BankClan |
The Indian Financial System Code (IFS Code or IFSC) is an alphanumeric code that facilitates electronic funds transfer in India. A code uniquely identifies each bank branch participating in the two main Payment and settlement systems in India: the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and the National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) systems.
The IFSC is an 11-character code with the first four alphabetic characters representing the bank name, and the last six characters (usually numeric, but can be alphabetic) representing the branch. The fifth character is 0 (zero) and reserved for future use. Bank IFS Code is used by the NEFT & RTGS systems to route the messages to the destination banks/branches. The format of the IFS Code is shown below.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bank Code | 0 | Branch Code | ||||||||
MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition), as name suggest it is a character recognition technology which helps in faster processing of cheques. Every bank branch is given a unique MICR code and this helps the RBI to identify the bank branch and speed up the cheque clearing process.
SWIFT is an acronym for Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication. The
Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) provides a network that enables
financial institutions worldwide to send and receive information about financial transactions in a
secure, standardized and reliable environment. SWIFT also sells software and services to financial
institutions, much of it for use on the SWIFTNet network, and ISO 9362. Business Identifier Codes
(BICs, previously Bank Identifier Codes) are popularly known as "SWIFT codes".
SWIFT does
not facilitate funds transfer: rather, it sends payment orders, which must be settled by
correspondent accounts that the institutions have with each other. Each financial institution, to
exchange banking transactions, must have a banking relationship by either being a bank or
affiliating itself with one (or more) so as to enjoy those particular business features.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bank Code | Country Code | Location Code | |||||
BIC is a unique identification code for both financial and non-financial institutions. ISO 9362 defines a standard format of Business Identifier Codes (also known as SWIFT-BIC, BIC, SWIFT ID or SWIFT code) approved by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The ISO has designated SWIFT as the BIC registration authority. When assigned to a non-financial institution, the code may also be known as a Business Entity Identifier or BEI. These codes are used when transferring money between banks, particularly for international wire transfers, and also for the exchange of other messages between banks. The codes can sometimes be found on account statements.