What is full form of SWIFT ?

What does SWIFT stand for

?

The full form of SWIFT is "Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial

Telecommunication". The headquarter of this Society is at La Hulpe, Belgium.. It
handles the granting of codes to banks across the world and thus we can say that
registration of SWIFT codes is handled by this Society.

As such "SWIFT" is the registered trademarks of S.W.I.F.T.

SWIFT Codes are Used for What Purpose ?

SWIFT codes are a standard format of Bank Identifier Codes and each bank has a
unique identification code. Thus SWIFT is also sometimes known as BIC. The
SWIFT code is used for exchanging messages between banks. The most popular
messages sent through SWIFT relate to transferring money between banks i.e.
international wire transfers. Thus, in case you wish to transfer funds across countries,
bank may ask you to give SWIFT code of the bank where you wish to transfer your
funds.

What does different digits of SWIFT indicate ?

The full SWIFT code for a branch consists of 11 characters (last three characters are
branch code). Thus, sometimes 8 digit code is also given for a bank. The code thus
consists of :-

(a) First FOUR characters : Bank Code (consists of only letters);

(b) Next TWO characters : ISO 3166-1 alpha- 2 country code (only letters)

(c) Next TWO characters : Location Code (letters and digits) [Passive
participants will have 1 in the second character]

(d) Last THREE characters : These are optional and are used for branch specific
codes (For primary offices they use "XXX") - These can be letters and digits

Bank for International Settlements

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) (BRI)) is an international
organization of central banks which promote international monetary and financial
cooperation and serves as a bank for central banks".[2]

But first let me say just a few words about what the BIS is and does. The Bank was
founded in 1930, making it world’s oldest internationalfinancial institution. Its
immediate task was to act as trustee and agent for the international loans intended
to finalise settlement of the reparations cause from World War I – hence the name:
the Bank for International Settlements.

The primary intention of the Bank’s founders’ was to create a focus for cooperation
among central banks. First, the BIS was to act as the bank for central banks. It would
accept deposits of a portion of the foreign exchange reserves of central banks and
invest them prudently to yield a MARKET return

The second important role of the BIS is to provide a forum for policy discussions and
international cooperation among central banks. Over the years, the BIS has
established a rich structure of meetings in which governors and other senior central
bankers can exchange information and opinions on the state of the world economy
and its implications for monetary and financial stability policies.

The BIS carries out its work through subcommittees, the secretariats it hosts and
through an annual general meeting of all member banks. It also provides banking
services, but only to central banks and other international organizations. It is based
in Basel,Switzerland, with representative offices in Hong Kong and Mexico City.