IBAN Plus

Technical Specifications For File Version 3

This document provides a technical description of the files included in the IBAN Plus product. Financial institutions and corporates use these files to validate IBANs and to derive the BIC from the IBAN. IBAN Plus provides the solution for Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (the IBAN only rule). This document is intended for anyone who installs and administers the IBAN Plus files.

02 December 2016

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

Table of Contents

Table of Contents Preface............................................................................................................................................................... 4 1

2

About IBAN Plus...................................................................................................................................... 6 1.1

Purpose of IBAN Plus..............................................................................................................................6

1.2

IBAN Plus Packaging and Data Sources................................................................................................. 6

About the IBAN Plus Files...................................................................................................................... 7 2.1

Future File Changes................................................................................................................................ 7

2.2

IBAN Plus File Formats........................................................................................................................... 7

2.3

Daily and Monthly File Distribution.......................................................................................................... 8

2.4

IBAN Plus File Naming Convention......................................................................................................... 9

2.5

IBAN Plus File Names........................................................................................................................... 11

2.6

IBAN Plus Previous Version Files.......................................................................................................... 13

2.7

Downloading and Importing SWIFTRef Files........................................................................................ 13

2.8

SWIFTRef Release Letter and Support.................................................................................................14

3

IBANPLUS File Field Definitions.......................................................................................................... 16

4

IBANSTRUCTURE File...........................................................................................................................19

5

EXCLUSIONLIST File.............................................................................................................................22

A

5.1

Overview of the EXCLUSIONLIST File..................................................................................................22

5.2

EXCLUSIONLIST File Field Definitions................................................................................................. 22

5.3

EXCLUSIONLIST File Examples...........................................................................................................23

X Character Set......................................................................................................................................25 A.1

B

Fields and Flags for SWIFTRef Files....................................................................................................26 B.1

C

MODIFICATION FLAG Field in SWIFTRef Files....................................................................................26

Bank Codes in IBANs............................................................................................................................ 28 C.1

D

Allowed Characters................................................................................................................................25

Bank Codes in IBANs............................................................................................................................ 28

IBAN Plus Non-Matching Country Codes............................................................................................29 D.1

IBAN Plus Country Code Usage............................................................................................................29

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2

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

E

F

G

Cross-Referencing to Other Files........................................................................................................ 31 E.1

IBANPLUS File Cross-References........................................................................................................ 31

E.2

IBAN KEY Field in BANKDIRECTORYPLUS File..................................................................................31

E.3

IBAN BIC Field and ROUTING BIC Field.............................................................................................. 32

E.4

COUNTRY CODE Field.........................................................................................................................32

About IBAN NATIONAL IDs...................................................................................................................34 F.1

Structure of IBAN NATIONAL IDs..........................................................................................................34

F.2

Length of IBAN NATIONAL IDs............................................................................................................. 34

How to Validate an IBAN and Derive the BIC...................................................................................... 36 G.1

H

Table of Contents

Validate an IBAN and Derive the BIC.................................................................................................... 36

Publication Date and Validity Date for SWIFTRef Files......................................................................38 H.1

Applicable Dates for IBAN Plus Data.....................................................................................................38

Legal Notices................................................................................................................................................... 39

02 December 2016

3

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

Preface

Preface Purpose of the document This document provides a technical description of the files included in the IBAN Plus product. Financial institutions and corporates use these files to validate IBANs and to derive the BIC from the IBAN. IBAN Plus provides the solution for Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (the “IBAN only” rule). Audience This document is intended for anyone who installs and administers the IBAN Plus files. Significant changes The following tables list all significant changes to the content of the IBAN Plus Technical Specifications since the following previous editions. The tables do not include editorial changes that SWIFT makes to improve the usability and comprehension of the document.

02 December 2016

New information since September 2016 edition

Location

Information about bank codes in IBANs and interpreting the IBANSTRUCTURE file data

Bank Codes in IBANs on page 28

New information since July 2016 edition

Location

Availability of IBANSTRUCTURE_DELTA and IBANSTRUCTURE_DAILY_DELTA files

Monthly File Names on page 11 Daily File Names on page 12

New information since April 2016 edition

Location

SHA256 checksum file is included in all SWIFTRef directories as of July 2016.

Monthly File Names on page 11 Daily File Names on page 12

New information since 4 December 2015 edition

Location

A new file called EULA.txt is now included in the IBAN Plus files. This txt file provides information about SWIFTRef Terms and Conditions.

IBAN Plus File Names on page 11

New information since 4 December 2015 edition

Location

The Seychelles has been added to bank codes in IBANs.

Bank Codes in IBANs on page 28

4

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

Preface

New and updated information since 13 November 2015 edition

Location

IBAN NATIONAL ID LENGTH description

IBANSTRUCTURE File on page 19

Sweden's bank codes in IBANs

Bank Codes in IBANs on page 28

Differences in RECORD KEYs in daily and monthly files

Differences in RECORD KEYs in daily and monthly files on page 8

Updated information since 4 September 2015 edition

Location

Kuwait is included in IBAN Plus.

Bank Codes in IBANs on page 28

Deleted information since 19 June 2015 edition As described in the SWIFTRef Release Letter, Note ID 150901, as of 1 September 2015, SWIFTRef no longer provides exceptional correction files to the monthly cycle subscribers for the IBANPLUS file and the EXCLUSIONLIST file. The exceptional correction files are not adequate in supporting the high data quality levels required for SEPA payment processing. SWIFT encourages these customers to upgrade their subscriptions to the daily updates. Information about the exceptional correction files has been removed from this document.

Related documentation

02 December 2016

•

BIC Directory

•

Directories over FileAct Implementation Guidelines

•

Frequently Asked Questions for SWIFTRef Users

•

IBAN Registry on www.swift.com

•

Publication Schedule and Distribution Information

•

SWIFTRef Automated Download Service Technical Specifications

•

SWIFTRef Release Letter (sent by e-mail to all SWIFTRef data file subscribers, including IBAN Plus subscribers)

5

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

About IBAN Plus

1

About IBAN Plus

1.1

Purpose of IBAN Plus Financial institutions and corporates use the IBAN Plus product data to: •

validate IBANs

•

derive the BIC from an IBAN

•

look up the country-specific IBAN structure

IBAN Plus contains a bank's IBAN-related details such as name, national bank codes embedded in IBANs, and BICs used with IBANs. IBAN Plus contains data for all SEPA countries and the related territories, and most of the nonSEPA countries that have adopted IBAN. For the full list of countries that have adopted IBAN, see the IBAN Registry on www.swift.com.

