SWIFT/BIC codes in India: banks starting with O

SWIFT/BIC codes in India

Our directory contains 394 banks and other institutions in India and 4272 SWIFT/BIC codes between them. You need such a code mainly when making international transfers.

Choose the bank below to view its head office code and its other codes. Below the list we explain how a code from India is put together, how to send money to India without overpaying and what to check before you pay.

What the letters in a India BIC mean

A BIC is 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 mark the location.

You can spot a code from India from the fifth and sixth characters: they always show the ISO country code of India. A code with other letters in that position come from a bank abroad, even if the bank name looks familiar.

The last three characters, if present, stand for a branch or department; XXX is used for the head office. For most transfers the head office code is fine unless the recipient asks for a specific branch.

About our data and how to check a code

The best place to find the correct BIC is a document from the bank itself, such as a statement or the account page in online banking. If the code you have differs from the code listed here, do not guess.

We collect SWIFT/BIC codes from publicly available data and update our list regularly. Banks reorganise, close branches and retire codes. Before a payment of any size, confirm the code with the recipient. GoldexPay is an independent comparison service for money transfers and not part of any bank listed here.

Watch out for payment requests containing changed bank details. A real SWIFT code says nothing about whether a request is genuine – scammers use the codes of real banks.

Banks in India starting with :letter

You are looking at a selection: only banks in India with a name starting with :letter. The figures for India on this page cover all 394 banks.

Bank not listed? Its official name may start with a different letter – think of the full legal name instead of the brand. The full overview for India is one click away when the letter filter does not help.

Getting paid from abroad into an account in India

A sender in another country will ask for a few details from you. In practice that means: your full name exactly as it appears on the account, your account number or IBAN, the BIC of your bank and, often, your address.

The code of your bank is in the list on this page but always compare it with your own bank details. Certain sending banks may also want your bank’s address.

Expect that the amount credited is below what the sender paid. Charges on incoming payments vary per bank. Agree with the sender who pays which costs before the money is sent.

When does money sent to India arrive?

An international transfer to India usually takes one to a few business days – it depends on currency, route and the banks in between. Bank holidays in either country add extra days.

When a payment takes longer than expected, the sender should contact their own bank – the receiving bank often cannot see a payment that has not arrived. Money transfer services often provide a status online, which makes it easier to see where the money is.

State Bank of India and its SWIFT codes

Of the 394 banks in India, State Bank of India has the largest number of SWIFT codes. Its main office uses SBININBBXXX; that is usually the right code for a transfer.

The number of codes tells you something about how it registers branches and services than about its size. Paying someone at State Bank of India? Use SBININBBXXX unless a specific branch code is requested.

Paying in INR: what conversion costs you

India uses the Indian Rupee, with the currency code INR. A payment in a foreign currency will be converted into INR on its way to the recipient – and the bank that does it picks the rate.

Who does the conversion affects how much arrives, as rates and margins differ per bank. Check how much INR arrives with different services. Exchange rates change all the time.

International payments to India and the BIC

India is not part of the SEPA area, the European zone for uniform euro payments. Payments from abroad normally travel through the SWIFT network.

In some countries, accounts are identified by a local account number instead of an IBAN and sometimes a local routing or branch code. Check with the recipient exactly which details their bank requires for payments from abroad; banks often publish instructions for this. On the way to India, a transfer can go through intermediary banks.

What a transfer to India really costs

If you send money to India via your bank, the fee you see is rarely all of what you pay. On top of the fee, intermediary banks can take a cut, and when the money is converted the bank usually uses a rate below the actual market rate.

Most of the cost usually sits in the exchange rate, not in the fee – the bank builds a margin into its rate. Check the rate you are offered with the mid-market rate. The difference is your real cost.

For many routes, a transfer service turns out to be cheaper than a traditional bank transfer, mainly because of the rate. On GoldexPay you can compare what recipients in India receive with different providers, which makes the cheapest option easy to spot.