyA BIC is the unique identification code of a particular bank.

BICs are used to transfer money between banks, particularly for international wire transfers, and also for the exchange of other messages between banks.

BICs are approved by The ISO (International Organisation for Standardization), who appointed SWIFT as the registration authority for the assignment of BICs. For this reason, they are sometimes referred to as SWIFT Codes.

BIC formatsBICs are written and printed as a string without spaces.

There are two types of BIC:

BIC8 – an 8-character BIC. Identifies a financial or non-financial institution in a country or a location.

BIC11 - an 11-character BIC. Identifies the institution's branch.

Note: Where an 8-digit code is given you should assume that it refers to the primary office.

8-characer BICsThe structure of an 8 character BIC is as follows:

Institution code4 alphabetic characters identifying the institution. For example, BNPA for BNP-Paribas.

Country code2 alphabetic characters identifying the country where the institution is located. For example, FR for France.

Location code2 alphabetic or numerical characters that give additional location information within a country (such as a city or region). For example, PP for Paris.

11-character BICs

An 8-character BIC can be extended to an 11-character BIC by adding a branch code.

Branch code

3 alphabetic characters. The branch code identifies the physical branch of an institution; or its department or type of business.

Connected and unconnected BICs

BICs identify both financial and non-financial institutions, connected and not connected to the SWIFT network.

Connected

A BIC for an institution connected to the SWIFT network has a location code ending with a character other than a ‘1’.

These BICs are sometimes called a ‘connected BIC’ or a ‘SWIFT BIC’.

Not Connected

The BIC of an institution not connected to the SWIFT network has the location code ending in ‘1’.

These BICs are sometimes called a ‘non-SWIFT BIC’, or a ‘BIC1’.

Note: Only a SWIFT BIC can appear in the header of a SWIFT message.

Example BICs - the big 5 banksTo date, SWIFT has issued up to 90,000 BICs worldwide!

Here are the BICs of the ‘big 5’ major UK banks:

Barclays - BARCGB22

HSBC – MIDLGB22 Lloyds Banking Group - LOYDGB2L

RBS – RBOSGB2L

Standard Chartered - SCBLGB2L

SWIFT & AccessPayTo find out more about SWIFT, read the AccessPay slideshare presentation:SWIFT secure financial messaging services - key facts and information

The AccessPay SWIFT Payments Module will help you leverage the power of the SWIFT network, and benefit from faster, more efficient global payments.

Read more about The AccessPay SWIFT Payments Module here.

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