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What is a SWIFT Code / BIC code?

Business Identifier Codes (BIC) has been developed by Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) to identify banks and financial institutions globally. That is why BIC Codes are also known as SWIFT Codes.SWIFT Codes / BIC Codes are used for transferring money between banks of different countries or SEPA payments. Banks also use these codes for exchanging financial messages.

SWIFT Code / BIC Code is formed of 8 or 11 characters in following system:

• First four characters in the SWIFT Code / BIC Code from left depicts bank code. In the case of the first four characters from left indicates that it is .
• Characters 5-6 from left in the SWIFT Code / BIC Code, depicts Country code of the bank. In the case of characters 5 and 6 from left indicates that bank is in . It means that all the banks located in will have at 5th and 6th place from left in their Swift Codes / BIC Codes.
• Characters 7-8 from left in the SWIFT Code / BIC Code, depicts City Code of the Bank. In the case of characters 7 and 8 from left indicates that bank is in . It means that all the branches of located in will have at 7th and 8th place from left in their Swift Codes / BIC Codes.
• Characters 9-11 from left in the SWIFT Code / BIC Code, depicts Branch Code of the Bank.
• Many Banks has taken only one SWIFT Code per country or have one SWIFT Code per city, for processing International Payments of all the Branches of the country / city through SWIFT enabled branch. So, if your Bank Branch is not depicting in the list, contact your Bank Branch for the SWIFT Code transactions.