A Bank Identifier Code (BIC), or ISO 9362, is used to describe a unique address which, in telecommunication messages, identifies precisely the financial institutions involved in financial transactions. BIC's are meant for universal usage and not just the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) network. BIC's are approved by the International Organization for Standardization, and can be found on account statements.
BIC's are required for sending money from one country to another. BIC's may also be found on currency. These codes are used when transferring money between banks, particularly for international transfers.
A BIC can be 8 or 11 characters as follows:
|
Code Element |
# of characters |
Comments |
|
Bank Code |
4+ |
Identifies the bank, and is unique to each financial institution and can only include letters |
|
Country Code |
2+ |
Identifies the country in which the financial institution is located |
|
Location Code |
2 |
Identifies the location code within the country (e.g., cities, provinces, time zones, etc.) |
|
Branch Code (optional) |
3 |
Identifies a specific branch of a financial institution (can be alpha/numeric) |
Examples PNBPUS3NNYC is the Wachovia Bank N.A. New York International Branch. CMBCCNBS is the China Merchants Bank, H.O. Shenzhen China