Difference Between IFSC Code and Swift Code

IFSC Code vs Swift Code

Swift code and IFSC code are identification codes for the purpose of electronic money transfer between financial institutions, mainly banks. One has to mention these codes when transferring money from one bank to another. While Swift code is used for international money transfer, IFSC codes are required when one wishes to transfer money from one bank to another within India. Let us know a bit more about these codes to enlighten the readers.

Swift Code

Swift codes have been developed by International Organization of Standards (ISO) to facilitate easy transfer of money (and in some cases, messages) between banks located in different parts of the world. SWIFT stands for Society for worldwide inter bank financial telecommunication. A Swift code is made up of either 8 or 1 alphanumeric digits that provide the identity and location of the bank. In this code 5th and 6th characters are reserved for the country. For example if the Swift code is DEUTUS33XXX, it stands for Deutsch bank in Ney York, USA. When requesting for transfer of money from a foreign bank to a local bank, the banks normally charge a fees in USD which may range from $25 to $35 per transaction.

IFSC Code

If you are in India and wish to transfer money from one bank to another within the country, you can easily do it once you know the IFSC codes of both the banks. IFSC stands for Indian Financial System Code and is required whether you are using RTGS, NEFT or CEMS, which are different payment systems developed by RBI. IFSC is a 11 digit code The first four characters of this alphanumeric code disclose the name of the bank. The fifth character has been kept zero to accommodate expansion of branches. Last 6 characters in the code tell the exact location of the bank. The IFSC code is even printed on the cheque books issued by all banks and one can know the IFSC code by looking at the cheque slip. Here are some examples of IFSC codes.

IOBA0000684

SBIN0006435

ICIC0007235

In brief: SWIFT code vs IFSC code • SWIFT code is for international money transfer while IFSC code is used for money transfer within India • SWIFT code has been developed by ISO while IFSC code has been developed by RBI • SWIFT code has 8 or 11 characters while IFSC codes contain 11 characters • Both SWIFT and IFSC codes are business identification numbers.