Societe Generale SWIFT/BIC code

Societe Generale SWIFT code: SOGEINBB

The short code SOGEINBB and the 11-character code SOGEINBBXXX refer to one and the same institution: Societe Generale in Mumbai, India. Banks worldwide use BIC codes to route international transfers to the right bank. In practice you usually see the code on invoices from abroad, in payment forms and on the account details of Societe Generale customers.

On this page we explain what the code means, when it matters and what else a transfer to or from Societe Generale requires. The SWIFT code alone does not identify a personal account; for that you need the IBAN or account number is for.

How to check SOGEINBB before you pay

Ask the recipient to send you their bank details straight from a recent statement. If the code you have differs from SOGEINBB or SOGEINBBXXX, stop and ask.

Errors in the BIC are annoying rather than disastrous. Remember the IBAN: an error there is harder to correct than a wrong code.

A format check by your bank only confirms that the code is valid. Where available, a name check before sending gives an extra layer of safety. When you pay someone new, some people start with a small amount first.

Watch out for payment fraud

A common scam goes like this: you receive a message saying that a supplier has new bank details. That SOGEINBB is a real code does not mean that a request mentioning it is legitimate; criminals use the codes of real banks too.

Verify new bank details via a separate channel, never via the email that asked for the change. Watch out for time pressure, odd spelling or an email address that differs by one letter. Already paid? Call the bank you paid from without delay and have them start a recall; also report it to the police.

People receiving money are targeted too: one known trick is an overpayment and then sends a request to refund the difference to another account. A screenshot of a transfer proves nothing.

Where our SWIFT data comes from

The directory on GoldexPay is compiled from publicly available sources and is updated regularly. Still, banks merge, rename themselves or change codes. Counts and locations come from our own dataset.

Use this page as a reference, rather than as the final word: the recipient’s bank details come first. GoldexPay is independent of Societe Generale. Should you notice something that is out of date, we welcome a short note.

8 or 11 characters: SOGEINBB versus SOGEINBBXXX

A BIC is built from fixed blocks: characters one to four stand for the bank, characters five and six show the country and the two after that indicate the location. Combined, these eight characters make up SOGEINBB – the version you usually see online.

The 11-character version has three more characters that identify a branch or department. When those three characters are XXX, they simply mean the head office, so SOGEINBBXXX and SOGEINBB are interchangeable.

Type the code in one piece, in capitals and without separators. Pasting the code beats typing it by hand: a typo can point to another bank.

Head office or branch code at Societe Generale?

With 3 codes, Societe Generale is one of the banks that use separate codes for branches and departments. The head office code remains SOGEINBBXXX.

For the vast majority of incoming transfers, the head office code SOGEINBBXXX works fine. Just use a branch code when your contact explicitly asks for it, for example on an invoice or in their bank details.

If you are not sure, ask the person you are paying for the exact BIC in their bank details. Branch codes are more prone to change than SOGEINBBXXX when a bank merges or closes offices.

Getting paid from abroad into a Societe Generale account

When you expect a payment from another country, give the sender all details at once. Give them the account holder’s name, your account number or IBAN, SWIFT code SOGEINBBXXX and your address.

You can include Societe Generale and Mumbai too. A typo in the IBAN is harder to fix than it looks; copy them from your banking app rather than typing.

The amount you receive is often lower than the amount sent. Intermediary banks may deduct a fee, Societe Generale may charge for incoming payments, and if the money is converted, an exchange rate margin comes on top. Agree with the sender who pays which costs before the money is sent.

Indian Rupee (INR) and conversion costs

Most accounts at Societe Generale are usually held in INR, the national currency. When you pay money in a different currency gets converted somewhere along the way. There is rarely a separate charge for the conversion – the cost sits in the rate.

Which bank converts the money matters, because each party uses its own rate. In many cases you pay less if you send INR directly through a provider that converts near the mid-market rate rather than letting the receiving bank convert.

Rates for INR move all the time. On larger amounts, a seemingly small gap in the rate can be worth more than the fee.

Paying someone abroad from your Societe Generale account

An international bank payment can cost rather more than the listed fee. There is the fee for the transfer itself, possibly charges from correspondent banks along the way and, most importantly, the exchange rate markup.

That exchange rate margin is often the biggest cost. An easy check: set the rate you get against the mid-market rate for the same moment and look at the difference.

For a lot of currency pairs, a transfer service is less expensive than a traditional bank transfer, mainly because of the exchange rate. On GoldexPay we compare the amount that arrives with different services, so you can pick the cheapest route. Choosing a specialist does not mean closing your account at Societe Generale: you simply pay the service from your account.

Tracking a transfer to or from Societe Generale

A SWIFT payment usually needs anywhere from one to several business days – it depends on currency, route and the banks in between. Transfers sent late in the day or just before a weekend or public holiday usually go out the next business day. Occasionally a bank wants to know what the payment is for, which can hold things up.

Many banks are connected to SWIFT gpi, which lets them follow a payment from bank to bank. Every gpi transfer gets a unique transaction reference, the UETR, which your bank can use to see where the money is. Save your transfer receipt until the money has arrived.

If a payment has not arrived after a few business days, the person who paid needs to start with the bank that sent it. Ask the sender for the payment receipt with the date and reference; that often settles the question quickly.