# What is a SWIFT/BIC code? Each part explained

> The four parts of a BIC from SWIFT's policy: bank, country, location and optional branch, which characters each takes, and real codes decoded.

- Page: https://swiftcodelookup.com/bic-code-structure/
- Official rule or bank page: [SWIFT, BIC policy (January 20, 2023)](https://www2.swift.com/knowledgecentre/rest/v1/publications/bic_policy/3.0/bic_policy.pdf)
- Read on: 2026-10-30
- Registry data as JSON: https://swiftcodelookup.com/data/bic-code-structure.json

## The parts

SWIFT's BIC policy describes an 8-character code as a **business party identifier**: a 4-character business party prefix, a 2-letter ISO 3166-1 country code and a 2-character business party suffix. An optional 3-character **branch identifier** extends it to 11 characters ([SWIFT](https://www2.swift.com/knowledgecentre/rest/v1/publications/bic_policy/3.0/bic_policy.pdf)).

| Position | Part | Allowed characters | What the checker tests |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | Business party prefix (the bank code) | Letters | A digit here is flagged at its position, with the letter it may stand for (0 → O, 5 → S, 8 → B) |
| 5 to 6 | Country code (ISO 3166-1) | Letters | Must be a real country code, shown with the country name |
| 7 to 8 | Business party suffix (the location code) | Letters or digits | Position 8 = 0 or 1 gets a note (see below) |
| 9 to 11 | Branch identifier, optional | Letters or digits | XXX is read as the primary office |

The allowed characters follow SWIFT's FIN format, written as 4!a 2!a 2!c [3!c] in the policy. The policy says "suffix", not "location code". Many banks and guides say location; both mean positions 7 and 8.

## Real codes, decoded

Each of these codes is published by the bank itself for incoming international wires; we read every page on October 30, 2026.

| Code | Bank (1–4) | Country (5–6) | Location (7–8) | Branch (9–11) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHASUS33 | CHAS | US | 33 | none | [Chase](https://www.chase.com/digital/wire-transfer/faqs) |
| WFBIUS6S | WFBI | US | 6S | none | [Wells Fargo](https://www.wellsfargo.com/help/routing-number/) |
| USBKUS44IMT | USBK | US | 44 | IMT | [U.S. Bank](https://www.usbank.com/customer-service/knowledge-base/KB0069429.html) |
| NFCUUS33XXX | NFCU | US | 33 | XXX (primary office) | [Navy Federal](https://www.navyfederal.org/services/transfers/wire-transfers.html) |

Two lessons from the table. First, the bank code does not have to spell the bank's name: Wells Fargo is WFBI, Capital One is HIBK ([Capital One](https://www.capitalone.com/help-center/checking-savings/send-receive-wire-transfer/)). Swift's information paper says systems should not derive ownership from these letters ([Swift](https://www.swift.com/swift-resource/9586/download)). Second, the location code mixes letters and digits freely, so 6S is as valid as 33.

## What a branch identifier means

According to the policy, a branch identifier denotes an organizational unit of the business party in the same country. It generally cannot identify a separate legal entity or a third party ([SWIFT](https://www2.swift.com/knowledgecentre/rest/v1/publications/bic_policy/3.0/bic_policy.pdf)). When a bank gives you 11 characters, as U.S. Bank does with IMT, pass on all 11. See [8 or 11 characters](https://swiftcodelookup.com/8-or-11-character-bic/).

## Position 8: 0 and 1

Swift's ISO 9362 information paper says codes with 0 in position 8 are used only for its test and training service, and that it stopped issuing codes ending in 1 after November 2018. The BIC policy still uses a 1 in position 8 as its example of a non-connected BIC. Details and what to do: [BIC position 8](https://swiftcodelookup.com/iso-9362-revision/).

## Country codes in BICs

Positions 5 and 6 carry an ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code, so the checker rejects pairs that are not country codes, such as XX or QQ. One known extra: Kosovo uses XK in the IBAN registry, and the checker accepts XK too. IBANs in some territories start with the parent country's code (FR for Guadeloupe, GB for Jersey), so when you add an IBAN next to a BIC, the checker treats a territory code such as GP or JE as matching FR or GB.

## Lower case and spaces

The format uses capital letters. The checker accepts lower case and spaces when you paste, and shows the result in capitals. Hyphens, dots and slashes are not part of a BIC; the checker points to their position.

## Codes of real banks

We do not copy codes from directories. For the big US banks we list only the codes each bank publishes itself, each linked to the bank's page: see [US bank SWIFT codes](https://swiftcodelookup.com/us-bank-swift-codes/). For any other bank, see [where to look a code up](https://swiftcodelookup.com/find-a-swift-code/).

---
SWIFT Code Guide. Errors or changed codes: contact@swiftcodelookup.com