Ask Queries

[toc]

How to find the SWIFT BIC code for a bank?

It’s a very quick and easy process to find the SWIFT BIC code of any bank! Just go to the website http://swiftifsccode.com/ and follow the simple steps given below.

Step 1. Click on the tab ‘SWIFT Finder’ on the top left side of the page.

Step 2. Enter the data (country, bank, city and branch) for which you need the code using the drop down menu.

Step 3. Click on the desired name of the branch given below.

Step 4. Tada! You get the SWIFT BIC code for the desired institution.

How to find the bank/institution using its SWIFT BIC code?

1. Again, all you need to do it log on to the same website (http://swiftifsccode.com/) and click on the tab “Bank from SWIFT code” at the bottom left side of the page.

2. Just enter the SWIFT BIC code in the given box…

…and voila! You have the details of the bank in no time!

 

SWIFT/ BIC code is a code consisting of 8/11 alphanumeric characters, which uniquely identify a financial institution in terms of its name, location and branch.

What are the full forms of SWIFT BIC Code?

SWIFT or Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication is a cooperative society which provides a network for communication between financial institutions for transactions, transfers, and other messages and is a standardized authorized format for BIC or Business Identifier Code, earlier known as Bank Identifier Code. It registers and manages the BIC/SWIFT codes.

How to read SWIFT BIC codes?

Format: XXXX YY ZZ AAA
XXXX– code for the institute (letters only)
YY– ISO code for the country (letters only)
ZZ– code for the location of the institute (alphanumeric)
AAA– code for the specific branch (optional) (both letters and digits allowed)

For e.g. the SWIFT/BIC code for the Opera House branch of Punjab National Bank (PNB) in Mumbai, Maharashtra is PUNBINBBBOH

Here,

PUNB stands for the name of the bank, i.e. Punjab National Bank
IN is the ISO country code for India
BB is the location code for the bank; and
BOH is the specific branch code.

In some codes where the last three characters are not present, i.e. in an 8 character SWIFT/BIC code, it means that the code refers to the headquarters or the main branch of the bank in a particular location. For e.g. the code PUNBINBB refers to the main branch of PNB in Mumbai.

What is the difference between BIC and SWIFT codes?

There is no difference between BIC and SWIFT code. They’re the same.

What is the full form of IBAN code?

International Bank Account Number

It is an internationally recognized number which gives information about a user’s bank account in terms of account number, name of the bank, and country, and facilitates cross-border transactions, communication and processing. Different financial institutions may follow different methods of constructing IBAN using their account numbers. It also helps in reducing transcription errors which may otherwise creep in due to human or OCR program errors.

The IBAN can go upto 34 alphanumeric characters and it only allows uppercase characters from A-Z and digits from 0-9.

It consists of the following:

1. Two letters representing the name of the country according to ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code standards.
2. Two check digits. These digits ensure the integrity of the IBAN. They can vary from one IBAN to another.
3. Basic Bank Account Number (BBAN) of the user, whose length can vary depending upon the country (maximum length-30). It consists of information about the bank and the account.

For e.g. IBAN for HSBC Bank, UK would look like- GB15MIDL40051512345678

GB – country code; 15 – check number; MIDL- bank code; 400515 – sort code; 12345678 – account number.

What is the difference between IBAN and SWIFT code?

IBAN is used to identify the account to which the transfer has to be made and the SWIFT code is used to identify the bank and its branch where the account lies. Although both IBAN and SWIFT code are used worldwide but the former is used most commonly in European countries.

What is the difference between IBAN and BIC code?

The same as the difference between IBAN and SWIFT code, since SWIFT code is just another name for BIC code