How does the tool tell an IBAN apart from a BIC/SWIFT code?

By shape, not by guessing. An IBAN always starts with 2 letters (the country) followed by 2 digits (the check digits), and is 15 to 34 characters long. A BIC/SWIFT code is always exactly 8 or 11 characters: 4 letters, 2 letters, 2 characters, and an optional 3 more. Those two shapes never overlap, so the code is classified from its structure alone, then validated with the matching engine.

Can this identify a US routing number, an IFSC, or a sort code by itself?

Not with certainty. A bare domestic bank code (unlike an IBAN or a BIC) carries no country marker of its own, so a 6-digit or 8-digit number can only be matched by length, not confirmed. When a code's length matches a domestic system we already support, such as a UK sort code or a German Bankleitzahl, the tool links to that specific converter instead of asserting an identity it cannot verify.

What happens after a code is identified as an IBAN?

It's run through the same validator as the main IBAN checker: ISO 13616 structure, MOD-97 check digits, and, where we have the data, a bank name and national check-digit result.

What happens after a code is identified as a BIC/SWIFT code?

If it's in our bank directory, you're taken straight to that bank's profile page. If the format is valid but the institution isn't in our directory yet, the code is broken down into its institution, country, location, and branch components instead.

Identify a Bank Code

Not sure what you’re looking at? Paste it in. We detect whether it’s an IBAN, a BIC/SWIFT code, or a domestic bank code, from its shape alone, then validate it.

Bank code

Paste an IBAN, a BIC/SWIFT code, or a domestic bank/routing code

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How Does This Tool Know What Kind of Code It Is?

It doesn’t guess. It reads the shape. Every code format this tool recognises has a fixed, unambiguous structure:

IBAN (ISO 13616): always 2 letters, then 2 digits, then up to 30 more characters, covering 92 countries and 15 to 34 characters in total.
BIC / SWIFT code (ISO 9362): always exactly 8 or 11 characters: 4 letters for the institution, 2 for the country, 2 for the location, and an optional 3 for the branch.

These two shapes never collide. Position 3 is always a digit in an IBAN and always a letter in a BIC, so classification never depends on which country the code is from.

Why Domestic Bank Codes Can’t Be Identified the Same Way

A UK sort code, a German Bankleitzahl, and a Turkish bank code are all short digit strings with no built-in country marker. Unlike an IBAN or a BIC, nothing inside the code itself says which country’s system it belongs to. A bare 6-digit number could be a sort code, or it could be nothing at all. When a pasted code’s length matches one of the domestic formats we already support, this tool links to the matching converter as a possibility to check, not as a confirmed identification.

If you already know the country, skip the guesswork and go straight to the full list of converters.

What This Tool Doesn’t Verify

Identifying a code’s type and validating its structure both stop short of confirming a real account exists. Neither an IBAN nor a BIC check-digit pass means the account is open, active, or belongs to a specific person. Only the account’s own bank can confirm that. See our data methodology for exactly what is and isn’t verified on this site.

Last updated: August 2026