Guide · 5 min read
What is a BIC / SWIFT code and how is it structured?
Last updated 17 July 2026
A BIC (Business Identifier Code), commonly called a SWIFT code, identifies a financial institution on international payment networks. Where the IBAN says which account money should reach, the BIC says which bank to route it through.
BIC vs SWIFT code: same thing, two names
The format is defined by ISO 9362 and the registry is operated by SWIFT, which is why the industry uses “BIC” and “SWIFT code” interchangeably. There is no technical difference — a SWIFT code is a BIC.
The structure: 8 or 11 characters
An 8-character BIC addresses the institution’s primary office. The optional 3-character suffix narrows it to a branch. A trailing “XXX” explicitly means the head office — REVOITM2 and REVOITM2XXX route identically.
| Segment | Length | Example (UNCRITMM) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank code | 4 letters | UNCR | Institution identifier chosen by the bank |
| Country code | 2 letters | IT | ISO country of the institution |
| Location code | 2 chars | MM | City / location within the country |
| Branch code | 3 chars (optional) | XXX or a branch id | Specific branch; omitted or XXX for the head office |
When do you actually need a BIC?
- SEPA credit transfers: since the IBAN-only rule, consumer payments inside SEPA usually need just the IBAN — but many corporate, batch and cross-border flows still require the BIC explicitly.
- International (non-SEPA) wires: the BIC is mandatory to route through correspondent banks.
- Payment-file formats: ISO 20022 pain.001 files and many ERP systems have required BIC fields.
- Compliance and reconciliation: knowing the institution behind an IBAN (bank name, address) is a common KYC requirement.
Deriving the BIC from an IBAN
The IBAN embeds a national bank code (the German Bankleitzahl, the Italian ABI, the French Code Banque…). National central banks and banking associations publish mappings from those codes to BICs, but formats, update cadences and coverage vary per country.
An IBAN-to-BIC API abstracts all of that: send the IBAN, get back the BIC, the bank’s name and address, and its SEPA reachability — one request instead of 36 national registries.
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Resolve IBANs to BICs programmatically
One endpoint returns the BIC, bank details and SEPA reachability for any SEPA IBAN — €0.009 per successful call, failures always free.