What are SWIFT and BIC codes? - N26

SWIFT codes (also known as BIC codes) ensure safe and speedy international payments through the SWIFT system. When making an overseas transaction, a SWIFT ... WhatareSWIFTandBICcodes?Inanincreasinglyglobaleconomy,youmightfindthatyou’remakingmoreandmoreinternationaltransactions.Ifso,youmayhaveheardofSWIFTandBICcodes.Wonderingwhattheyareandhowtheywork?Readon!SWIFTcodes(alsoknownasBICcodes)ensuresafeandspeedyinternationalpaymentsthroughtheSWIFTsystem.Whenmakinganoverseastransaction,aSWIFTcodeisusedtoverifytheidentityofthebanksorfinancialinstitutions.Thissafetymeasurehelpsensurethatfundsaresenttothecorrectaccount. Between8and11characterslong,eachcharacterofaSWIFTorBICcodeprovidesspecificdetailsthatcanbevalidated,suchasthebank,thecountryoforigin,orthebranchlocation.Oncethebankisauthenticated,aquickandsecureoverseaspaymentcanbemade. WhywastheSWIFT/BICcodesystemcreated? TheSocietyforWorldwideInterbankFinancialTelecommunication(orSWIFT)systemwascreatedtoprovideastandardizedandsecurewayofsendinginternationalpayments.SWIFTisessentiallyamessagingnetworkthatallowsdifferentbankstosendandreceiveinformationelectronically.Thankstoitsstandardizedformat,SWIFThelpstoavoidconfusionbetweenbanksindifferentcountries,makingpaymentssimplerandfasterwithlessroomforerror.WhousestheSWIFTandBICcodesystem?Over200countriesand11,000institutionsusetheSWIFT/BICsystem—infact,it’sthebiggestinternationalpaymentnetworkintheworld.Byprocessingthecodes,thesystemcandetectwherethetransfershouldbesenttobycheckingthecharactersinthetransferagainsttheglobaldatabase.Ifyou’replanningtosendorreceivemoneyinternationallyviayourbank,you’llprobablybeaskedforaSWIFTorBICcode.SWIFTandBICcodes—defined WhenitcomestoSWIFTandBICcodes,thingscangetalittleconfusing—solet’slayoutasimpledefinition.Inshort,SWIFTisthenameoftheoverallmessagingsystem,andBICisthecodeusedforthesystem—orthe‘BankIdentifierCode’.Bothtermsareusedinterchangeablytodescribethecode,oreventhesystem.ThismeansthatifyourequestyourSWIFTorBICcode,you’llreceivetheexactsame8-11digitnumber. DoIneedaSWIFTorBICcodetomakeaninternationalpayment? Whereveryouareintheworld,ifyouneedtosendorreceivefundsoverseasthroughyourbank,theSWIFTcodeoftherecipientisusuallyrequired.Withoutthiscode,thetransactionwilllikelynotgothrough. You’llalsotypicallyneedtoprovideanIBAN,orInternationalBankAccountNumber,whenmakinganinternationaltransfer.NeedsomeinsightonIBANsandhowtheywork?LearnmoreaboutwhatanIBANnumberishere,andhowtouseonehere! UnderstandingBICcodeformats Consistingofbothnumbersandletters,yourBICcodehas8characters—orpossibly11ifthebranchlocationisincluded. Thefirst4lettersofthecodeindicatethefinancialinstitutionuniquetoyourbankingserviceprovider—tomakeitsimple,thismaybetheinitialsofthebank’sname!Nextisa2-lettercountrycode,suchas‘FR’forFranceor‘DE’forGermany,anda2characterlocationcodethatindicatesthebank’sheadoffice.Thelast3digits,ifthey’reprovided,refertothespecificbranchthatyourbankaccountisassociatedwith.HowdoyoufindyourSWIFT/BICcode?TolocateyourSWIFT/BICcode,checkanypaperordigitalbankingstatements,orlookatyouraccountdetailsonyouronlinebankingprofile.YoucanalsosearchforyourBICcodeusingadigitalSWIFT/BICsearchtoolbyprovidingyourcountryandbanklocationdata.SWIFT/BICcodedsecurity BecauseSWIFT/BICcodesonlycommunicatethesenderandreceiver’sbankidentityratherthanfacilitatingthetransactionitself,they’reaverysecurewaytomanageinternationalpayments.Bysendingandreceivingsecure,standardizedinstructionsbetweenfinancialinstitutions,SWIFThelpsreduceanyerrorsthatmightoccurbetweeninternationalbanks.OtherinternationalmoneytransfersWhileSWIFTprovidesthemessagingnetworktosendinternationalpayments,yourbankmaychargefeestoprocessthem.Thiscanbealongandexpensiveprocess,andtheremaybehiddenservicefeesthatyouhaven’taccountedfor.However,therearelotsofaffordablewaysyoucansendfundsabroad—likewithN26!Tolearnmore,discoverourtipsonthebestwaystosendmoneyonlineinternationally(newtab).N26BICcodeaccess