1.2

IBAN Plus Packaging and Data Sources Packaging IBAN Plus is available as a stand-alone product within the Reference Data portfolio. IBAN Plus is also available as part of the following product packages: •

SEPA Plus

•

Corporate Pack Two

•

Corporate Pack Three

•

Payments Plus

Data sources The data is obtained from and validated against the following sources:

02 December 2016

•

ISO 9362 BIC Directory

•

ISO 13616 IBAN Registry on www.swift.com

•

National codes and BICs from the issuing authorities such as central banks and banking associations

•

National bank codes as used in IBANs, and BICs provided by owning banks to SWIFT's data collection team

6

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

About the IBAN Plus Files

2

About the IBAN Plus Files

2.1

Future File Changes The structure of the IBAN Plus data files can exceptionally evolve with time to support new business needs or new regulations. Although SWIFTRef designed its files in a way to accommodate changes by adding new rows, the addition of new types of data will require the addition of new data fields (in the form of columns) in exceptional cases. If SWIFT changes the structure of a file, then it continues to provide the previous file for 12 months following the release of a new version. A version number identifies the files and the relevant technical specifications.

2.2

IBAN Plus File Formats UTF-8 format The files are encoded in the UTF-8 format. The files use characters that belong to the SWIFT X character set (see X Character Set on page 25). TXT files The text files are structured as follows: •

Line separator: CR/LF

•

Field separator: Tab character

•

File extension: .txt

XML files The root node of the XML is which contains three mandatory attributes: •

product the name of the product and the row node

•

filetype whether it is a full file or a delta file

•

filedate date of the file in the format YYYYMMDD

For example, . Inside the root node, rows are enclosed in the product node, for example, . Each product node contains one TAG for each available column. Empty TAGs are not included. The following rules apply to the TAG names: •

underscore ("_") replaces blanks (" ")

•

uppercase characters are converted lowercase

For example, "ISO COUNTRY CODE" becomes .

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7

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

About the IBAN Plus Files

An XSD (XML Schema Definition) included as a separate xsd file, formally describes the elements in the XML document. Use this file to verify that each item in the content adheres to its description. Related information IBAN Plus Schemas on User Handbook on www.swift.com

2.3

Daily and Monthly File Distribution Overview SWIFTRef products consist of a set of files that are compressed in a zip package. Users can receive the files on a daily or a monthly basis. The distribution mechanisms are identical. You can find more information about the daily download service on www.swift.com/swiftref > About SWIFTRef > Distribution channels. An additional subscription, access, and fee for the daily files apply. The daily and the monthly cycle files are not interchangeable. Users must select and continue to use the same update frequency. Switching from one frequency to the other can only be done exceptionally by loading the full file of the new frequency. Differences in RECORD KEYs in daily and monthly files For more information about the differences in RECORD KEYS in daily and monthly files, see the Publication Schedule and Distribution Information. Daily cycle files To keep data consistent, all daily files must be applied in the correct order (by date in the file name), although not necessarily one per day. The daily files allow users to accumulate any number of daily updates and to apply them one by one, in the correct order, in one batch process. For example, if you want to apply the daily files on a weekly basis, then on 15 June you apply the files of 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 June in this order. Alternatively, if you prefer to keep your monthly update process, then you can apply 30 or 31 daily updates at the end of each month in one go. The benefit of this, in comparison to applying one monthly delta file, is that if there is an urgent data fix made throughout the month, you already have the related update in one of the daily deltas. You only need to apply all outstanding daily deltas immediately to have the data fixed. Subscribers to the monthly updates do not have such fixes available on time.

Type of file

Description

Frequency

Availability

Daily full file

The daily full file is only required for an optional data resynchronisation.

Published once a month

At 02:00 GMT on the Saturday following the Friday monthly publication day

The daily full file is published as a separate file along with the daily delta.

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8

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

About the IBAN Plus Files

Type of file

Description

Frequency

Availability

Daily delta file

This file contains only the changes of Published every day, including Every day at 02:00 GMT the previous day. For example, on 4 the weekends November 2015 at 02:00 GMT, SWIFTRef provides the daily files with file date 20151103. To download this file, select 03 Nov 2015 in the Date Selector. For more information, see Frequently Asked Questions for SWIFTRef Users.

The daily files contain updates for immediate use and not for future use. Monthly cycle files Type of file

Description

Frequency

Availability

Monthly full file

One delta file and one full file, published on the same day.

Published once a month

At 02:00 GMT on the monthly publication day (a Friday)

Monthly delta file

Users can apply the delta files only, the full files only, or a mix of the two (but not in the same month).

Related information IBAN Plus File Naming Convention on page 9 IBAN Plus File Names on page 11 Publication Schedule and Distribution Information

2.4

IBAN Plus File Naming Convention

2.4.1

Monthly Update File Naming Convention This section describes the file naming convention for SWIFTRef monthly files. ___.

Variable

Description



The name of the directory file



The version of the file

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9

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

About the IBAN Plus Files

Variable

Description



•

FULL The file is published once a month and contains all data, whether the data has changed or not. It is compatible with the DELTA files and serves the purpose of resynchronising your database with SWIFT's database.

•

DELTA The file is published once a month and only contains the data modified, added, or deleted relative to the previous month.



YYYYMMDD format The publication date and the activation date of the file



.txt or .xml (see IBAN Plus File Formats on page 7)

Related information Monthly File Names on page 11

2.4.2

Daily Update File Naming Convention This section describes the file naming convention for SWIFTRef daily files. ___.

Variable

Description



The name of the directory file



The version of the file



•

DAILY_FULL This file is published once a month and contains all data, whether the data has changed or not. It is compatible with the DAILY_DELTA files and serves the purpose of resynchronising your data base with SWIFT's database. It is different from, and not compatible with the monthly cycle FULL and DELTA files.

•

DAILY_DELTA This file is published once a day and contains the changes of the day specified in the file name. It also includes any emergency changes, therefore correction files are not needed. It is published each single day, including the week-ends. It may be empty if no change occurred.



YYYYMMDD format The publication date and the activation date of the file The daily files contain updates for immediate use and not for future use.



02 December 2016

.txt or .xml (see IBAN Plus File Formats on page 7)

10

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

About the IBAN Plus Files

Note

The IBANSTRUCTURE file does not follow the naming convention described previously. For backward-compatibility, the daily full file name is IBANSTRUCTURE_FULL and not IBANSTRUCTURE_DAILY_FULL. The file is published once a month together with the other DAILY_FULL files.

Related information Daily File Names on page 12

2.5

IBAN Plus File Names

2.5.1

Monthly File Names This section lists the file names for IBAN Plus related to the monthly update cycle.

