BICs or SWIFT Codes

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BICs / SWIFT Codes Key facts and information
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Key facts and information
BICs / SWIFT Codes whats 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
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Key facts and information
BICs a brief history
A 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.
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Key facts and information
BIC formats
BICs 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.
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Key facts and information
8-characer BICs
The structure of an 8 character BIC is as follows
Institution code 4 alphabetic characters
identifying the institution. For example, BNPA
for BNP-Paribas.
Country code 2 alphabetic characters identifying
the country where the institution is located. For
example, FR for France.
Location code 2 alphabetic or numerical
characters that give additional location
information within a country (such as a city or
region). For example, PP for Paris.
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Key facts and information
11-character BICs
An 8-character BIC can be extended to an
11-character BIC by adding a branch code.
Branch code3 alphabetic characters. The branch
code identifies the physical branch of an
institution or its department or type of
business.
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Key facts and information
Connected and unconnected BICs
BICs identify both financial and non-financial
institutions, connected and not connected to the
SWIFT network.
Connected
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.
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.
Note Only a SWIFT BIC can appear in the header
of a SWIFT message.
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Key facts and information
Example BICs - the big 5 banks
To 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

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Key facts and information
SWIFT AccessPay
To 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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Any Questions?
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