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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.
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.
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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