Indian Financial System Code
The Indian Financial System Code (IFS Code or IFSC) is an alphanumeric code that facilitates electronic funds transfer in India. A code uniquely identifies each bank branch participating in the two main Payment and settlement systems in India: the Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and the National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) systems.[1]
Format
The IFSC is an 11-character code with the first four alphabetic characters representing the bank name, and the last six characters (usually numeric, but can be alphabetic) representing the branch. The fifth character is 0 (zero) and reserved for future use. Bank IFS Code is used by the NEFT & RTGS systems to route the messages to the destination banks/branches. [2] The format of the IFS Code is shown below.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bank Code | 0 | Branch Code | ||||||||
Lists of IFS Codes
Bank-wise lists of IFS Codes are available with all the bank-branches participating in inter bank electronic funds transfer. A list of bank-branches participating in NEFT/RTGS and their IFS Code is available on the website of Reserve Bank of India.[3] All the banks have also been advised to print the IFS code of the branch on cheques issued by branches to their customers.
International Bank Account Number integration
Although the integration may be a complicated technical process for the financial institutions, it is expected that India will integrate the IBAN system by the end of 2016.[citation needed] More detailed description of the IBAN structure for the upcoming integration can be found on each bank's official website.[citation needed]
References
- ^ "RTGS/NEFT - FAQ". State Bank of India. p. question 9. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- ^ "FAQs : NEFT system". Reserve Bank of India. 31 January 2012. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- ^ National Electronic Funds Transfer Reserve Bank of India
