Bank of Scotland PLC SWIFT/BIC code

What BOFSNL2A means for a payment to Bank of Scotland PLC

The 8-character code BOFSNL2A and the full code BOFSNL2AXXX refer to one and the same institution: Bank of Scotland PLC, with its head office in Amsterdam. A BIC has a single purpose: it ensures that a cross-border transfer reaches the right bank. It comes up mostly for transfers between countries.

On this page we explain what the code means, when you need it and what else you need for a transfer to or from Bank of Scotland PLC. The BIC names a bank or branch, not a single account.

Euro (EUR) and conversion costs

Accounts at Bank of Scotland PLC are usually held in EUR, the local currency. When you pay another currency has to be converted at some point: by your bank, an intermediary or Bank of Scotland PLC itself. You rarely see a separate charge for that conversion.

Where the conversion happens affects the final amount. In many cases it is cheaper to send EUR straight away via a transfer service that converts near the mid-market rate.

Rates for EUR change during the day – some services let you fix a rate in advance. With bigger transfers, a seemingly small gap in the rate can be worth more than the fee.

Is BOFSNL2A still correct? How to check

The most reliable place for the correct BIC remains a document from the bank itself like a bank statement or the account page in online banking. Check that code against BOFSNL2A here and ask if anything does not match.

An incorrect BIC can cause a delay, a payment being sent back or extra fees along the way. Remember the IBAN: an error there can be more difficult to correct than a wrong BIC.

A validity check by your bank merely confirms that the code is valid – not that it belongs to the person you mean to pay. More and more banks check the payee name against the account. A small test payment is worth it for large sums despite the extra fee.

Why Bank of Scotland PLC has an 8- and an 11-character code

Every SWIFT/BIC code has an 8-character core: four letters for the bank, a two-letter country code and a two-character location code. In this case, that core is BOFSNL2A.

The 11-character version adds three more characters that identify a branch or department. If the last three are XXX, the code points to the head office, so BOFSNL2AXXX and BOFSNL2A are interchangeable.

In practice the code is typed in capitals. Look out for O versus 0 or the letter I and the digit 1; they are easy to mix up.

Watch out for payment fraud

Stay alert when a contact unexpectedly wants you to send money to another account. That BOFSNL2A is a real code does not mean that a request mentioning it is legitimate; criminals use the codes of real banks too.

Do not trust contact details in the same message that announces the change. Urgency and requests to keep it quiet are warning signs. When a payment has already gone to the wrong account, contact your bank immediately: the sooner they act, the better the chance of a recall.

People receiving money are targeted too: one known trick is an overpayment and then sends a request to send back the difference. Do not act before the money has really arrived and check with Bank of Scotland PLC if anything seems off.

Incoming international payments to Bank of Scotland PLC

A sender in another country will ask for several details about your account. Share the account holder’s name, the IBAN or account number, SWIFT code BOFSNL2AXXX and your address.

The sender’s bank may also ask for the address of your bank. A typo in your account number can be harder to fix than you might think, so copy the details from your online banking.

What lands in your account is often lower than what was sent. Intermediary banks may deduct a fee and your own bank may charge for processing, and if the money is converted, a markup on the rate comes on top. On invoices, you can state who bears the costs to avoid a shortfall.

Choosing between the 2 SWIFT codes of Bank of Scotland PLC

We have 2 SWIFT/BIC codes for Bank of Scotland PLC, spread over 1 cities. Besides the head office code BOFSNL2AXXX, there are codes for individual branches and departments.

If nobody asks you for a branch code, use BOFSNL2AXXX or its short form BOFSNL2A. Just use a branch code when the recipient gives you that exact code, for example on a letter or invoice.

Unsure which code to use? Ask the recipient. Branch codes are more likely to change than the head office code when a bank merges or closes offices.

About this information

We gather SWIFT/BIC codes from public sources and check our list from time to time. Institutions merge, change names and change codes, and a directory never catches every change immediately. Counts and locations come from our own dataset.

Use our data as a starting point, not as the last word. GoldexPay is independent of Bank of Scotland PLC. Should you notice a mistake, we appreciate a short note.

Paying someone abroad from your Bank of Scotland PLC account

A bank transfer abroad can cost rather more than the fee suggests. There is the fee for the transfer itself, sometimes fees charged by intermediary banks along the way and, most importantly, the exchange rate markup if the currency changes.

The real cost is often in the rate: the bank converts using an exchange rate with a margin built in. Compare their rate against the mid-market rate, the midpoint between buy and sell rates you see on financial sites. The difference is your real conversion cost.

For many routes, a specialist provider is less expensive than a traditional bank transfer. Next time you send money, take a minute to compare the total cost on GoldexPay instead of going straight to your bank. Using a transfer service does not require closing your account at Bank of Scotland PLC: you simply pay the service from your account.

Paying Bank of Scotland PLC in euros within SEPA

Because Netherlands is part of the SEPA zone, a euro payment to Bank of Scotland PLC from within the SEPA area normally only needs the IBAN. Most banking apps do not require the BIC in that case.

The BIC does matter when the currency is not euros. A few forms still show a field for the BIC out of habit; in that case, fill in BOFSNL2A or BOFSNL2AXXX.

Euro payments within SEPA normally land by the next business day; instant payments are faster if both banks offer them. Provided no currency is converted, a SEPA transfer is cheap.

How long does an international transfer to Bank of Scotland PLC take?

How fast a payment arrives at Bank of Scotland PLC is determined by several factors: which currency you send, the number of banks in between, cut-off times and differences in time zone. Transfers sent late in the day or just before a weekend or public holiday usually start a business day later. Compliance checks on larger or unusual payments may also add a delay.

Many banks use SWIFT gpi, which lets them follow a payment from bank to bank. Each gpi transfer gets a unique transaction reference, the UETR. Save your transfer receipt; it contains the details a bank needs to start a trace.

If a payment has not arrived within the expected time, the person who paid needs to contact their own bank rather than Bank of Scotland PLC. On the receiving end, it helps to look at your account for a partial amount because fees can reduce the amount.