Swift codes and bank swift codes are used when transferring money between banks. These codes are particularly used for international transactions.
Swift stands for Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. Swift Standards is a division of SWIFT, handles the registration of these codes. For this reason, Bank Identifier Codes (BICs) are often called Swift addresses or codes. Swift code is also known as Bank BIC code, SWIFT-BIC, Bank Swift Code and SWIFT ID.
It is the unique identification code of a particular bank. These codes are used when transferring money between banks, particularly for international wire transfers and also for the exchange of messages between banks. These codes can be found on account statements.
A Swift code consists of 8 or 11 characters. These 8 digit codes refers to the primary office. Swift codes are made up of following elements:
1. 4 characters Only letters - bank code
2. 2 characters - country code
3. 2 characters - location code (letters and digits) (if the second character is '1', then it denotes a passive participant in the SWIFT network)
4. 3 characters - branch code, optional ('XXX' for primary office) (letters and digits).
