ISO 9362 is an international standard for Business Identifier Codes (BIC), a unique identifier for business institutions,[1] approved by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).[2] BIC is also known as SWIFT-BIC, SWIFT ID, or SWIFT code, after the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), which is designated by ISO as the BIC registration authority.[3] BIC was defined originally as a Bank Identifier Code[4] and is most often assigned to financial organizations; when it is assigned to a non-financial organization, the code may also be known as a Business Entity Identifier (BEI). 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 network does not require a specific format for the transaction so the identification of accounts and transaction types is left to agreements of the transaction partners. In the process of the Single Euro Payments Area the European central banks he agreed on a common format based on IBAN and BIC including an XML-based transmission format for standardized transactions. T2 (RTGS) is a joint gross clearing system in the European Union that does not require the SWIFT network for transmission (see EBICS). The TARGET directory lists all the BICs of the banks that are attached to the TARGET2-network being a subset of the SWIFT-directory of BICs.[5]
History[edit]There are five versions.
ISO 9362:1987, from year 1987, withdrawn[6] ISO 9362:1994, from year 1994, withdrawn[7] ISO 9362:2009, from year 2009, withdrawn[8] ISO 9362:2014, from year 2014, withdrawn[9] ISO 9362:2022, from year 2022, valid[10]ISO 9362 is based on the industry standard created by SWIFT around 1975.
Structure[edit]The SWIFT code is 8 or 11 characters, made up of:
4 letters: institution code or bank code. 2 letters: ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code (exceptionally, SWIFT has assigned the code XK to Republic of Kosovo, which does not he an ISO 3166-1 country code) 2 letters or digits: location code if the second character is "0", then it is typically a test BIC as opposed to a BIC used on the live network. if the second character is "1", then it denotes a passive participant in the SWIFT network if the second character is "2", then it typically indicates a reverse billing BIC, where the recipient pays for the message as opposed to the more usual mode whereby the sender pays for the message. 3 letters or digits: branch code, optional ('XXX' for primary office)Where an eight character 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. Because SWIFT originally introduced what was later standardized as Business Identifier Codes (BICs), they are still often called SWIFT addresses or codes.
The 2009 update of ISO 9362 broadened the scope to include non-financial institutions; before then BIC was commonly understood to be an acronym for Bank Identifier Code.
There are over 7,500 "live" codes (for partners actively connected to the SWIFT network) and an estimated 10,000 additional BIC codes which can be used for manual transactions.
Examples[edit]Deutsche Bank is an international bank, with its head office in Frankfurt, Germany. The SWIFT code for its primary office is DEUTDEFF:
DEUT identifies Deutsche Bank DE is the country code for Germany FF is the code for FrankfurtDeutsche Bank uses an extended code of 11 characters and has assigned branches or processing areas individual extended codes. This allows the payment to be directed to a specific office. For example, DEUTDEFF500 would direct the payment to an office of Deutsche Bank in Bad Homburg.
Nedbank is a primarily South African bank, with its head office in Johannesburg. The SWIFT code for its primary office is NEDSZAJJ:
NEDS identifies Nedbank ZA is the country code for South Africa JJ is the code for JohannesburgNedbank has not implemented the extended code of 11 characters and all SWIFT transfers to its accounts are directed to the primary office for processing. Those transfer interfaces that require an 11 digit code would enter NEDSZAJJXXX.
Danske Bank is a primarily Danish bank, with its head office in Copenhagen. The SWIFT code for its primary office is DABADKKK:
DABA identifies Danske Bank DK is the country code for Denmark KK (for Københn in Danish) is the code for Copenhagen.UniCredit Banca is a primarily Italian bank with its head office in Milan. The SWIFT code for its primary office is UNCRITMM:
UNCR identifies Unicredit Banca IT is the country code for Italy MM is the code for Milan.Dah Sing Bank is a bank based in Hong Kong that has five branches in mainland China (primary mainland China branch in Shenzhen). The SWIFT code for the branch in Shanghai is DSBACNBXSHA.
DSBA identifies Dah Sing Bank CN is the country code for China BXSHA is the code for Shanghai.It uses the 11-digit extended code, and SHA identifies the Shanghai branch.
BDO Unibank is the biggest bank in the Philippines, with its head office in Makati. The SWIFT Code for BDO is BNORPHMM. All BDO branches he the same SWIFT Code.
BNOR identifies BDO Unibank PH is the country code for the Philippines MM is the code for Metro Manila of which Makati is a part.Note that one bank can seem to he more than one bank identifier in a given country for separation purposes. Bank of East Asia separates its representative branch in the US and its US-based operations for local customers into BEASUS33xxx (following the code used in its home country) and BEAKUS33xxx respectively. This differs from its local mainland China operations which are also BEASCNxxxxx following Hong Kong rather than hing a separate identifier code.
An example of this is Bank of America in the United States. For US Dollar denominated wires, its SWIFT code is BOFAUS3N. The SWIFT code for wires sent in foreign currency (non-U.S. dollars) to Bank of America in the United States is BOFAUS6S.In the past, SEPA payments required both BIC and IBAN. Since 2016-02-01 only the IBAN is needed inside the SEPA (European Union and some more countries).
Twelve-character SWIFTNet FIN address based on BIC[edit]To identify endpoints on its network, SWIFT also uses twelve-character codes that are derived from the BIC of the institution. Such a code consists of the 'BIC8', followed by a one-character code that identifies the Logical Terminal (LT), (also referred to as "local destination" or "Logical Terminal address"), and the three-character branch code. While 'BIC12's are not part of the ISO standard, and are only relevant in the context of the messaging platform, they play a role in FIN system messaging. According to SWIFT, Logical Terminals are the "entity through which users send and receive FIN messages.", thus, may play a role within routing of the message.
