SWIFT - BIC CODES are maintained and handled by the World SWIFT organization which is an acronym for “Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication”. Whenever you have to wire transfer the first information you need is to find the right SWIFT/BIC code for your transfer. SWIFT code is a standard format of Bank Identifier Codes (BIC) and it is unique for every bank branch or financial institution. These codes are used for transferring money between banks and transmitting messages between financial institutions and banks. Initially, these were known by SWIFT CODES but later also standardized as BIC which stands for “Business Identifier Codes”. BIC and SWIFT Codes are unique alphanumeric codes assigned to each bank branches over the world swift network, which enable us to hassle-free transactions and ease us with the fund's transfers.
A SWIFT/BIC is an 8-11 character code that identifies your country, city, bank, and branch.
Bank code A-Z
4 letters representing the bank. It usually looks like a shortened version of that bank's name.
Country code A-Z
2 letters representing the country the bank is in.
Location code 0-9 A-Z
2 characters made up of letters or numbers. It says where that bank's head office is.
Branch Code 0-9 A-Z
3 digits specifying a particular branch. 'XXX' represents the bank’s head office.
A swift code consists of 11 or 8 characters, which is the standard format standardized by ISO (International Organization for Standardization). Here is an example code: CHASUS33XXX. This swift code is for the head offices of “JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.” in the U.S.A. and can be broken down to four parts:
CHAS - US - 33 - XXXFirst four characters: These 4 characters (“CHAS” in our example) identify the bank (“JP Morgan Chase”). This 4-letter code is used to identify this particular financial institution’s branches and divisions all over the world. Fifth and sixth characters: These 2 characters identify the country in which the bank is located. “US” in this example means “UNITED STATES”. Seventh and eighth characters: These 2 characters represent a location code (“33” in this example). Last three characters: These 3 characters form the branch code. “XXX” is used to identify the HEAD OFFICE or the institution, but this particular branch code is optional, and if omitted, the 8-character remaining code (“CHASUS33” in our example) is assumed to refer to the head office (primary office) of the institution.
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