What is the difference between a BIC and a SWIFT code?

They are the same thing. BIC (Business Identifier Code) is the official ISO 9362 term; SWIFT code is the everyday name because S.W.I.F.T. SC operates the BIC registry. Both refer to the 8 or 11-character alphanumeric code that uniquely identifies a bank branch worldwide, for example DEUTDEFFXXX for Deutsche Bank Frankfurt head office.

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1UETR (Unique End-to-End Transaction Reference) What is a UETR?

36-character UUID from your MT103 field 121 or pacs.008 <UETR> tag. Where to find it →

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A BIC has up to four parts: 4 letters bank code + 2 letters ISO country code + 2 alphanumeric location code + optional 3 alphanumeric branch code. 8-character form (BIC8) identifies the head office; 11-character form (BIC11) identifies a specific branch — XXX as the branch code also means head office.

BIC is what tells a SWIFT payment which bank to land at. IBAN tells it which account at that bank. You need both for any cross-border credit transfer (BIC may be optional for some intra-SEPA payments under the SEPA Instant rulebook).

Look up any BIC for free on Ohmyfin's correspondent-banks directory — search by code, bank name, or country.

Key facts

BIC = SWIFT code = same thing (ISO 9362)
Format: 4 bank + 2 country + 2 location [+ 3 branch] = 8 or 11 chars
Identifies the bank/branch; IBAN identifies the account
Look up any BIC free on Ohmyfin's correspondent-banks directory

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a BIC and a SWIFT code?

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Yes. Ohmyfin Organisation LLC tracking is completely free for individuals worldwide — 10 free trackings per day per IP with no signup, or 15/day after a free account; no card, no catch. Ohmyfin Organisation LLC never charges individuals.

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No. Ohmyfin queries the SWIFT GPI network directly via the UETR — no credentials at any bank required.

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SWIFT, SWIFTNet, SWIFT GPI, SWIFT Go, UETR, BIC, MT, MX, FIN, pacs.008, pacs.009, camt, ISO 20022 and related message-type identifiers, codes and logos are trademarks, service marks or registered marks of Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication SCRL (S.W.I.F.T. SC), with registered office at Avenue Adèle 1, 1310 La Hulpe, Belgium, and/or ISO 20022 Registration Authority. IBAN is published under ISO 13616. Visa, Mastercard, SEPA, Fedwire, FedNow, CHAPS, TARGET2, RTGS and all bank names, brand names, BIC codes and logos referenced on this site are the property of their respective owners and are used purely for descriptive and reference purposes under nominative fair use.

Ohmyfin Organisation is an independent payment-status search and reference service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, certified by, or in any commercial relationship with S.W.I.F.T. SC, the ISO 20022 Registration Authority, the European Central Bank, the U.S. Federal Reserve, any central bank, any commercial or correspondent bank, any clearing house, or any payment-system operator. References to SWIFT message types, status codes, GPI tracking, ISO 20022 messages or any third-party product or trademark are made solely to describe the publicly documented payments ecosystem within which our independent search service operates.

We are not a bank, money-services business, payment institution, electronic-money issuer or settlement agent. We do not hold, transfer, send, receive, custody or settle funds. We do not initiate, modify, cancel, recall or release SWIFT or ISO 20022 payment messages. Information returned by our tools is provided on an “as-is” basis for informational and convenience purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, regulatory or compliance advice. For binding confirmation, settlement status, value-date confirmation, refunds, recalls, investigations or any official record of a payment, customers must always contact their bank or licensed payment service provider directly.

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What is the difference between a BIC and a SWIFT code?

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