How much do you know about swift code?

Swift code refers to the bank code of a commercial bank in the global clearing system.

Commercial banks need to participate in the global clearing system when handling cross-border transaction clearing for their customers. The name of the system is "global Interbank Financial Telecommunication Association System".

Each bank participating in the swift system is a correspondent bank. Swift has prepared a code for each participating bank, which is the swift code.

The swift code has eight digits and 11 digits. Basically, if the participating bank is the head office of a bank, it is an eight digit code, and its branch is an 11 digit code

Composition of swift

The swift code usually consists of 8-11 digits of numbers or letters. It can be divided into four parts: bank code, country code, region code and branch code.

(1) 1-4 characters: four digit bank code, which is usually set by each bank.

(2) 5-6 characters: it is a two digit country code. For example, China is CN and the United States is us.

(3) 7-8 characters: two digit area code, digits (except 0 and 1) or letters.

(4) 9-11 characters: three digit branch organization code, consisting of numbers or letters.

Small tips: if you want to query the international codes of major banks, you can call the hotline of each bank. Or directly log in to the inquiry website: https://www2.swift.com/bsl/