A SWIFT code is a universal way to identify banks around the world, recognized and approved by ISO. It is useful for facilitating international wire transfers and has eight or eleven characters. It only identifies a particular bank or institution and does not replace an account number.
A SWIFT code is a universal way to identify banks around the world. The acronym SWIFT stands for Society for the World Code of Interbank Financial Telecommunication. This code is recognized and approved by the International Organization for Standardization, or ISO, and represents a particular bank or bank branch. It is especially useful for facilitating international wire transfers.
When transferring money to another country or another bank, options include on-site express funds transfer services like Western Union, online funds transfer services like PayPal, or direct bank transfers from one bank to another. If a direct bank transfer is selected, the bank will likely ask you for a SWIFT code for the bank receiving the funds. The code is universally recognized and generally required for a funds transfer.
Currently, a SWIFT code has eight or eleven characters. The first four characters are letters and refer specifically to the bank. The next two characters are the country code, and the last two characters are the location code. If the code is eleven characters long, this means that the bank has added a three-digit code to denote a specific branch of a bank.
The format of the SWIFT code mentioned above is the standard set by the ISO, in particular ISO 9362. This is the individual mandate that created the Business Identification Code, or BIC. For this reason, this type of code is also known as a BIC code or ID or SWIFT-BIC code or ID. Before 2009, BIC stood for Bank Identification Code because it only identified financial institutions. In 2009, the ISO changed the acronym to stand for Business Identification Code because it now sometimes identifies financial and non-financial companies.
SWIFT codes only identify a particular bank or other institution. They do not replace an account number. A person will need to provide an individual account number along with the code that will place the funds directly into the account.
An account number is different from a SWIFT code or a routing number. A routing number, also known as a routing transit number, is a 9-digit code used in the US that is unique to a particular branch of a bank. You can find a routing number and account number at the bottom of checks and other financial documents. At the bottom of a typical check, there are three sets of numbers. The first number is the routing number, the second number is the unique account number, and the last number is the individual check number.
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