AtN26,weliketokeepthingssimple.That’swhyyourBICcodecanbeeasilyfoundonyourbankcard,oratthetopofyourdigitalbankstatements.Togetaccesstoyourstatements,ordownloadaPDFforyourrecords,gotothe‘MyAccount’tabinyourN26app.EasilyaccessyourBICcode,aswellasahostofotherfeatures—includingStatistics,whichoffersacategorizedbreakdownofyourspending,and24/7chatbotsupporttoansweranyquestionsyoumighthave.YourmoneyatN26withWiseAtN26,we’vepartneredwiththecurrencyexchangeserviceWisetoofferourcustomersstraightforwardinternationalpaymentswithnohiddenfees.Whetheryou’repayingfriendsandfamilyoverseasormovingmoneybetweenglobalaccounts,Wiseissecureandtrustedbyover9millionconsumersworldwide.OpenanN26accounttodayinminutes,andyou’llhaveaccesstoWiseformakingquick,affordableinternationaltransfers—allrightinyourN26app.OpenBankAccountWiththeN26app,makinginternationaltransfersusingWisecouldn’tbesimpler.JustopenyourN26app,tap‘SendMoney’onyourhomescreen,andselect‘ForeignCurrencyTransfer’.Next,entertheamountyouwanttosendtotherecipient'saccountandselectthereceivingcurrencytogetaninstantquote.Finally,addthereceiveraccountdetails,andconfirmthetransaction. Sendmoneyabroadandmakeinternationalpaymentsthatyoucantrust,whereveryouareintheworld.LearnmoreaboutWisebankingfeatureshere.FindaplanforyouPopularN26SmartThebankaccountthatgivesyoumorecontrol5Colorsavailable€4.90/monthFreeVirtualCardUpto10Spacessub-accountsSharedSpacesRound-upsGetbankaccountN26YouThedebitcardforeverydayandtravel5Colorsavailable€9.90/monthUpto5freewithdrawalsintheEurozoneFlightandluggagedelaycoverMedicalemergencycoverWinteractivitiesinsuranceGetN26YouN26MetalThepremiumaccountwithametalcard3Colorsavailable€16.90/monthAn18-grammetalcardUpto8freewithdrawalsintheEurozoneCarrentalinsurancePhoneinsuranceGetN26MetalFindaplanforyouN26StandardThefree*onlinebankaccountTransparentcard€0.00/monthAvirtualdebitcardFreepaymentsworldwideUpto3freewithdrawsDepositprotectionOpenfreebankaccountPopularN26SmartThebankaccountthatgivesyoumorecontrol5Colorsavailable€4.90/monthFreeVirtualCardUpto10Spacessub-accountsSharedSpacesRound-upsGetbankaccountN26YouThedebitcardforeverydayandtravel5Colorsavailable€9.90/monthUpto5freewithdrawalsintheEurozoneFlightandluggagedelaycoverMedicalemergencycoverWinteractivitiesinsuranceGetN26YouN26MetalThepremiumaccountwithametalcard3Colorsavailable€16.90/monthAn18-grammetalcardUpto8freewithdrawalsintheEurozoneCarrentalinsurancePhoneinsuranceGetN26MetalWhatisaSWIFTorBICcode?SWIFTandBICcodesareglobalbankidentifiersthatsecurelyverifyaspecificbankforaninternationaltransaction.Uniquetoeachbank,itauthenticatesdetailssuchasthecountryoforiginandbranchlocation,toensurethedetailsgivenforthatbankarecorrect.Onceverified,theglobalpaymentcanbeprocessed,becausetheidentitymatchesthebankrecords.WithoutaSWIFT/BICcode,anaccountholderusuallycannotcompleteaninternationalpaymenttoanoverseasaccount.IsaSWIFTcodethesameasaBICcode?Yep,aSWIFTcodeandBICcodearethesamethingandprovidethesameservice.TheacronymSWIFTstandsfor“SocietyforWorldwideInterbankFinancialTelecommunication”,whichisthemessagingfortheglobalsystem.TheabbreviationBICstandsfor“BankIdentifierCode”,whichisthecodetheserviceprovides.SWIFTcouldbeconsideredthenameofthesystem,andBICthecodedidentifierthesystemusestoverifythebankidentity.However,thetermsareusedinterchangeablywhenreferringtothecodeneededtomakeatransaction.AreaSWIFTcodeandanIBANnumberthesamething?ASWIFTcodeandanIBANnumberaredifferent,buttheybothhelpverifythebankoraccountholdertryingtosendorreceiveaninternationaltransaction.WhileaSWIFTcodeisusedtodeterminetheindividualbankfacilitatingthetransaction,theIBANnumberidentifiestheindividualbankaccountsthepaymentismovingbetween.Upto34characterslong,anIBANnumberverifiesthisuniqueaccountinformation.BothaSWIFT(orBIC)andanIBANareimportanttoensureanerror-freeandquickinternationalmoneytransfer.What’stheformatofaSWIFTorBICcode?Between8and11characterslong,everySWIFTorBICcodedigitprovidesinformationaboutthebankwheretheaccountisheld.Thefirstfourcharactersprovidethenameofthebank,whichcouldbetheinitialsoranabbreviation,andthenexttwoarethecountrycodethatbankbelongsto.Thesearefollowedbythelocationcodeofthebank,and—finally—thebranchidentifier.SomeSWIFT/BICcodesincludeanadditionalthreedigitsthatidentifythebranchlocation.WherecanIfindmySWIFT/BICcodewithN26?AtN26,yourSWIFT/BICcanbefoundviathewebsiteoryoursmartphoneapporinyourbankstatements.Gotothe‘MyAccount’tab,andyourBICcodeshouldbeavailablehere.Ifyoucan'tfindastatementordon’thaveaccesstotheapp,youcanalsofindyourSWIFT/BICcodebyusinganonlineSWIFT/BICsearchtool.Alternatively,usethe24/7chatbotsupportfromN26forhelpfindingyourSWIFT/BICcode,orforanyotherbankingqueries.RelatedpostsBankingBasics:gettingstartedWe’reheretodemystifyallthingsbanking-related.Readourguidetotakeacloserlookatthebasicsofyouraccount.BankingBasics:EUbankingrulesandregulationsInthisBankingBasics,wetakeacloserlookattherulesandregulationsthatkeepyourmoneysafe.BankingBasics:yourguidetoEUbankingacronymsEverwonderedwhatallthoseconfusingbankingacronymsactuallymean?We’vegottheanswersrighthere.