Great Britain: SWIFT/BIC Codes & Payment Info

When making cross-border payments to the United Kingdom, the remitter should obtain all required bank information from the beneficiary such as SWIFT BIC, IBAN, and beneficiary bank address. It is important to provide the full name, without initials, for both the ordering and beneficiary customers to avoid delays.

For GBP payments, adhere to the following formatting guidelines:

• Ordering Customer (SWIFT MT103 F50): Must include the account number, full name, and address of the ordering customer. Initials should not be used as they can delay the receipt of funds.
• Beneficiary Customer (SWIFT MT103 F59): Must include the account number (IBAN), full name, and address of the beneficiary customer. Initials should not be used as they can delay the receipt of funds.
• Beneficiary Bank (SWIFT MT103 F57): Include sort code (For London accounts only), SWIFT BIC, full name and address of the beneficiary bank. Beneficiary bank branches are identified through a unique 6-digit sort code; this is required to ensure payment delivery. The sort code should always be preceded with “//SC” followed by the 6-digit bank code. Example: //SC123456. SWIFT BIC, including branch identifier, where required, must be included in the payment instructions. If SWIFT BIC is not available, include the beneficiary bank full name and address in the payment instructions. SWIFT BIC is 8 or 11 alphanumeric characters: xxxxGBxx or xxxxGBxxxxx.
• IBAN usage is recommended for payments to beneficiaries with UK accounts. The IBAN structure in the UK is GB followed by 2 digits (check digits), 4 alphabetic characters from the bank code, 6 numeric characters from the sort code, and 8 numeric characters representing the account number.

For any additional information, refer to the official Bank of England website: www.bankofengland.co.uk.