Reminder : Contact the bank, corporation or institution that will receive the message and ask for their Swift number. The best departments to contact will be the Trading, Wire Transfers or Securities Settlement areas of the company. Visit the Swift internet site at Swift.com/biconline. Enter the bank or corporation name and do a search. The search results will provide the number (s) assigned to the company by Swift. The basic search is free, for more detailed information, a paid subscription is required. Arrange for alternative methods of communication if you can't find a Swift code for the bank, broker or corporation. Try sending an e-mail or a fax or calling over the telephone.
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What to Know about Swift Codes?

ISO 9362 (also known as SWIFT-BIC, BIC code, SWIFT ID or SWIFT code) is a standard format of Bank Identifier Codes approved by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). It is the unique identification code of a particular bank. These codes are used when transferring money between banks, particularly for international wire transfers, and also for the exchange of other messages between banks. The codes can sometimes be found on account statements.

The overlapping issue between ISO 9362 and ISO 13616 is discussed in the article International Bank Account Number (also called IBAN).

The SWIFT code is 8 or 11 characters, made up of:

  • 4 characters - bank code (only letters)
  • 2 characters - ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code (only letters)
  • 2 characters - location code (letters and digits) (if the second character is '1', then it denotes a passive participant in the SWIFT network)
  • 3 characters - branch code, optional ('XXX' for primary office) (letters and digits)

Where an 8-digit code is given, it may be assumed that it refers to the primary office.

SWIFT Standards, a division of The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), handles the registration of these codes. For this reason, Bank Identifier Codes (BICs) are often called SWIFT addresses or codes.

There are over 7,500 "live" codes (for partners actively connected to the BIC network) and an estimated 10,000 additional BIC codes which can be used for manual transactions.


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