.txt files

.xml files

IBANPLUS_V3_FULL_YYYYMMDD.txt

IBANPLUS_V3_FULL_YYYYMMDD.xml

IBANPLUS_V3_DELTA_YYYYMMDD.txt

IBANPLUS_V3_DELTA_YYYYMMDD.xml

EXCLUSIONLIST_V1_FULL_YYYYMMDD.txt

EXCLUSIONLIST_V1_FULL_YYYYMMDD.xml

EXCLUSIONLIST_V1_DELTA_YYYYMMDD.txt

EXCLUSIONLIST_V1_DELTA_YYYYMMDD.xml

IBANSTRUCTURE_FULL_YYYYMMDD.txt

IBANSTRUCTURE_FULL_YYYYMMDD.xml

IBANSTRUCTURE_DELTA_YYYYMMDD.txt

IBANSTRUCTURE_DELTA_YYYYMMDD.xml

EULA.txt

EULA.txt

sha256sum.txt

sha256sum.txt

md5sum.txt

md5sum.txt

These files are downloadable in the following archive files: IBANPLUS_YYYYMMDD_TXT.zip

IBANPLUS_YYYYMMDD_XML.zip

PAYMENTPLUS_YYYYMMDD_TXT.zip

PAYMENTPLUS_YYYYMMDD_XML.zip

SEPAPLUS_YYYYMMDD_TXT.zip

SEPAPLUS_YYYYMMDD_XML.zip

•

EULA.txt This file is included in all downloadable file packages. This file provides information about SWIFTRef Terms and Conditions. For more information, see the SWIFTRef Services Licence Agreement.

•

sha256sum.txt The Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) validates the integrity of SWIFTRef files. The SHA256 algorithm generates an almost-unique, fixed size 256-bit (32-byte) hash.

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11

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

About the IBAN Plus Files

The SHA256 checksum replaces the md5sum, which will be removed at the end of December 2017. •

md5sum.txt This file contains the digest of the files for integrity verification.

2.5.2

Daily File Names This section lists the file names for IBAN Plus related to the daily update cycle. The daily files contain updates for immediate use and not for future use. The DAILY_FULL file and the IBANSTRUCTURE_FULL file are provided as separate files once a month, one day after the monthly publication date. For files received through the Directories Over FileAct service, the daily full files and the daily delta files are available separately.

.txt files

.xml files

IBANPLUS_V3_DAILY_FULL_YYYYMMDD.txt

IBANPLUS_V3_DAILY_FULL_YYYYMMDD.xml

IBANPLUS_V3_DAILY_DELTA_YYYYMMDD.txt

IBANPLUS_V3_DAILY_DELTA_YYYYMMDD.xml

EXCLUSIONLIST_V1_DAILY_FULL_YYYYMMDD.txt

EXCLUSIONLIST_V1_DAILY_FULL_YYYYMMDD.xml

EXCLUSIONLIST_V1_DAILY_DELTA_YYYYMMDD.txt

EXCLUSIONLIST_V1_DAILY_DELTA_YYYYMMDD.xml

IBANSTRUCTURE_FULL_YYYYMMDD.txt(1)

IBANSTRUCTURE_FULL_YYYYMMDD.xml(1)

IBANSTRUCTURE_DAILY_DELTA_YYYYMMDD.txt

IBANSTRUCTURE_DAILY_DELTA_YYYYMMDD.xml

EULA.txt

EULA.txt

sha256sum.txt

sha256sum.txt

md5sum.txt

md5sum.txt

Files received via FileAct are packaged in archive files with other names. These files are downloadable in the following archive files: IBANPLUS_DAILY_YYYYMMDD_TXT.zip

IBANPLUS_DAILY_YYYYMMDD_XML.zip

SEPAPLUS_DAILY_YYYYMMDD_TXT.zip

SEPAPLUS_DAILY_YYYYMMDD_XML.zip

PAYMENTPLUS_DAILY_YYYYMMDD_TXT.zip

PAYMENTPLUS_DAILY_YYYYMMDD_XML.zip

(1)

•

02 December 2016

The IBANSTRUCTURE_FULL file name remains unchanged. It will not be renamed "IBANSTRUCTURE_DAILY_FULL".

EULA.txt

12

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

About the IBAN Plus Files

This file is included in all downloadable file packages. This file provides information about SWIFTRef Terms and Conditions. For more information, see the SWIFTRef Services Licence Agreement. •

sha256sum.txt The Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA) validates the integrity of SWIFTRef files. The SHA256 algorithm generates an almost-unique, fixed size 256-bit (32-byte) hash. The SHA256 checksum replaces the md5sum, which will be removed at the end of December 2017.

•

md5sum.txt This file contains the digest of the files for integrity verification.

2.6

IBAN Plus Previous Version Files Currently there are no previous versions files distributed.

2.7

Downloading and Importing SWIFTRef Files Downloading files

File download option

More information

How to order

Manual download from www.swiftrefdata.com by authorised users

Frequently Asked Questions - For SWIFTRef Users

1.

Go to the ordering pages on www.swift.com.

2.

Click Place orders , then select the desired product. Complete the order form (login to swift.com required).

3.

Under Files products types, select the product from the drop-down list. Under Distribution options, select Manual download from the drop-down list.

1.

Go to the ordering pages on www.swift.com.

2.

Click Place orders , then select the desired product. Complete the order form (login to swift.com required).

3.

Under Files products types, select the product from the drop-down list. Under Distribution options, select Download automation from the drop-down list.

1.

Go to the ordering pages on www.swift.com.

2.

Click Place orders , then select Subscribe (Test) or Subscribe (Live) .

3.

Complete the subscription/change form as appropriate (login to swift.com required).

Automated Download Service

Directories Over FileAct

02 December 2016

SWIFTRef Automated Download Service Technical Specifications

Directories Over FileAct Implementation Guidelines

13

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

About the IBAN Plus Files

Principles for importing data into a target database There are two ways to import data: Situation

Solution

File and destination table are both UTF-8

Directly import the file without changing parameters

File is UTF-8 and destination table is not UTF-8

Specify during the import that the encoding of the file is UTF8. That way the system knows that the characters must be read in UTF-8. If you do not specify the encoding of the file, then the system will try to import the file using the destination table encoding. The characters will be read in the wrong way and will be replaced by incorrect characters.

Importing files The files can be imported into: •

Your target application and databases. The TXT files must be translated into the EBCDIC format for import into IBM systems.

•

Microsoft Excel (if size allows) or Microsoft Access - for desktop consultation. Format the Excel sheet as text before importing the file to preserve leading zeros (“0”). To import into Microsoft Excel, do the following: 1. Select the entire sheet. 2. Format it as text. 3. Import the data with: Data > From text. 4. Select TAB-delimited Unicode (UTF-8) format for all columns.

Corporates that want to upload the IBAN Plus file into their SAP system should use the SAP Note 1737484.

2.8

SWIFTRef Release Letter and Support Release Letter For the users of the SWIFTRef files, SWIFT publishes the monthly SWIFTRef Release Letter that describes all significant additions, changes, and corrections to the SWIFTRef files. The SWIFTRef Release Letter is e-mailed automatically to all users with a subscription to file download. The SWIFTRef Release Letter is published approximately one week before the file publication date. Please contact SWIFT Customer Support if you would like to automatically receive the SWIFTRef Release Letter. Support SWIFT Customer Support provides documentation and the Knowledge Base to help customers find information.

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14

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

About the IBAN Plus Files

If you do not find the information that you are looking for, then contact Support: •

You are registered for SWIFT Support Create a support case: Log in to the Case Manager on www.swift.com.

