What are SWIFT Codes and Where to Find Them?

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What are SWIFT Codes and Where to Find Them?

• SWIFT Code is a standard format belonging to the
  Business Identifier Codes and approved by the
  International Organization for Standardization
  (ISO). It is also known as ISO 9362, SWIFT-BIC,
  BIC code, SWIFT ID or SWIFT code. It is a unique
  identification code used by the financial and
  non-financial institutions. Note that if it is
  assigned to a non-financial institution, it will
  be known as Business Entity Identifier or BEI.
  These codes are mainly used during transferring
  money between banks, especially for international
  wire transfers and exchange of other messages
  between banks. The codes are sometimes found on
  account statements too. The SWIFT code is 8 or
  11 characters that are formed as following
• The first 4 letters represents the Institution
  Code or bank code.
• The next 2 letter forms ISO 3166-1 alpha-2
  country code
• The nest 2 letters or digits indicates location
  code
• Note if the second character is "0", then it is
  typically a test BIC as opposed to a BIC used on
  the live network.
• if the second character is "1", then it denotes a
  passive participant in the SWIFT network
• if the second character is "2", then it typically
  indicates a reverse billing BIC, where the
  recipient pays for the message as opposed to the
  more usual mode whereby the sender pays for the
  message.
• The last 3 letters or digits represent branch
  code, optional ('XXX' for primary office)The
  next time you come across an 8-digit code
  understand that it refers to the primary office.
• If you are in search of SWIFT Codes for banks and
  financial institutions around the world, you may
  find all of them here at Bankswiftcode.org. Click
  on the country name provided to get list of all
  institutions in that country.