SWIFT/BIC codes in Belgium: banks starting with R

SWIFT/BIC codes in Belgium

On this page you find codes for 333 institutions in Belgium – 651 codes altogether. Every code points to an institution or one of its branches and tells other banks where an international payment should go.

Look for the bank you need in the list and click through to see all codes we have and the details a transfer needs. The sections below covers how the codes work, the cost of transfers and the checks worth doing before a payment.

Incoming international payments in Belgium

If you are waiting for money from abroad in Belgium, give the sender everything they need in one go. That means: your full name exactly as it appears on the account, your IBAN or account number, the BIC of your bank and, often, your postal address.

Your bank’s code appears in the list on this page. It helps to include the name and city of your bank, since some payment forms ask for it.

What lands in your account can be lower than the amount sent. Charges on incoming payments vary from bank to bank; check the price list of your bank. For business payments, state how the fees are split, so nobody is left short.

How long does a transfer to Belgium take?

An international transfer to Belgium usually takes anywhere from one to several business days, depending on the currency, the route and the banks involved. Transfers sent after the cut-off time or on a weekend or public holiday often go out the next business day.

If a transfer is late, ask the sender to contact their own bank and ask for the status or the UETR – the receiving bank often cannot see a payment that has not arrived. Money transfer services usually show tracking in their app.

How SWIFT codes from Belgium are built

A BIC is either 8 or 11 characters long and the parts always come in the same order. Characters one to four stand for the bank, the fifth and sixth characters are the country code and the next two give the location.

You can spot a bank code from Belgium from letters five and six. When the country letters do not match Belgium, the code belongs to a bank somewhere else, so check again.

The long version adds a branch code. Use a branch code only if the recipient’s bank asks for it – otherwise stick with the head office.

Belgium and the SEPA area

Because Belgium is in the SEPA zone, a euro payment to a bank in Belgium normally requires just the IBAN. Many banks do not require the BIC for these payments.

The BIC does come into play when the currency is not euros. Euro payments within SEPA usually arrive by the next business day. Fees are generally low provided everything stays in euros – conversion is what costs money.

Sending EUR to Belgium

Bank accounts in Belgium are typically held in EUR, the local currency. If you send money in a different currency, the amount has to be converted somewhere along the way – by your bank, a bank in between or the recipient’s bank.

Where the conversion happens has an effect on the final amount, as rates and margins differ per bank. Compare what EUR arrives via different providers before choosing one. Rates for EUR change during the day – some providers let you lock in a rate.

What a transfer to Belgium really costs

If you transfer money to Belgium with a regular bank, the stated fee is only part of the cost. Besides the fee, correspondent banks can deduct a charge, and when the money is converted the bank usually uses a less favourable rate than the real market rate.

The markup on the rate tends to be the largest cost item. Compare the bank’s rate with the mid-market rate, the midpoint you see on financial news sites. The difference is your real cost.

For a lot of routes, a specialist provider turns out to be cheaper than a traditional bank transfer, mainly because of the rate. Before your next transfer to Belgium, it is worth comparing the total cost via GoldexPay.

BNP Paribas Securities Services, Belgium and its SWIFT codes

BNP Paribas Securities Services, Belgium tops our list for Belgium in the number of SWIFT/BIC codes. Its main office uses PARBBEBZXXX; that is usually the right code for a transfer.

Banks differ in how many codes they register – a high count is not a measure of size. Unless the recipient asks for a branch, PARBBEBZXXX is fine for transfers to this bank.

About our data and how to check a code

The most reliable source for a SWIFT code is the recipient’s own bank details. When the code you were given does not match the code listed here, do not guess: check with the recipient or the bank.

Our SWIFT/BIC directory is based on publicly available sources. Banks reorganise, close branches and retire codes, and no directory catches every change immediately. Use our data as a starting point: the bank details from the recipient come first. GoldexPay is not a bank.

Watch out for invoices containing changed bank details, especially when they come by email. A real SWIFT code says nothing about whether a request is genuine – scammers use the codes of real banks.

Banks in Belgium starting with :letter

The letter filter limits the list down to banks from Belgium that begin with :letter. The counts in the introduction always cover the whole country.

If a bank is missing under :letter, check another letter: banks are often registered under their full legal name. The complete list is one click away if you cannot find the bank here.