SWIFT/BIC codes in Germany: banks starting with I

SWIFT/BIC codes in Germany

This overview contains 2804 banks and financial institutions in Germany, with 8518 SWIFT/BIC codes in total. You need a SWIFT/BIC code mostly when making payments across borders and for payments in a foreign currency.

Every bank has its own page with the head office code and if there are any, codes for branches and departments. The rest of this page explain the structure of the codes, the cost of transfers and how to avoid mistakes before you send money.

Euro payments to Germany: is a BIC needed?

Germany is a member of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). When you send euros from another SEPA country, you normally only need the IBAN; many banks no longer ask for the BIC.

You still need a SWIFT code for non-euro payments or transfers from countries outside SEPA. Euro payments within SEPA usually arrive by the next business day or faster with instant payments. Costs stay low as long as everything stays in euros – conversion is what costs money.

What the letters in a Germany BIC mean

A BIC is either 8 or 11 characters long and follows a fixed pattern. First comes four letters for the bank, followed by a two-letter country code and two characters for the location.

For banks in Germany, letters five and six show the ISO country code of Germany, which makes these codes easy to recognise. When the country letters do not match Germany, the code belongs to a bank in another country – worth double-checking.

The last three characters, if present, stand for a specific branch; XXX is used for the head office. Use a branch code only when the recipient’s bank asks for it – otherwise stick with the head office.

How reliable is this list?

Have the recipient copy their bank details straight from their online banking. If the code you have differs from our list, do not guess – contact the recipient or their bank.

This list draws on publicly available sources and is updated regularly. Even so, banks merge or retire codes, so information can be out of date. Use this list as a reference, not as the final word. GoldexPay is an independent comparison site, not a bank.

Fraudsters regularly use payment requests carrying new bank details. A valid BIC tells you nothing about who owns the account: criminals use real codes too.

Banks in Germany starting with :letter

You are looking at a filtered list: just banks in Germany with a name starting with :letter. The counts in the introduction still cover the whole country and not only this selection.

Cannot find the bank? The registered name may start with a different letter, for example the full legal name rather than a brand name. Use the full list for Germany if you do not know the exact name.

What a sender needs to pay you in Germany

When you expect money from abroad on an account in Germany, give the sender everything they need in one go. Share your name as registered with the bank, your account number or IBAN, the BIC of your bank and your address.

Look up your bank in the list on this page to check its code – your bank statement is the final word. It helps to add the name and city of your bank as well because some forms have separate fields for it.

Do not be surprised if the incoming amount is smaller than the amount on the sender’s receipt. Intermediary banks may deduct a fee and your own bank may charge for processing, and when currencies differ, a markup on the rate comes on top. On invoices, agree how the fees are split, so nobody is left short.

The cheapest way to send money to Germany

When you send money to Germany through your bank, the stated fee is only part of the cost. You pay the transfer fee, sometimes fees from correspondent banks and, above all, the margin on the exchange rate.

Most of the cost usually sits in the exchange rate, rather than in the fee: banks convert at a rate with a margin built in. A simple test: set the offered rate next to the mid-market rate and look at the difference.

For many currency pairs, a specialist provider turns out to be less expensive than a traditional bank transfer – mostly thanks to the exchange rate. GoldexPay compares the amount that arrives in Germany with different services, which makes the cheapest option easy to spot.

Transfer times to Germany

How fast a payment arrives in Germany depends on several factors: which currency you send, the number of banks in between, daily processing deadlines and time zones. Bank holidays in Germany or in the sending country add a day or more to the journey.

When a payment takes longer than expected, ask the sender to contact their own bank. Keep your transfer receipt – you will need it if something goes wrong.

Sending EUR to Germany

Most accounts in Germany are typically held in EUR, the local currency. When you pay another currency, the amount gets converted at some point.

Who converts the money matters, because each party uses its own rate. Often you pay less to send EUR straight away via a transfer service with a good rate rather than letting the receiving bank convert. On larger amounts, even a small gap in the rate adds up quickly.

Most SWIFT codes in Germany: Deutsche Bank AG

In our directory, Deutsche Bank AG holds the largest number of SWIFT/BIC codes in Germany. The head office uses DEUTDE2HXXX, which is the code to use when no branch is specified.

A large number of codes usually reflects that the bank registers branches and departments separately. Unless the recipient asks for a branch, DEUTDE2HXXX is fine for a payment to Deutsche Bank AG.