•

You are not registered for SWIFT Support If you have a BIC, then log in to www.swift.com. Under Profiles, click Request Accesses > Support applications. If you do not have a BIC or you do not know your BIC, then contact the SWIFTRef administrator of your institution.

Type of support

Contact information

SWIFTRef data content and operational issues:

Log in to Ordering & Support on swift.com.

•

data issues

•

directory publication issues

•

directory file queries

•

website application errors

•

identity and access management

SWIFTRef sales enquiries

•

Documentation (User Handbook)

•

How-to videos

•

Knowledge base

•

Case Manager

Send an e-mail to [email protected]

Customers can find more information about Reference Data products on www.swift.com/swiftref.

02 December 2016

15

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

3

IBANPLUS File Field Definitions

IBANPLUS File Field Definitions The IBANPLUS file contains IBAN-related data for financial institutions in SEPA countries and nonSEPA countries that have adopted IBAN.

Field name

Data type

Max length

Always present

Description

MODIFICATION FLAG

Alphabetic

1

Yes

Modification flag, in delta files: •

A (addition)

•

M (modification)

•

D (deletion)

In full files: •

A (addition)

For more information, see MODIFICATION FLAG Field in SWIFTRef Files on page 26. RECORD KEY

Alphanumeric

12

Yes

The unique key of the record in the file.

INSTITUTION NAME

Any type

105

Yes

Institution name of the IBAN issuer.

COUNTRY NAME

Any type

70

Yes

The name of the country of residence of the financial institution that issued the IBAN.

ISO COUNTRY CODE

Alphanumeric

2

Yes

The code of the country of residence of the financial institution that issued the IBAN.

IBAN ISO COUNTRY CODE

Alphanumeric

2

Yes

The ISO 3166-1 country code prefix of the IBANs that the institution issued. Under certain circumstances, this can be different from the country indicated in field "ISO COUNTRY CODE" or from the country code within the IBAN BIC. For more information, see IBAN Plus NonMatching Country Codes on page 29.

IBAN BIC

Alphanumeric

11

Yes

This is the BIC11 issued together with the IBANs to the institution's clients. If an 8-character BIC was issued, then it is padded with "XXX".

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16

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

IBANPLUS File Field Definitions

Field name

Data type

Max length

Always present

Description

ROUTING BIC

Alphanumeric

11

Yes

The ROUTING BIC is NOT related to SEPA (ISO 20022 XML) payments. The ROUTING BIC can be applied to nonSEPA IBAN payments to find the following information: •

the SWIFT-connected correspondent of an unconnected bank

•

the central payments processing address of a bank with many unconnected branch BICs or with multiple BICs due to take-overs and mergers

IBAN NATIONAL ID

Alphanumeric

15

Yes

The National ID as included in the IBAN

SERVICE CONTEXT

Alphanumeric

8

No

Code indicating the context of the payment services provided by the financial institution: SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) Where this is not indicated, the institution uses the IBAN standard but is not a participant of SEPA.

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17

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

IBANPLUS File Field Definitions

Field name

Data type

Max length

Always present

Description

FIELD A

Alphanumeric

35

No

This field is only used in the monthly full and delta files. It contains a valid-from date with the format YYYYMMDD. It relates to a future change of the record. In the delta files, it specifies when the addition, modification, or deletion of the record should take place (see MODIFICATION FLAG Field in SWIFTRef Files on page 26). In the full files, the deleted records are not visible, therefore the valid-from date only relates to the added or modified records. There is no visibility on whether the record is added or modified as the MODIFICATION_FLAG always equals "A". The daily delta files do not require the valid-from date because the additions, modifications, and deletions are published exactly on the valid-from date. The full file associated with the daily cycle contains the snapshot of the data on the day it is published. Therefore, the valid-from date is not applicable either. Note: The most common cases when the valid-from date is used are for future BIC activations. In the majority of cases, new BICs are activated one week after the publication of this file. The records containing the BICs that are deactivated one week after the publication of this file will already be removed from the file at publication time. Therefore, there is no record in which the valid-from date could be specified.

FIELD B

02 December 2016

Alphanumeric

70

No

This field is reserved for future use. If values are populated, then the file structure and the field name will not change.

18

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

4

IBANSTRUCTURE File

IBANSTRUCTURE File Overview The IBANSTRUCTURE file contains information about ISO IBAN formats registered by countries that adopted or are in the process of adopting IBAN in their payment systems. The file includes information about all SEPA countries and an increasing number of non-SEPA countries. The file helps you to understand and decompose any IBAN into its parts, such as the bank identifier and account number. The IBAN structure information is derived from SWIFT's ISO IBAN Registry, completed with IBAN data specific to the various data files in Reference Data products. The file contains all registered IBAN formats and is updated when new IBAN formats are registered. For details, see the IBAN Registry on www.swift.com. Field definitions

Field name

Data type

Max length

Always present

Description

TAG

Alphabetic

2

Yes

Record Identifier: IS

MODIFICATION FLAG

Alphabetic

1

Yes

Modification flag: •

A (addition)

•

M (modification)

•

D (deletion)

•

U (unchanged)

Deleted records are listed in the full file as well until the next publication status. For more information, see MODIFICATION FLAG Field in SWIFTRef Files on page 26. IBAN COUNTRY CODE Alphanumeric

2

Yes

The ISO 3166-1 country code prefix in the IBAN

IBAN COUNTRY CODE Numeric POSITION

2

Yes

Start position of the country code in the IBAN

IBAN COUNTRY CODE Numeric LENGTH

1

Yes

Number of characters of the country code in the IBAN

IBAN CHECK DIGITS POSITION

Numeric

2

Yes

Start position of check digits in the IBAN

IBAN CHECK DIGITS LENGTH

Numeric

2

Yes

Number of check digits in the IBAN

BANK IDENTIFIER POSITION

Numeric

2

Yes

Start position of bank identifier in the IBAN

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19

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

IBANSTRUCTURE File

Field name

Data type

Max length

Always present

Description

BANK IDENTIFIER LENGTH

Numeric

2

Yes

Number of characters of bank identifier in the IBAN

BRANCH IDENTIFIER POSITION

Numeric

2

No

Start position of the branch identifier in the IBAN (value is empty if the branch identifier is not applied in the country's IBAN format).

BRANCH IDENTIFIER LENGTH

Numeric

2

Yes

Number of characters of the branch identifier in the IBAN (value is 0 if the branch identifier is not applied in the country's IBAN format)

IBAN NATIONAL ID LENGTH

Numeric

2

Yes

Number of significant characters of the National ID value that are used by SWIFT to populate the IBAN NATIONAL ID and that are sufficient to derive the IBAN BIC correctly. This number can be different from (that is, smaller than) the length of the national bank/branch identifier defined in the IBAN Registry on www.swift.com. As SWIFT refines its IBAN to BIC translation algorithms, this number may change from release to release. The value of the IBAN NATIONAL ID POSITION is equal to the value of the BANK IDENTIFIER POSITION in the IBAN.