Usage[edit]Business Identifier Codes are primarily used for identifying financial and non-financial institutions involving day-to-day business transactions among one or more institutions in transaction lifecycle.
Example: In SWIFT messages these BICs are embedded within the messages. Consider the message type for cash transfer MT103, here we can find BIC under different tags like 50a (ordering customer), 56a (intermediary), 57a (account with institution), etc.
See also[edit] Banks portal Authoritative Legal Entity Identifier (ALEI) Bank account Bank Identification Number (BIN) Cross-Border Inter-Bank Payments System (China International Payments System) (CIPS) Data Universal Numbering System Financial Stability Board International Bank Account Number (IBAN) International Business Registration Number (IBRN) ISO 8000-116 Legal Entity Identifier Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) Unique Entity Identifier Value transfer system References[edit] ^ "SWIFT - SwiftRef Factsheet BICPlus, June 2017". swift.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2017-11-21. ^ "ISO 9362:2014". ISO. 28 February 2020. Retrieved 2022-09-28. ^ "Solutions to meet any financial industry challenge". SWIFT - The global provider of secure financial messaging services. ^ "ISO 9362:1994". ISO. Retrieved 2022-09-28. ^ "Deutsche Bundesbank - Unbarer Zahlungsverkehr" (in German). Bundesbank.de. 2013-01-15. Archived from the original on 2012-05-08. Retrieved 2013-02-01. ^ "ISO 9362:1987". ISO. Retrieved 2022-09-04. ^ "ISO 9362:1994". ISO. Retrieved 2022-09-04. ^ "ISO 9362:2009". ISO. Retrieved 2022-09-04. ^ "ISO 9362:2014". ISO. 28 February 2020. Retrieved 2022-09-04. ^ "ISO 9362:2022". ISO. Retrieved 2022-09-04. External links[edit] ISO 9362:2014 Banking -- Banking telecommunication messages -- Business identifier code (BIC) vteInternational Organization for Standardization (ISO) standardsList of ISO standards – ISO romanizations – IEC standards1–9999 1 2 3 4 6 7 9 16 17 31 -0 -1 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8 -9 -10 -11 -12 -13 68-1 128 216 217 226 228 233 259 261 262 302 306 361 500 518 519 639 -1 -2 -3 -5 -6 646 657 668 690 704 732 764 838 843 860 898 965 999 1000 1004 1007 1073-1 1073-2 1155 1413 1538 1629 1745 1989 2014 2015 2022 2033 2047 2108 2145 2146 2240 2281 2533 2709 2711 2720 2788 2848 2852 2921 3029 3103 3166 -1 -2 -3 3297 3307 3601 3602 3864 3901 3950 3977 4031 4157 4165 4217 4909 5218 5426 5427 5428 5725 5775 5776 5800 5807 5964 6166 6344 6346 6373 6385 6425 6429 6438 6523 6709 6943 7001 7002 7010 7027 7064 7098 7185 7200 7498 -1 7637 7736 7810 7811 7812 7813 7816 7942 8000 8093 8178 8217 8373 8501-1 8571 8583 8601 8613 8632 8651 8652 8691 8805/8806 8807 8820-5 8859 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 -6 -7 -8 -8-I -9 -10 -11 -12 -13 -14 -15 -16 8879 9000/9001 9036 9075 9126 9141 9227 9241 9293 9314 9362 9407 9496 9506 9529 9564 9592/9593 9594 9660 9797-1 9897 9899 9945 9984 9985 9995 10000–19999 10006 10007 10116 10118-3 10160 10161 10165 10179 10206 10218 10279 10303 -11 -21 -22 -28 -238 10383 10585 10589 10628 10646 10664 10746 10861 10957 10962 10967 11073 11170 11172 11179 11404 11544 11783 11784 11785 11801 11889 11898 11940 (-2) 11941 11941 (TR) 11992 12006 12052 12182 12207 12234-2 12620 13211 -1 -2 13216 13250 13399 13406-2 13450 13485 13490 13567 13568 13584 13616 13816 13818 14000 14031 14224 14289 14396 14443 14496 -2 -3 -6 -10 -11 -12 -14 -17 -20 14617 14644 14649 14651 14698 14764 14882 14971 15022 15189 15288 15291 15398 15408 15444 -3 -9 15445 15438 15504 15511 15686 15693 15706 -2 15707 15897 15919 15924 15926 15926 WIP 15930 15938 16023 16262 16355-1 16485 16612-2 16750 16949 (TS) 17024 17025 17100 17203 17369 17442 17506 17799 18004 18014 18181 18245 18629 18760 18916 19005 19011 19092 -1 -2 19114 19115 19125 19136 19407 19439 19500 19501 19502 19503 19505 19506 19507 19508 19509 19510 19600 19752 19757 19770 19775-1 19794-5 19831 20000–29999 20000 20022 20121 20400 20802 20830 21000 21001 21047 21122 21500 21778 21827 22000 22275 22300 22301 22395 22537 23000 23003 23008 23009 23090-3 23092 23094-1 23094-2 23270 23271 23360 23941 24517 24613 24617 24707 24728 25178 25964 26000 26262 26300 26324 27000 series 27000 27001 27002 27005 27006 27729 28000 29110 29148 29199-2 29500 30000+ 30170 31000 32000 37001 38500 39075 40314 40500 42010 45001 50001 55000 56000 80000 Category vteBank codes and identificationAsia IFSC (India) North America Routing number (Canada) ABA routing transit number (United States) CLABE (Mexico) Europe Bank clearing number (Switzerland and Liechtenstein) Bankleitzahl (Germany and Austria) Sort code (United Kingdom and Ireland) Oceania New Zealand bank account number (New Zealand) Bank state branch (Australia) International International Bank Account Number ISO 9362 SWIFT