US SWIFT & BIC Codes

United States SWIFT/BIC bank directory

The United States directory uses the US country block and includes national and regional institutions from the curated dataset. The city is the BIC registration location, while the primary eleven-character form is only a standard representation; a US wire can still require an ABA routing number, account number, and intermediary.

The primary/branch column shows the safe eleven-character primary-office form and, where relevant, a branch-code reminder. A suffix is not inferred from a city or postcode; confirm any named branch BIC with the receiving bank.

Understanding United States BICs before you send

A US SWIFT/BIC identifies a bank for international routing. It does not replace the ABA routing number, Fedwire routing number, account number, or beneficiary address that a US bank may require. Domestic ACH, Fedwire, and domestic wire forms use different fields from a cross-border SWIFT message.

The US location block can use letters or numbers, and large banks may have different BICs for New York, San Francisco, Minneapolis, or another processing centre. The registered city is not necessarily the customer's branch or the place where the account was opened.

When a payment enters the United States, the sending bank may ask for a correspondent or intermediary bank as well as the receiver BIC. The beneficiary's current wire instructions should specify which role each code plays.

How to read the United States bank table

Read a BIC from left to right. The first four characters identify the bank, the next two identify the country or jurisdiction, and the next two identify a location or processing centre. An optional final three characters identify a branch or department. When the final block is XXX, it is the standard primary-office form rather than a promise that the beneficiary's account is physically at headquarters.

The head-office column in this directory is the eight-character code recorded for the institution. The primary/branch column adds XXX when a form requires eleven characters. That is the safest general conversion because banks commonly accept the primary office and route the payment using the account identifier. A named branch suffix can be more precise, but only the receiving bank can confirm whether it is active for this account and currency.

City is a useful cross-check, not an independent routing key. A bank can centralise international payments in one city while serving customers across the country. It can also publish different BICs for subsidiaries, branches, custody desks, or currency corridors. If a beneficiary's statement differs from this table, use the statement and contact the bank rather than selecting the row that merely looks closest.

These rows identify banks, not accounts. A valid BIC does not prove that an account is open, that a beneficiary name matches, or that a currency can be credited. Account numbers, IBANs where supported, local clearing details, intermediary instructions, and compliance documents remain separate parts of an international payment instruction.

Before and after sending a United States payment

Before submitting, compare the beneficiary's current bank certificate with the form: legal name, country block, BIC, account identifier, city, currency, and payment purpose. Check whether the sender's bank asks for an intermediary. For a corporate payment, keep the invoice, contract, tax details, and source-of-funds explanation ready so a compliance team can match the payment without an avoidable repair.

Charges also affect the result. OUR usually asks the sender to cover bank charges, SHA shares them, and BEN deducts them from the beneficiary's amount, although availability varies by bank and currency. Compare the quoted fee, exchange rate, expected net amount, and value date before confirming. A lower fee can mean an intermediary chain or a slower route, so choose based on the beneficiary's required amount and deadline.

After sending, keep the payment reference and wait for the quoted window. If the payment is late, ask the originating bank where the message is: correspondent, repair queue, receiving bank, or returned. Request a SWIFT trace or equivalent message reference and give it to the beneficiary. Do not alter the BIC or send a duplicate until the first payment is resolved; two simultaneous wires create a larger recovery and compliance problem.

How to send an international payment to a US bank

Request a US bank wire instruction containing the legal bank name, receiver BIC, ABA/Fedwire routing number, account number, beneficiary name/address, and intermediary details if applicable. Do not assume that an ACH routing number works for every international currency.

1. Select an international wire and enter the receiver BIC exactly as supplied.
2. Enter the ABA or Fedwire routing number and account number in their own fields.
3. Provide the beneficiary's full legal name, address, and the US bank city shown on the wire instruction.
4. Follow the bank's intermediary instructions for USD, EUR, GBP, or another incoming currency.
5. Review wire charges, purpose, tax or invoice information, and the expected value date.
6. Save the confirmation and request an MT103 or wire trace if the account is not credited on time.

Common United States SWIFT mistakes

Timing, tracing, and beneficiary checks

US payment timing depends on Fedwire or correspondent cut-offs, weekends, federal holidays, currency conversion, and screening. A valid BIC is not a promise of instant posting.

For a late wire, ask the sending bank for the exact trace and whether the payment is at the US correspondent, the receiving bank, or a repair queue.

Keep the bank's current international wire sheet separate from domestic ACH instructions and re-confirm both after an account or routing-number change.

A final United States payment checklist

Compare the country block in the BIC with the country where the account is legally held, not merely the country where the bank group has its headquarters. Then compare the bank prefix and location block with the beneficiary's statement. If the name, city, or legal entity differs, pause and ask the receiving bank which instruction is current. This simple comparison catches many cross-border errors before a message reaches an intermediary.

Keep account-level information separate from bank-level information. The BIC identifies the institution, while an IBAN, local account number, branch number, sort code, ABA number, or other clearing field identifies the customer account. A payment form can display several of these fields at once, and copying a value into the wrong field can create an otherwise avoidable reject even when every value is individually valid.

Finally, record the amount, currency, charge option, value date, beneficiary reference, and confirmation number. These details let the sender and recipient distinguish a correspondent delay from a beneficiary-data error. When the bank confirms a correction, update the saved payment instruction and retain the old version for audit purposes. Do not publish or forward a synthetic test BIC as if it were a real account instruction.