ACCOUNT NUMBER POSITION

Numeric

2

Yes

Start position of the account number in the IBAN

ACCOUNT NUMBER LENGTH

Numeric

2

Yes

Number of characters of the account number in the IBAN

IBAN TOTAL LENGTH

Numeric

2

Yes

The total number of characters in the IBAN

SEPA

Alphabetic

1

Yes

This flag indicates whether the IBAN is used in one of the SEPA schemes:

OPTIONAL COMMENCE DATE

02 December 2016

Date YYYYMMDD

8

No

•

Y if it does

•

N if it does not

The date from which the IBAN can start being used in customer credit payments

20

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

IBANSTRUCTURE File

Field name

Data type

Max length

Always present

Description

MANDATORY COMMENCE DATE

Date

8

No

The date from which the IBAN must be used in customer credit payments

YYYYMMDD

As countries prepare for the SEPA 260/2012 regulation (“IBAN only”), the values of the IBAN NATIONAL ID LENGTH can change. This change is due to the omission of branch identifiers from the IBAN NATIONAL ID (see Length of IBAN NATIONAL IDs on page 34). CAUTION

02 December 2016

To adopt future changes automatically, SWIFT urges software developers to apply the IBAN NATIONAL ID LENGTH in their software, rather than hard-code the values.

21

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

EXCLUSIONLIST File

5

EXCLUSIONLIST File

5.1

Overview of the EXCLUSIONLIST File The EXCLUSIONLIST file contains a list of IBAN NATIONAL IDs that are not allowed in IBANs. Any IBANs that contain such IBAN NATIONAL IDs are invalid. This list allows financial institutions to detect invalid IBAN payments before sending them, and to allow corporations to detect incorrectly generated IBANs. Possible reasons why some IBAN NATIONAL IDs are not allowed in IBANs:

5.2

•

The IBAN NATIONAL ID is an expired code that used to represent a bank/branch that has closed, including all its payments accounts, and is not used in IBANs.

•

The IBAN NATIONAL ID represents a financial entity that is valid and active but that does not hold payments accounts.

•

The bank that owns the IBAN NATIONAL ID has lost its banking license.

•

The IBAN NATIONAL ID has been found in IBANs by SWIFT users, but after investigation the ID proved to be fictitious.

EXCLUSIONLIST File Field Definitions The following table contains the definitions of the fields (columns) in the EXCLUSIONLIST file.

Field name

Data type

Maximum length

Always present

Description

MODIFICATION FLAG

Alphabetic

1

Yes

Modification flag, in delta files: •

A (addition)

•

M (modification)

•

D (deletion)

In full files: •

A (addition)

For more information, see MODIFICATION FLAG Field in SWIFTRef Files on page 26. RECORD KEY

Alphanumeric

12

Yes

The unique key of the record in the file.

COUNTRY CODE

Alphabetic

2

Yes

ISO country code of the NATIONAL ID

02 December 2016

22

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

EXCLUSIONLIST File

Field name

Data type

Maximum length

Always present

Description

IBAN NATIONAL ID

Alphanumeric

15

Yes

The bank/branch code that, if included in an IBAN, would lead to an invalid IBAN. The IBAN NATIONAL ID has the countryspecific length as specified in the IBANSTRUCTURE file.

BIC

Alphanumeric

11

No

The BIC of the financial institution that holds/used to hold this NATIONAL ID

VALID FROM

Numeric

8

No

The future date from which the IBAN NATIONAL ID will be invalid. If the IBAN NATIONAL ID became invalid in the past, then the field is empty. Format: YYYYMMDD

FIELD A

Alphanumeric

35

No

This field is reserved for future use. If values are populated, then the file structure and the field name will not change.

FIELD B

Alphanumeric

70

No

This field is reserved for future use. If values are populated, then the file structure and the field name will not change.

5.3

EXCLUSIONLIST File Examples Introduction This section contains some real examples that clarify why valid IBAN NATIONAL IDs are in the IBANPLUS file and the BANKDIRECTORYPLUS file and invalid ones are in the EXCLUSIONLIST file. Note

Financial institutions use IBANPLUS files. Corporations use BANKDIRECTORYSAP files.

Example 1 In the Netherlands, the IBAN NATIONAL IDs are the first four characters of the BIC. Valid IBAN NATIONAL IDs are for example, RABO, INGB, ANDL. These are listed in IBAN Plus and the Bank Directory for SAP. However, SWIFT's own BIC, SWHQNLNL, that represents SWIFT's operating centre and SWIFT support, cannot make IBAN payments. Therefore the IBAN NATIONAL ID "SWHQ" in the country "NL" will be put in the EXCLUSIONLIST file.

02 December 2016

23

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

EXCLUSIONLIST File

Example 2 In France, the bank Crédit Mutuel has many valid bank/branch codes, such as 1562900260, 1562900270 and 1562900760, which are listed in IBANPLUS file and BANKDIRECTORYSAP file. The bank/branch code 1562902752 represents a branch that closed in July 2012. It is not used in IBANs anymore and therefore it is not listed in IBANPLUS and BANKDIRECTORYSAP files. It is listed in the EXCLUSIONLIST file instead. The bank also has the bank/branch code 1562902765. This code is an existing, valid code, but it cannot hold payment accounts. Therefore it must not be used in IBANs, so it is listed in the EXCLUSIONLIST file. It is not listed in IBANPLUS and BANKDIRECTORYSAP files. A bank may also have a bank/branch code that identifies a closed branch, but if the code still is used in IBANs (as the account itself did not close), it will be in IBANPLUS and BANKDIRECTORYSAP files and will not be in the EXCLUSIONLIST file. Example 3 A Spanish bank used to have the bank/branch code 00694442 but it expired and it is not used in IBANs. It will therefore be moved from the IBANPLUS and BANKDIRECTORYSAP files into the EXCLUSIONLIST file. Example 4 Swedish banks change their bank code when inserting it into IBANs. For example, Enskilda Banken has a bank/branch code 5851 associated to an account, but when the IBAN was generated the 3-digit code 500 was inserted as the bank identifier in the IBAN (position 5 to 7). Therefore the code 500 is a valid IBAN NATIONAL ID and is listed in the IBANPLUS and BANKDIRECTORYSAP files. If a corporate, converting its client/supplier data base into SEPA format, incorrectly generates an IBAN with 5851 in position 5 to 8, then the IBAN NATIONAL ID in the IBAN according to the ISO IBAN format would be 585 (position 5 to 7), which is incorrect. Since SWIFT has found this incorrect code 585 in some live IBANs, it puts it as invalid IBAN NATIONAL ID in the EXCLUSIONLIST.

