SWIFT, which stands for Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, is a messaging network used by financial institutions worldwide to securely send and receive information, such as money transfer instructions. What is a SWIFT payment?Ī SWIFT payment is an international wire transfer sent via the SWIFT international payment network. It's important to use the correct SWIFT code when performing international money transfers as it ensures the funds reach the correct destination.

GB is the country code (United Kingdom).If 'XXX' is used, it refers to the bank's head office.įor example, in the SWIFT code 'BARCGB22XXX': Last 3 characters (letters or numbers) - represent the branch code (optional).Next 2 characters (letters or numbers) - represent the location code.Next 2 characters (letters only) - represent the country code.First 4 characters (letters only) - represent the bank's code.The SWIFT code is 8 or 11 characters long and made up of letters and numbers. It can also be used to exchange other messages between banks. The code is used when transferring money between banks, particularly for international wire transfers. It is a unique identification code for both financial and non-financial institutions. A SWIFT code (also known as a SWIFT-BIC, BIC code, SWIFT ID, or ISO 9362 code) is a standard format of Bank Identifier Codes approved by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

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