SWIFT/BIC codes in India: banks starting with B

Bank SWIFT codes for India

Here you will find the SWIFT/BIC codes of 394 banks in India – 4272 codes altogether. You will need a SWIFT/BIC code mainly when making payments across borders, and especially for payments in foreign currencies.

Pick the bank below to view the head office code and any branch codes, plus practical notes for sending and receiving money. Further down we explain how a code from India is put together, how to send money there without overpaying and how to check a code before you pay.

How SWIFT codes from India are built

A SWIFT code is either 8 or 11 characters long. The first four letters stand for the bank, characters five and six form the country code and the next two give the location.

In every code from India, letters five and six are the ISO country code of India. If the country letters do not match India, the code belongs to a bank somewhere else.

If the last three are XXX, it refers to the head office. For most transfers the head office code is what you need.

Why a transfer to India needs a SWIFT code

To pay into India you almost always need a SWIFT/BIC code – India is not a SEPA country. Without the BIC, most banks cannot process the payment.

Not every country uses IBAN numbers. The recipient’s bank often provides instructions for payments from abroad. SWIFT payments sometimes go via one or more intermediary banks and fees can be taken along the way.

The Indian Rupee (INR) and conversion costs

India uses the Indian Rupee. If you send money in a different currency, the amount gets converted somewhere along the way – by your bank, a bank in between or the recipient’s bank.

Who converts the money makes a difference. In many cases it is cheaper to send INR directly through a transfer service with a good rate. On larger amounts, even a small gap in the rate adds up quickly.

Filter: banks in India with :letter

This page shows only the banks in India beginning with :letter. The totals on this page apply to all 394 banks and not only this letter.

Some banks are listed under their legal name, which may start with words like Bank or Banco. The complete list remains one click away if the letter filter does not help.

About our data and how to check a code

Have the recipient send you their bank details directly from their online banking. An incorrect BIC may lead to delays, a payment being sent back or additional charges, so compare it with the list on this page.

The directory on GoldexPay draws on publicly available sources and is updated regularly. Institutions reorganise, change names and retire codes, and no directory catches every change immediately. For a payment that matters, check the BIC with the recipient. GoldexPay is an independent comparison site.

Fraudsters often send payment requests with new bank details from what looks like a familiar address. A valid BIC says nothing about whether a request is genuine – scammers use the codes of real banks.

Receiving money in India from abroad

For a transfer from abroad in India, the person paying you needs more than the BIC. Give them your name as registered with the bank, the IBAN or account number, the BIC of your bank and your address.

Your bank’s code appears in our list. Certain banks also want the name and address of your bank; it does no harm to include it.

Expect that the incoming amount is below what the sender paid. Fees for incoming transfers differ per bank. On invoices, agree how the fees are split to avoid a shortfall.

Transfer times to India

There is no single answer for payments to India: some arrive the same day or the next while others need several business days. Bank holidays in India or in the sending country can add extra days, because banks do not process payments on those days.

If the money seems late, the sender should contact the sending bank; only the sending side can start an official trace. Save the payment confirmation until the money has arrived – you will need it if something goes wrong.

State Bank of India and its SWIFT codes

State Bank of India leads our list for India when it comes to SWIFT/BIC codes. The head office uses SBININBBXXX.

How many codes a bank has tells you more about how it organises its payments than about how big it is. If not a branch code is given, the head office code SBININBBXXX works for transfers to this bank.

Bank or transfer service for India?

If you send money to India via your bank, the stated fee is only part of what you pay. Besides a fixed fee, correspondent banks may take a cut and, if currencies are converted, the bank usually uses a less favourable rate than the real market rate.

That exchange rate margin is often the largest part of the cost. Check the bank’s rate with the mid-market rate, the midpoint you see on financial news sites.

Specialist money transfer services frequently use rates closer to the mid-market rate with clearer fees. Before you send money to India, it is worth to compare the total cost via GoldexPay.