02 December 2016

24

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

X Character Set

A

X Character Set

A.1

Allowed Characters The files contain characters from the X character set. The character set allows using parts of the data in the files, such as institution names and addresses, in SWIFT messages. Type

Allowed characters

Alphabetical characters

A to Z (upper case) a to z (lower case)

Numeric characters

0 to 9

Special characters

/ - ? : ( ) . ,' + CrLf SPACE

Transliteration of special characters that do not fit within the X character set: @

(AT)

"(double quote)

' (single quote)

Important

02 December 2016

The previous versions of the IBAN Plus file and the other files included in the package used the SWIFT Z character set. The character set is now restricted to the X character set. The characters that do not appear anymore in the files are: = ! " % _ & * < > ; { @ #.

25

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

Fields and Flags for SWIFTRef Files

B

Fields and Flags for SWIFTRef Files

B.1

MODIFICATION FLAG Field in SWIFTRef Files Overview The MODIFICATION FLAG field reflects the update status of a specific record compared to the previous (monthly or daily) publication. Two types of MODIFICATION FLAGs are used in the files: •

ADM flags on page 26

•

ADMU flags on page 26

ADM flags are used in the IBAN Plus files. ADMU flags are used in the IBANSTRUCTURE file. ADM flags Value

Description

A

Added since last issue. The record was not present in the previous issue and is therefore new in the current issue. In the FULL file, all records have the MODIFICATION FLAG set to A. This is because when a FULL file is being imported, all records must be added to the target data base. In the DELTA file, the new records are marked with A.

D

Deleted since last issue. In the FULL file, the record has been removed. In the DELTA file, the record is still present, but it is marked with D. It does not appear in the next issue of the DELTA file.

M

Modified since last issue. Not used in the FULL file. In the FULL file, the modified records have the MODIFICATION FLAG set to A. In the DELTA file, the modified records have the MODIFICATION FLAG set to M.

ADMU flags IBANSTRUCTURE file modification flag values Value

Description

A

Added since last issue. The record was not present in the previous issue and is therefore new in the current issue.

02 December 2016

26

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

Value

Description

D

Deleted since last issue.

Fields and Flags for SWIFTRef Files

The record has been removed since the previous issue. It still appears in this particular issue to provide the deletion information, but will not appear in future issues. M

Modified since last issue. The record still exists in the current issue, but does not contain the same information as the previous issue. For example, when the name of the institution has changed since the last issue, that record has M as its MODIFICATION FLAG.

U

Unchanged since last issue. The record still exists in the current issue and contains the same information as in the previous issue.

02 December 2016

27

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

Bank Codes in IBANs

C

Bank Codes in IBANs

C.1

Bank Codes in IBANs This section previously contained the list of countries and bank codes used in IBANs. Because this table duplicated the information available in the IBANSTRUCTURE file, the table has been removed. Users can import the IBANSTRUCTURE file into Microsoft Excel and interpret the data as follows: •

The IBAN COUNTRY CODE contains the country prefix in the IBAN.

•

The SEPA field indicates whether the country is a SEPA country or not.

•

The sum of BANK IDENTIFIER LENGTH and BRANCH IDENTIFIER LENGTH determines the total length of the bank/branch code in the IBAN.

•

An empty IBAN NATIONAL ID LENGTH means that the IBANPLUS file currently does not contain data for the country.

•

For some countries, the IBAN contains the bank and branch code. However, if a country's BIC can be derived accurately only from the bank code, the IBANPLUS file will not contain the branch code (for example: Spain, Portugal, Greece, Slovenia . . .). This significantly reduces the number of records in IBANPLUS while it does not compromise the quality of the BIC derivation. This is the case for countries where the IBAN NATIONAL ID LENGTH is smaller than the sum of the BANK IDENTIFIER LENGTH and BRANCH IDENTIFIER LENGTH.

Related information Structure of IBAN NATIONAL IDs on page 34

02 December 2016

28

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

IBAN Plus Non-Matching Country Codes

D

IBAN Plus Non-Matching Country Codes

D.1

IBAN Plus Country Code Usage Definitions The various country codes in IBAN Plus have the following meaning:

Term

Definition

ISO IBAN COUNTRY CODE

The country in which the IBAN account is held

ISO COUNTRY CODE

The country in which the financial institution or branch is physically present

Country code within the IBAN BIC

Depends on the BIC the financial institution has chosen for its IBAN payments. It can be a BIC issued to the branch, the subsidiary, or the BIC issued to its head-office in another country.

Examples

Example

Description

The ISO COUNTRY CODE is different from the country code in the IBAN BIC.

RBC EUROPE LIMITED PARIS BRANCH has ISO COUNTRY CODE FR because it is physically present in France, but it uses the BIC ROYCGB22XXX for its IBAN payments.

The ISO COUNTRY CODE is different from the ISO IBAN COUNTRY CODE

RBS EUROPE LIMITED has the ISO COUNTRY CODE GB because it is physically present in UK but can have ISO IBAN COUNTRY CODE CH because it owns SWISS IBAN accounts.

The ISO COUNTRY CODES and ISO IBAN COUNTRY CODES can also be different because the financial institution or its branch is located in a territory that has its own ISO COUNTRY CODE that is different from the "main" country code whose IBAN format is being used. For more information, see the following table. Exceptions for ISO COUNTRY CODES Country or Territory

ISO COUNTRY CODE

ISO IBAN COUNTRY CODE (IBAN pre-fix)

French Guyana

GF

FR

French Polynesia

PF

FR

French Southern Territories TF

FR

02 December 2016

Comment

29

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

IBAN Plus Non-Matching Country Codes

Country or Territory

ISO COUNTRY CODE

ISO IBAN COUNTRY CODE (IBAN pre-fix)

Guadeloupe

GP

FR

Guernsey

GG

GB

Banks in Guernsey issue IBANs using GB when the clearing system in Great Britain is used.

Guernsey

GG

FR

Banks in Guernsey issue IBANs using FR when the clearing system in France is used.

Isle of Man

IM

GB

Jersey

JE

GB

Banks in Jersey issue IBANs using GB when the clearing system in Great Britain is used.

Jersey

JE

FR

Banks in Jersey issue IBANs using FR when the clearing system in France is used.

Martinique

MQ

FR

Mayotte

YT

FR

New Caledonia

NC

FR

Northern Ireland

GB

IE

Réunion

RE

FR

Saint Pierre and Miquelon

PM

FR

Wallis and Futuna

WF

FR

02 December 2016

Comment

Banks in Northern Ireland issue IBANs using IE when the clearing system in the Republic of Ireland is used.

30

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

Cross-Referencing to Other Files

E

Cross-Referencing to Other Files

E.1

IBANPLUS File Cross-References The data records in the IBANPLUS file are cross-referenced with:

E.2

•

BANKDIRECTORYPLUS file

•

SEPAROUTING file

•

COUNTRY CODE file

IBAN KEY Field in BANKDIRECTORYPLUS File The IBAN KEY in BANKDIRECTORYPLUS file identifies the RECORD KEY in the IBANPLUS file that contains the IBAN data for this entity. This is illustrated in italic in the following tables.

