Managing Your Business

IBAN and BIC

Check IBANs and BICs

Your International Bank Account Number (IBAN) and Bank Identifier Code (BIC) are your account number and sort code written in a standard, internationally recognised format. They help us process your international payments automatically, making them faster, safer and cheaper than paper instructions e.g. foreign drafts or cheques.

At a glance

Find your IBAN and BIC on bank statements
Standard internationally recognised format
Used for worldwide payments

Key benefits

Use your IBAN and BIC to make it easier to receive payments from abroad

Avoid extra charges when receiving most EU payments

Make international payments using someone's IBAN and BIC

Benefit from an automated system with no delays or queries

How to find your IBAN and BIC

You'll find both your IBAN and BIC on your paper bank statement.

Your IBAN will look like this: GB15HBUK40127612345678 please note the bank code and sort code will vary according to your account. The below is provided as an example. The IBAN will vary based on your account. Please check the actual IBAN which is specific to your account, this can be found on your statement.

IBAN and BIC Guide

What do the letters and numbers mean?

Country code identifies the country in which the IBAN was issued and where the IBAN account is held
Check number enables a banking institution to complete an integrity check of the IBAN. It will vary from one IBAN to another
Bank code identifies the IBAN account holder's bank
Sort code and account number identify the account into which funds should be transferred. You will see from your statement that these are the same as your UK bank account details

The structure is consistent but the actual length, which can be up to 34 characters, depends on the national standards of the country in which it is issued.

Your BIC is the code that helps overseas banks identify which bank to send money to, below is an example of how a BIC is constructed. The bank code will vary based on your account.

Please check the actual BIC which is specific to your account, this can be found on your latest statement.

HSBC UK BIC Guide

When to use an IBAN and BIC

IBANs can be used for worldwide payments but are most commonly used in Europe. All cross-border euro Priority Payments within the EU or the European Economic Area must quote the BIC and IBAN of the beneficiary. If you don't provide this information, additional fees may be charged back to us, which we will then debit from your account. What's more, any euro payment without a BIC and IBAN can be returned or rejected and a fee charged.

The EU has introduced regulations to align charges for local and cross-border payments within the region. This means that when receiving cross-border euro-denominated payments for EUR50,000 or less, quoting the correct IBAN and BIC, the beneficiary will not incur charges from the receiving bank, over and above those payable locally. Please note, the regulation does not apply to payments made to or from Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.

You should give your IBAN and BIC to anyone who needs to make payments to you from abroad. Businesses should quote their IBAN and BIC on invoices they issue internationally and look out for IBAN and BIC on invoices received.

How to make and receive payments

Receiving payments

Making payments

Quote the IBAN you're given in the beneficiary account number field of your payment instruction, but don't include any spaces between the characters (they may have been inserted to make it easier to read).

Quote the BIC you're given in the beneficiary bank field, but don't include any spaces between the characters (they may have been inserted to make it easier to read).

Please note:
The IBAN you're given may be prefaced with 'IBAN' (eg. IBAN GB15HBUK40127612345678) and the BIC may be prefaced with 'BIC' (eg. BIC HBUKGB4B). Please don't include either preface. The above is provided as an example. Please check the actual BIC / IBAN which is specific to your account this can be found on your statement.