Bank Code - Europe

Europe

• The UK has a 6-digit sort code. For prefixes identifying UK banking companies, see the list of sort codes of the United Kingdom.
• Ireland uses a 6-digit sort code followed by an 8-digit account number similar to and partially integrated with the UK system.

• Germany has an 8-digit routing code. The first 4 digits identify the banking company and the latter 4 digits are assigned to the branch. In the 4-digit bank identifier:
  • the first digit corresponds to one of 8 clearing regions of Germany,
  • the first 3 digits (clearing region identifier and the next 2 digits after it) identify a "banking location" (Bankplatz),
  • the last digit (4th in the whole routing code) denotes a banking company's classification (Bankengruppe).

For bank classification values and identifiers for German clearing regions, see Bankleitzahl (in German).

For a comprehensive list of Germany's "banking location" identifiers, see Bankplätze (in German).

• Austria has a 5-digit bank code (called Bankleitzahl as in Germany).

• Switzerland has a 3 to 5 digit bank code (Bankenclearing-Nummer); the first digit indicates the bank's classification group. Following after the bank code, a 4-digit number branch code identifier. For a list of Swiss bank codes, see BC-Nummer (in German).

• France has a 10 digit code, the first 5 digits contain the clearing identifier of the banking company (Code Banque), followed by the 5-digit branch code (Code Guichet). Both numbers are only used as a combined prefix for the nationwide full account number.

• Italy has a similar clearing system is used with 5 digits identifying the banking company (Codice ABI), followed by a 5-digit CAB (Codice di Avviamento Bancario) identifying the branch, followed by the account number.

• Spain also has a similar format, with the first 4 digits identifying the banking company, the next 4 identifying the branch, the next 2 being the checksum, followed by the 10-digit account number.

• Denmark has 4-digit bank code (called Registreringsnummer, or Reg. nr.).

• Greece has a 7-digit Ηellenic Bank Identification Code (HEBIC), where the first 3 digits are the bank code and the last 4 the branch code.

• The Netherlands has a national system with account numbers of 9 or 10 digits. There are no separate bank codes. The first 5 digits of the account number can be used to identify the bank (originally also the branch, but clients can now often keep their account number when they move to another branch).

• Belgium has a national system with account numbers of 12 digits. There are no separate bank codes. The first 3 digits of the account number are called the protocol number, and indicate the bank the account belongs to.