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ISO 9362
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<p>ISO 9362 is an <a href="/facts/International_standard/9R3SMtfH">international standard</a> for Business Identifier Codes (BIC), a unique identifier for business institutions, approved by the <a href="/facts/International_Organization_for_Standardization/IacYR7Yg">International Organization for Standardization</a> (ISO). BIC is also known as SWIFT-BIC, SWIFT ID, or SWIFT code, after the <a href="/facts/Society_for_Worldwide_Interbank_Financial_Telecommunication/HTklm3zJ">Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication</a> (SWIFT), which is designated by ISO as the BIC registration authority. BIC was defined originally as Bank Identifier Code and is most often assigned to <a href="/facts/Financial_organization/MMdhY0g9">financial organizations</a>; when it is assigned to non-financial organization, the code may also be known as Business Entity Identifier (BEI). These codes are used when transferring money between banks, particularly for international <a href="/facts/Wire_transfer/dmc2FIfP">wire transfers</a>, and also for the exchange of other messages between banks. The codes can sometimes be found on <a href="/facts/Account_statement/x1fpPtRB">account statements</a>. </p><p>The overlapping issue between ISO 9362 and <a href="/facts/ISO_13616/q22HuznY">ISO 13616</a> is discussed in the article <a href="/facts/International_Bank_Account_Number/q22HuznY">International Bank Account Number</a> (also called IBAN). The SWIFT network does not require a specific format for the transaction so the identification of accounts and transaction types is left to agreements of the transaction partners. In the process of the <a href="/facts/Single_Euro_Payments_Area/PR5IjRwB">Single Euro Payments Area</a> the European central banks have agreed on a common format based on IBAN and BIC including an XML-based transmission format for standardized transactions. <a href="/facts/T2_(RTGS)/M0sNHSmW">T2 (RTGS)</a> is a joint gross clearing system in the European Union that does not require the SWIFT network for transmission (see <a href="/facts/EBICS/4oGcYwSR">EBICS</a>). The TARGET directory lists all the BICs of the banks that are attached to the TARGET2-network being a subset of the SWIFT-directory of BICs. </p>