Bank Codes also known as Bank Identifiers. Bank & Branch Codes are required for domestic & international payment transfer. Bank Codes are generally allotted by Central Bank of a country, being the Bank Supervisory Authority of the Banks or the Bankers Associations. Although in many countries Bank Codes & Branch Code are issued by the appropriate authority to uniquely identify the Bank & Branch, but in other countries, Bank Code Issuing Authority issues only Bank Codes to the Banks and Branch Codes are issued by the Banks at their own level. Bank Codes are printed on the Cheque Book issued by the Banks to their customers. Bank Codes are also published by the Banks on their websites. One should be careful when using the Bank & Branch Codes in transferring the payment. Wrong Bank & Branch Code may result in transaction rejections.
Many countries are International Bank Account Number (IBAN) compliant and IBAN Number contains Bank Code or Bank & Branch Code along with Bank Account Number. The Bank & Branch Codes are known by different names in different countries. Below is the list of the countries and the Bank & Branch Codes identifiers used in domestic & international payment transactions.