Free BIC / SWIFT code checker
Read a BIC, part by part.
Parse a BIC (SWIFT code): institution, country, location and branch, the BIC8 and BIC11 forms, and what the location code says about test and passive BICs.
- Runs in your browser
- Batch mode
- Same check over REST and MCP
BIC
8 or 11 characters; spaces are ignored.
Result
Valid BIC format
BIC11 · DEUT in Germany, branch 500.
- Institution
- DEUT
- Country
- DE
- Location
- FF
- Branch
- 500
- Format
- BIC11 (11 characters)
- Institution
- DEUT
- Country
- Germany (DE)
- Location
- FF — An ordinary location code (not a test, passive or reverse-billing code)
- Branch
- Branch 500
- BIC8
- DEUTDEFF
- BIC11
- DEUTDEFF500
- Format check only: whether a BIC is registered and live is recorded in SWIFT’s BIC directory, which this tool does not have.
Use it from codeSame answer over REST or MCP · no key
curl -s 'https://payopskit.com/api/v1/bic/DEUTDEFF500'For agents: the same check is the MCP tool parse_bic on https://payopskit.com/mcp — no key, no sign-up.
How a BIC is built
ISO 9362 defines the Business Identifier Code: eight characters for an institution’s head office, eleven with a branch.
| Characters | Part | What it holds |
|---|---|---|
| 1–4 | Institution (business party prefix) | Chosen by the institution; letters in practice (ISO 9362:2014 allows digits). |
| 5–6 | Country | ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code of the country the institution is in (XK for Kosovo). |
| 7–8 | Location | Letters or digits. A second character of 0 marks a test & training BIC, 1 a passive participant, 2 reverse billing. |
| 9–11 | Branch (optional) | XXX, or no branch at all (a BIC8), means the head office. Other codes name a branch or department. |
A BIC8 and the same code with XXX appended are the same head office: DEUTDEFF = DEUTDEFFXXX. Payment messages and many forms ask for the eleven-character form.
What a valid BIC format proves — and what it doesn’t
- Format check only: whether a BIC is registered and live is recorded in SWIFT’s BIC directory, which this tool does not have.
- The country code is checked against ISO 3166-1; the institution, location and branch codes can only be checked for shape.
- A test & training BIC (location ending in 0) is never used for live payments.
- Nothing you type here leaves this page: the check runs in your browser.
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