{"id":3091,"date":"2025-10-14T20:08:03","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T18:08:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/?post_type=btv_wiki&p=3091"},"modified":"2026-02-26T12:03:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T11:03:39","slug":"bic-code","status":"publish","type":"btv_wiki","link":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/knowledge-base\/iban-and-bic\/bic-code\/","title":{"rendered":"Business Identifier Code (BIC)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A BIC is a code consisting of 8 to 11 letters and numbers: the first 4 characters identify the financial institution. Characters 5 and 6 are always the country code of the institution. Characters 7 and 8 identify a SWIFT<\/u><\/strong><\/a> time zone and network code. Any additional characters are usually used to indicate a specific department or office of the institution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dutch BICs for regular SEPA payments<\/u><\/strong><\/a> are almost always 8 characters long, with NL as the country code and 2 as the time zone. The SWIFT network code can vary and is often A, 1, or 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The elements of a BIC are internationally defined in ISO 9362<\/u><\/strong>(opens in new window)<\/span> <\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a>. This standard facilitates the automated processing of BICs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A financial institution’s BIC can be looked up in the free BIC search function of SWIFT<\/u><\/strong>(opens in new window)<\/span> <\/path><\/svg><\/span><\/a>. A financial institution usually also lists its own BICs on its website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To enter a BIC or not?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The unique payments account can often be identified by entering only the IBAN<\/u><\/strong><\/a>. Why is the BIC sometimes necessary but often not?<\/p>\n\n\n\n