BANKDIRECTORYPLUS file RECORD KEY

CC

NATIONAL ID

BIC

IBAN KEY

BD0000001FY8

DE

55190000

MVBMDE55XXX

IB0000000BAN

BD0000001GQO

GB

235954

NCLEGB21XXX

IB0000004187

BD0000000CIN

NC

1793909118

BNPANCNXKOU

IB0000005ON7

BD000000CUTC

NP

16043000

IBANPLUS file RECORD KEY

IBAN CC

IBAN NATIONAL ID

IBAN BIC

IB0000000BAN

DE

55190000

MVBMDE55XXX

IB0000004187

GB

NCLE235954

NCLEGB21XXX

IB0000005ON7

FR

1793909118

BNPANCNXXXX

The following situations can occur:

02 December 2016

•

There are no IBAN KEYs for countries that do not use IBANs.

•

The ISO COUNTRY CODE and the ISO IBAN COUNTRY CODE can be different for countries and territories that adopt IBAN formats of other countries (see IBAN Plus Non-Matching Country Codes on page 29).

•

Multiple branches of a financial institution in BANKDIRECTORYPLUS can share the same record in IBANPLUS (that is, the same IBAN KEY) if their IBAN NATIONAL IDs are equal.

•

There are IBAN NATIONAL IDs that correspond to closed banks' branches but that still are used in IBANs. In such cases, there is no corresponding NATIONAL ID in the Bank Directory Plus.

31

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

E.3

Cross-Referencing to Other Files

IBAN BIC Field and ROUTING BIC Field The IBAN BIC field in the IBANPLUS file contains the BIC to be used as the identifier of the beneficiary institution in SEPA payments. It is not necessarily the BIC through which the SEPA payment must be routed. This BIC, if different from the IBAN BIC, is published in the SEPAROUTING file.

Type of payment

Example

Where to find beneficiary bank's reachability (routing)

SEPA payment

SCTs and SDDs in XML format according to the ISO 20022 standard

In the SEPAROUTING file

Payment that is not cleared through a SEPA CSM

Correspondent banking payment such as an MT103+ sent over the SWIFT network

ROUTING BIC in the IBANPLUS file

The ROUTING BIC and the BIC in the SEPA ROUTING file (the reachable BIC) are independent.

Note

For more information, see the SEPA Plus Frequently Asked Questions. IBANPLUS file RECORD KEY

IBAN CC

IBAN NATIONAL ID

IBAN BIC

ROUTING BIC

IB00000000P6

AT

32000

RLNWATWWXXX

RLNWATWWXXX

IB0000002P2V

ES

31710275

CXAVESB1XXX

BCOEESMMXXX

SEPAROUTING file RECORD KEY

CC

BIC

SCHEME

PAYMENT CHANNEL ID

SP000000000A

AT

RLNWATWWXXX

SCT

EBAS

SP000000000B

AT

RLNWATWWXXX

SDD CORE

EBAS

SP0000000F57

ES

CXAVESB1XXXX

SCT

IBPA

E.4

COUNTRY CODE Field The ISO COUNTRY CODE field in the file corresponds to the following, which are included in the Bank Directory Plus product:

02 December 2016

•

the COUNTRY CODE field in the COUNTRY CODE file

•

the CURRENCY CODE file

32

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

02 December 2016

Cross-Referencing to Other Files

•

the HOLIDAY file

•

the TIMEZONE file

33

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

About IBAN NATIONAL IDs

F

About IBAN NATIONAL IDs

F.1

Structure of IBAN NATIONAL IDs The bank and branch identifier (the IBAN NATIONAL ID) embedded within the IBAN can be significantly different from the bank and branch identifier (the NATIONAL ID, also called clearing code, sort code, or bank code) used in non-IBAN payments. This section illustrates the differences. The BANKDIRECTORYPLUS file contains the NATIONAL IDs while the IBANPLUS file contains the IBAN NATIONAL IDs. The entries between these files are linked as explained in IBAN KEY Field in BANKDIRECTORYPLUS File on page 31. The formal structure of the IBAN NATIONAL ID is defined in the ISO IBAN Registry on www.swift.com. For some countries, the structure of the IBAN NATIONAL ID is significantly different from the structure of the NATIONAL ID. The following table provides some examples: CC

Country name

NATIONAL ID

IBAN NATIONAL ID

GB

United Kingdom

6 digits (sort code)

4 char (BIC4) + 6 digits (sort code)

NL

Netherlands

None

4 char (BIC4)

GE

Georgia

9 digits

2 digits

GI

Gibraltar

6 digits (sort code)

4 char (BIC4)

For example, the IBANSTRUCTURE file for GB contains:

F.2

•

BANK IDENTIFIER LENGTH: 4

•

BRANCH IDENTIFIER LENGTH: 6

•

IBAN NATIONAL ID LENGTH: 10

Length of IBAN NATIONAL IDs For most countries, the length of the NATIONAL ID is equal to the length of the IBAN NATIONAL ID. However, with the introduction of the IBANs, banks in an increasing number of countries offer their customers a bank account number (IBAN) that does not change if the customer moves from one address to another, while still staying with the same bank. This means that the branch identifier becomes irrelevant for IBAN validation and BIC derivation, although still included within the IBAN. SWIFT therefore does not include them in the IBAN NATIONAL ID. Examples are:

CC

Country name

Bank + Branch Identifier (included in IBANs)

IBAN NATIONAL ID in IBANPLUS file

FI

Finland

6

3

(First 3 digits significant in IBAN payments)

02 December 2016

34

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

About IBAN NATIONAL IDs

CC

Country name

Bank + Branch Identifier (included in IBANs)

IBAN NATIONAL ID in IBANPLUS file

SI

Slovenia

5

2

(First 2 digits significant in IBAN payments) BA

Bosnia and Herzegovina

3+3

3

(First 3 digits significant in IBAN payments) TN

Tunisia

2+3

2

(First 2 digits significant in IBAN payments)

For example, the IBANSTRUCTURE file for FI contains: •

BANK IDENTIFIER LENGTH: 6

•

BRANCH IDENTIFIER LENGTH: 0

•

IBAN NATIONAL ID LENGTH: 3

The following table shows a detailed example: Country

Bank + Branch Identifier

Institution Name

SI

2045

NOVA LJUBLJANSKA BANKA D.D.

SI

2010

NOVA LJUBLJANSKA BANKA D.D.

SI

2921

NOVA LJUBLJANSKA BANKA D.D.

IBAN NATIONAL ID

2

IBAN BIC

LJBASI2X

This mapping of multiple NATIONAL IDs on one IBAN NATIONAL ID results in fewer entries in the IBANPLUS file than in the BANKDIRECTORYPLUS file. In practice, the omission of the branch identifier in the IBAN NATIONAL ID increases the reliability of data since the updates related to the opening and the closure of branches become unnecessary. The omission of branch identifiers from the IBAN NATIONAL ID is expected for additional countries soon. This will be indicated through the IBAN NATIONAL ID LENGTH in the IBANSTRUCTURE file. CAUTION

02 December 2016

To adopt future changes automatically, SWIFT urges software developers to apply the IBAN NATIONAL ID LENGTH in their software, rather than hard-code the values.

