SWIFT/BIC codes in France: banks starting with H

France: banks and their SWIFT/BIC codes

On this page you find the SWIFT/BIC codes of 2801 institutions in France. A BIC tells the banks handling a transfer which institution is meant to get an international payment.

Pick a bank from the list to view its head office code and its other codes. The sections below explain how the codes work, the cost of transfers and how to avoid mistakes before a payment.

Tracking a payment to France

There is no single delivery time for transfers to France: many land within a day, others take several business days. Public holidays in either country can add a day or more to the journey.

If the money is late, ask the sender to contact the sending bank for a trace – the receiving bank often cannot see a payment that has not arrived. Keep your transfer receipt.

The structure of a France SWIFT/BIC code

Every SWIFT/BIC code has 8 or 11 characters, always in the same order. First comes four letters for the bank, then a two-letter country code and a two-character location code.

You can recognise a code from France from the fifth and sixth characters – those always form the country code of France. Codes with other letters in that position belong to another country, even if the bank name looks familiar.

The optional last three characters identify a specific branch; XXX means the head office. In most cases the head office code is what you need, unless the recipient gives you a branch code.

Getting paid from abroad into an account in France

A sender in another country needs a few details from you – incomplete details often cause delays. That means: your full name as your bank knows it, your IBAN or account number, the SWIFT/BIC code of your bank and sometimes your address.

Look up your bank in the list above. It helps to add your bank’s name and city because some forms have separate fields for it.

What lands in your account can be lower than the amount sent. Intermediary banks may deduct a fee and your own bank may charge for processing, and when currencies differ, an exchange rate margin applies. On invoices, agree how the fees are split to avoid a shortfall.

France and the Euro

The currency in France is the Euro (EUR). When you pay money in a different currency, it has to be converted at some point.

Where the conversion happens affects how much arrives. Often you pay less to send EUR directly through a transfer service that converts near the mid-market rate so the receiving bank does not need to convert again. Exchange rates move all the time.

Bank or transfer service for France?

What you pay for a transfer to France has more than one component – not only the fee you see. On top of a fixed fee, intermediary banks may take a cut and, if currencies are converted, the bank usually applies a rate below the real market rate.

The markup on the rate tends to be the largest cost item. An easy check: set the rate you get against the mid-market rate and work out the difference on your amount.

For a lot of routes, a specialist provider turns out to be less expensive than a traditional bank transfer – mostly thanks to the exchange rate. On GoldexPay we compare the amount that arrives in France across services.

France and the SEPA area

Within the SEPA zone, euro transfers to France follow the same rules and in most cases need only the IBAN. The BIC field is usually optional in that case.

You will still need the BIC for non-euro payments or money from outside the SEPA area. SEPA transfers normally land within one business day. Provided the payment stays in euros, a SEPA transfer is usually cheap.

Filter: banks in France with :letter

This page only shows the banks in France whose name starts with :letter, sorted alphabetically. The totals mentioned above still refer to the whole country, not just this letter.

If the bank you need does not appear under :letter, try another letter. The complete list is one click away if the letter filter does not help.

About our data and how to check a code

Ask the recipient to send you the account details directly from their banking app. A wrong code may lead to delays, a returned payment or extra fees, so compare it with the list on this page.

This list draws on publicly available sources and is updated regularly. Banks reorganise, close branches and retire codes. Use this list as a starting point rather than the last word: the bank details from the recipient come first. GoldexPay is an independent comparison site.

Watch out for payment requests containing a new account. Always confirm a change of bank details by phone, using a number you already had.

Which bank in France has the most codes?

Among the 2801 institutions we list, Credit Agricole has the largest number of SWIFT/BIC codes of all banks in France. Its main office uses AGRIFRPP802.

The number of codes tells you more about how it organises its payments than about its size. Making a payment to Credit Agricole? Use AGRIFRPP802 except when a specific branch code is requested.