What the SWIFT/BIC Code Finder does
This page decodes a SWIFT/BIC against the ISO 9362 structure: the four-letter institution code, the two-letter country code, the two-character location code and the optional three-character branch code, with what each part actually means and where the conventions behind them are written down. It also searches a small bundled sample of well-known head-office codes.
It does not claim to be a BIC directory, because a free one does not exist. Current, authoritative BIC data is published by SWIFT through the licensed SwiftRef service. Any page that offers to look up all eleven thousand registered BICs for nothing is working from a scraped copy of unknown age, and a withdrawn or reassigned BIC looks exactly like a live one.
So this tool is honest about what it does: structure validation, plus an illustration set. A code that is absent from the sample is 'not in this sample' - never 'invalid'.
How to use it
- Type or paste a BIC in the first box. The four parts are split out as you type, with the country resolved to a name and the location code checked for the test, passive and reverse-billing conventions.
- Use the search box to look through the bundled sample by institution, city or two-letter country code.
- Read the findings. The structure verdict is decisive; the sample match is only an illustration, and the page says so next to it.
- Copy the breakdown or export it as JSON if you are documenting a payment mapping. Confirm the code itself with the beneficiary's bank before you use it.
Reading the results
An eight-character BIC (a BIC8) is the institution's head office. An eleven-character one adds a branch or department code; XXX in those three positions also means the head office, written out in the long form.
The location code's second character carries a documented convention: 0 marks a test or reserved code that must not be used for live payments, 1 a passive SWIFT participant that does not exchange messages directly, and 2 reverse billing. Any other character is just a place identifier.
The country code is ISO 3166-1 alpha-2, so a BIC always tells you which country the institution is registered in - and that is the one piece of a BIC you can rely on without a directory.
A structure pass means the eight or eleven characters are shaped correctly. It says nothing about whether SWIFT has that code on its books today.
Worked example: reading DEUTDEFF and BARCGB22XXX
DEUTDEFF splits into DEUT (Deutsche Bank's institution code), DE (Germany), FF (Frankfurt am Main) and no branch code at all - so it is a BIC8 and addresses the head office. Its second location character is F, which carries no special meaning.
BARCGB22XXX splits into BARC (Barclays), GB (United Kingdom), 22 (London) and the branch code XXX. Because XXX is the convention for the head office, this eleven-character code and the eight-character BARCGB22 address the same place. Payment systems differ on which form they want, which is why the long form with XXX exists at all.
Now change the last location character to a zero: DEUTDEF0. The structure still passes - it is six letters followed by two valid characters - but the page flags it as a test or reserved code, because a location code ending in 0 is reserved by convention and should never appear on a live payment.
Why no free tool can give you full BIC coverage
SWIFT maintains the BIC register under ISO 9362 and sells access to it as reference data under the SwiftRef name. That data changes constantly: institutions merge, branches close, codes are reassigned. The value of a directory is precisely that it is current, and currency is what SWIFT charges for.
The practical consequence is that a free BIC lookup is a snapshot of unknown age. That is dangerous in a specific way: a code that was withdrawn two years ago still has a plausible institution name attached to it in the scraped copy, so the lookup returns a confident wrong answer rather than an honest blank. This page would rather show you the structure and tell you where the answer lives.
BIC, SWIFT code, SWIFT-BIC - are they the same thing?
Yes, in everyday use. ISO 9362 calls it a Business Identifier Code; SWIFT operates the register and routes messages with it, so people call it a SWIFT code. The 2014 revision of the standard widened it beyond banks - the same format now identifies other financial and non-financial organisations - but the shape has not changed.
What differs is the context. A BIC identifies an institution; an IBAN identifies an account. Most SEPA payments no longer need the BIC because the IBAN's country and bank fields are enough, while payments outside SEPA usually still ask for both.
Limitations: what the result does not prove
- Structure only. A pass means the code is shaped like a BIC, not that SWIFT has it registered, and not that the institution still exists.
- The bundled sample is a few dozen head-office codes kept for illustration. It is not a directory, absence from it proves nothing, and even a listed code may have changed since the review date.
- It cannot confirm that an account exists, that it belongs to your payee, that funds are available, or that a payment will succeed.
- Branch codes are allocated by each institution and are not published openly, so the page can explain what the field is but not what a particular branch code refers to.
Privacy: where your data goes
Everything you paste, type or drop is processed in this browser tab. It is not uploaded, logged, stored or sent to analytics. Session recording and tag-manager scripts are switched off on this page.
Standards and sources
- ISO 9362 - Business identifier code (BIC) - checked 19 Sep 2026
- SWIFT SwiftRef - licensed reference data - checked 19 Sep 2026
- SWIFT - BIC standards overview
- ISO 3166 - Country codes
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a BIC8 and a BIC11?
A BIC8 is the first eight characters and addresses the institution's head office. A BIC11 adds three characters for a branch or department. XXX in those three positions means the head office, so BARCGB22 and BARCGB22XXX are the same destination - some payment systems insist on the long form, which is the only reason to write it out.
Can I look up which bank a SWIFT code belongs to for free?
Not reliably. The current register is SWIFT's licensed SwiftRef data. Free lookups work from copies of unknown age, and a reassigned or withdrawn code comes back with a plausible but wrong institution name rather than an honest blank. Ask the beneficiary's bank, or read it from a statement.
What does a zero at the end of a SWIFT code's location mean?
By convention a location code whose second character is 0 marks a test or reserved BIC that must not be used for live payments. A 1 marks a passive SWIFT participant that does not exchange messages directly, and a 2 marks reverse billing. This page flags all three.
Why does my bank's SWIFT code not appear in the search?
Because the bundled list is a small illustration sample, not a directory - it holds a few dozen codes so that the decoder has something to demonstrate. Absence from it carries no information at all about whether your bank's code is valid.
Do I still need a BIC if I have an IBAN?
Usually not inside the SEPA area, where the IBAN's country and bank fields are enough to route a euro payment. Outside SEPA, and for most currency payments, the receiving bank's BIC is still asked for, and sometimes an intermediary bank's BIC as well.
Is a SWIFT code the same as a routing number or a sort code?
No. A BIC identifies an institution internationally; a US routing number, a UK sort code, an Australian BSB and a Canadian transit number identify institutions and branches inside one country's clearing system. A bank normally has all of the relevant ones, and they are not derived from each other.
Can a BIC tell me the branch address?
Not from the code alone. The location code names a city, and the branch code is allocated by the institution without a public register, so mapping a branch code to an address requires the bank's own data or licensed reference data.
What happens if I send a payment with a wrong but well-formed BIC?
It normally fails and is returned, sometimes days later and usually with a fee, because the code either does not exist or belongs to an institution that has no relationship with the account you named. That is why structure validation is a starting point rather than a safety net.
Last reviewed by the A2Z.Tools team against the sources listed above.
