Business Identifier Code (BIC)

What is Business Identifier Code?

The Business Identifier Code is a specific numeric sequence that refers to each banking affiliation operating within various territories. Business Identifier code is an ISO 9362. BIC applies to both financial and non-financial institutions. This numerical combination is exceptional and easy to write, so there is no risk of misspelling the name, or punctuation marks. So, when making payments, firstly bank receives digital information, and the written name of the office will be an additional element.

In fact, a BIC code serves as a passport number of the institution’s accounting department. It differs from another one that becomes clear after indicating this number when executing a transaction.

Moreover, BIC is assigned to each banking facility in the individual format.

A specific structure of BIC includes the following elements (eight numbers), such as:

• a few numeric symbols that signify the country code;
• two numbers that indicate the regional code of the country (which is an ISO standard).
• symbols that signify the Bank’s department number in the payment processing network.
• the last ones relate to a specific financial organization.

Also, the eight-digit business identifier code can be enlarged by three additional digits. These three characters can supply the following information: the business unit of the company, specific location, service or department.

To get the BIC number, the company makes an application to the Registration Authority (RA). RA creates BIC according to ISO 9362. Then the Registration Authority makes a Data Record. To get the business identifier code, the company needs to provide all the requested documents. Sometimes, RA requires some additional information.