35

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

How to Validate an IBAN and Derive the BIC

G

How to Validate an IBAN and Derive the BIC

G.1

Validate an IBAN and Derive the BIC The IBAN Plus product has been designed to perform the following tasks: •

decompose the IBAN

•

validate the IBAN structure and the embedded bank code

•

derive the BIC

This section explains how to perform these tasks using the files included in the IBAN Plus package: •

IBANPLUS file

•

IBANSTRUCTURE file

•

EXCLUSIONLIST file

About this task For any IBAN, take some or all of the following steps to validate the IBAN and derive the BIC. Procedure 1. Extract from the IBAN the two character country code The country code consists of the first two characters of the IBAN. Example: IBAN: BE88271080782541, the extracted country code is BE. 2. Validate the country code In the IBANSTRUCTURE file, look up the extracted country code in the column IBAN COUNTRY CODE. If the country code is not present, then the extracted country code is invalid. Example: The country code BE is present in the IBANSTRUCTURE file. 3. Validate the IBAN length In the IBANSTRUCTURE file, look up for the country code the IBAN TOTAL LENGTH and compare it with the number of characters in the IBAN. Example: IBAN TOTAL LENGTH for BE is 16. This corresponds to the number of characters in the IBAN BE88271080782541. 4. Validate the IBAN check digits Calculate the check digits for the IBAN (see ISO 13616 for character conversion and ISO 7064 for check digit calculation using the Modulo 97-10 function). Compare these to the digits in position 3 and 4 of the IBAN. Example: For IBAN BE88271080782541, the calculation results in 88. This corresponds to the check digits in the IBAN. 5. Extract the bank code In the IBANSTRUCTURE file, look up for the country code the BANK IDENTIFIER POSITION and the IBAN NATIONAL ID LENGTH. With this information, extract the bank code from the IBAN.

02 December 2016

36

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

How to Validate an IBAN and Derive the BIC

Example: For BE, the BANK IDENTIFIER POSITION is 5 and the IBAN NATIONAL ID LENGTH is 3. So the bank code in the IBAN BE88271080782541 is 271. Note

According to the ISO IBAN standard, the length of the bank code is the sum of the bank and branch identifiers, as specified in the IBANSTRUCTURE file, columns BANK IDENTIFIER LENGTH, and BRANCH IDENTIFIER LENGTH (the latter may be empty). However, for a more accurate and simpler BIC derivation from the IBAN, for a few countries, the IBANPLUS file contains a shorter version of the bank code. This shorter version generally consists of only the bank identifier without the branch identifier, with length specified in the column IBAN NATIONAL ID LENGTH.

6. Validate the bank code Look up the extracted country code and bank code in the EXCLUSIONLIST file, in column COUNTRY CODE, and column IBAN NATIONAL ID. If this information is present, then the IBAN is invalid. The EXCLUSIONLIST contains known bank codes that must not be used in IBANs. Example: For country code AT, the value 71100 is present in the EXCLUSIONLIST file, column IBAN NATIONAL ID. Therefore, an IBAN that starts with AT and that contains the bank ID 71100 is an invalid IBAN. Note that if the extracted bank code is not in the EXCLUSIONLIST, then it still may be invalid (but not yet known to SWIFT). 7. Derive the BIC Deriving the BIC is optional until the EU regulation 260/2012 makes it mandatory in February 2016. However, many financial institutions already derive the BIC to substitute the BIC provided by the client. In general, this greatly improves the quality of the BIC and of the payment STP. In the IBANPLUS file, look up the extracted country code and bank code in column IBAN COUNTRY CODE and column IBAN NATIONAL ID. Retrieve the associated BIC from the column IBAN BIC. This is the BIC to be used with the IBAN. Example: For country code BE and bank code 271, the IBAN BIC is GEBABEBBXXX.

02 December 2016

Important

Do not use the ROUTING BIC in a SEPA XML ISO 20022 payment. The ROUTING BIC is for cross-border non-SEPA IBAN payments (such as the MT103) that need to be sent over the SWIFT network or through a correspondent.

Note

If you do not find the extracted country code and the bank code in the EXCLUSIONLIST file (step 6) nor in the IBANPLUS file (step 7), then either the bank code is invalid (for example, obsolete or invented) or it is missing in IBANPLUS. Obsolete and invented bank codes should be added to the EXCLUSIONLIST. If this is the case, then report the country code and the bank code to SWIFT at [email protected]. SWIFT will investigate and, depending on the case, will add this bank code either to the EXCLUSIONLIST file or to the IBANPLUS file.

37

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

Publication Date and Validity Date for SWIFTRef Files

H

Publication Date and Validity Date for SWIFTRef Files

H.1

Applicable Dates for IBAN Plus Data The IBAN Plus files are published on the same date as the BIC Directory. For the scheduled publication dates, see the Publication Schedule and Distribution Information. In general, the data records inside the IBAN Plus data files (that is, files included in the zip archive) are valid at publication date. For the full list of files, see the table in Monthly File Names on page 11. The publication date is specified in the file name, for example: •

IBANPLUS_V3_FULL_20160325.TXT

•

IBANSTRUCTURE_FULL_20160325.TXT

However, a small part of the records in the monthly IBAN Plus data files become valid later than the publication date. The validity date for these few records (mostly new BICs) is specified in the column FIELD A. The format of the validity date is YYYYMMDD. Examples are: BIC activated or deactivated in the future, NATIONAL ID valid as from a future date. For all records that are already valid on the date of publication, the FIELD A is empty. This applies to all daily update files. These files contain updates for immediate use. The file IBANSTRUCTURE does not have the column FIELD A. All its records are valid at the date specified in the file name. Note

02 December 2016

The BIC Directory uses the BIC activation date concept, where the entire file becomes valid at the activation date, rather than at the publication date. This concept is not applied to IBAN Plus files.

38

IBAN Plus Technical Specifications

Legal Notices

Legal Notices Copyright SWIFT © 2016. All rights reserved. Restricted Distribution Do not distribute this publication outside your organisation unless your subscription or order expressly grants you that right, in which case ensure you comply with any other applicable conditions. Disclaimer The information in this publication may change from time to time. You must always refer to the latest available version. Translations The English version of SWIFT documentation is the only official and binding version. Trademarks SWIFT is the trade name of S.W.I.F.T. SCRL. The following are registered trademarks of SWIFT: the SWIFT logo, SWIFT, SWIFTNet, Accord, Sibos, 3SKey, Innotribe, the Standards Forum logo, MyStandards, and SWIFT Institute. Other product, service, or company names in this publication are trade names, trademarks, or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

02 December 2016

39