Business Identifier Code (BIC)

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 time zone and network code. Any additional characters are usually used to indicate a specific department or office of the institution.

Dutch BICs for regular SEPA payments 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.

The elements of a BIC are internationally defined in ISO 9362. This standard facilitates the automated processing of BICs.

A financial institution’s BIC can be looked up in the free BIC search function of SWIFT. A financial institution usually also lists its own BICs on its website.

To enter a BIC or not?

The unique payments account can often be identified by entering only the IBAN. Why is the BIC sometimes necessary but often not?

• For regular account-to-account payments within SEPA, a payer almost never needs to enter a BIC, especially for payments within the Netherlands. Within SEPA, the correct BIC can be reliably and unambiguously derived from the bank code in each IBAN.
• The four-letter bank code in a Dutch IBAN is always the same as the first four letters of the corresponding BIC for that bank. A merger of two banks may result in a Dutch bank code that does not resemble the name of the new bank. The SWIFT register of BICs ensures that messages and payments are always delivered correctly.
• For payments to and from countries outside SEPA, it is always necessary to provide the BIC of the payment service provider (the bank) of the recipient in addition to the IBAN.

Overview of BICs for Dutch IBANs

The Dutch Payments Association publishes an overview of Dutch payment service providers and their BICs (in Excel).

• Payment service providers are not required to be included on this list, which means that the overview is not complete.
• As a result of mergers, acquisitions, and new entrants, the overview is subject to change at any time. The overview always states the date of the last update.
• You can stay informed of changes to the overview automatically via our free RSS feed.
• Some payment service providers use additional BICs for non-SEPA transactions. These are not listed in the overview.
• If a payment service provider in the Netherlands uses IBANs with a different BIC, this is indicated in the BIC overview. This is usually the result of a past merger or acquisition.
• This BIC overview is subject to the disclaimer of the Dutch Payments Association. Payment service providers that issue Dutch IBANs can have their BIC listed in this register free of charge. Membership of the Dutch Payments Association is not required.

BIC starts with FLOR

De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) manages central bank accounts of financial institutions. These are also known as FLOR accounts, 60.01 accounts, or RTGS accounts of credit institutions (banks). DNB’s own BIC always starts with FLOR, so the four-letter bank code of every IBAN at DNB is also FLOR.

At the request of DNB, the Dutch Payments Association publishes an overview of FLOR accounts. This allows a Dutch TARGET2 participant to settle with other Dutch participants (pay other TARGET2 participants).

This overview is subject to the disclaimer of the Dutch Payments Association.