SWIFT/BIC codes in Switzerland: banks starting with I

SWIFT/BIC codes in Switzerland

Our directory lists 697 banks and financial institutions in Switzerland, with 1904 SWIFT/BIC codes in total. A BIC tells every bank in the chain exactly which bank should receive the money.

Pick a bank from the list to see the head office code and any branch codes. Below the list we explain how a code from Switzerland is put together, how to send money there without overpaying and what to check before you pay.

Paying in CHF: what conversion costs you

The currency of Switzerland is the Swiss Franc (CHF). When you pay money in a different currency, it has to be converted at some point.

Who converts the money makes a difference. Compare what CHF the recipient gets via several services; the difference between options can be larger than you expect. Exchange rates change all the time, so a quote is usually valid only briefly.

Euro payments to Switzerland: is a BIC needed?

Switzerland belongs to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). When you send euros from another SEPA country, you normally only need the IBAN and the BIC is often filled in automatically.

The BIC still matter when the currency is not euros and when the money comes from outside SEPA. Instant euro transfers have become widely supported across SEPA – check whether your bank supports them. Fees are generally low provided everything stays in euros – conversion is what costs money.

Bank or transfer service for Switzerland?

If you send money to Switzerland through your bank, the fee you see is only part of the cost. There is the transfer fee, sometimes charges from intermediary banks and, most importantly, the exchange rate markup if the money is converted.

The markup on the rate tends to be the biggest part of the cost, even though it is not listed as a fee. Compare the bank’s rate against the mid-market rate; the gap is what conversion costs you.

Specialised transfer providers often use rates closer to the mid-market rate and lower fees. Before your next transfer to Switzerland, it is worth comparing the total cost via GoldexPay.

Tracking a payment to Switzerland

There is no fixed delivery time for payments to Switzerland: many land the same day or the next. Bank holidays in either country can add a day or more, because banks do not process payments on those days.

Many banks use SWIFT gpi for faster and traceable payments. Each payment gets a unique transaction reference, the UETR. Save the payment confirmation.

Which bank in Switzerland has the most codes?

Raiffeisen Schweiz Genossenschaft leads our list for Switzerland when it comes to SWIFT/BIC codes. The head office uses RAIFCH22XXX – the code most transfers need.

Many codes often reflects that the bank registers branches and departments separately, not necessarily that the bank is the biggest in the country. Paying someone at Raiffeisen Schweiz Genossenschaft? Go with RAIFCH22XXX except when a specific branch code is requested.

Getting paid from abroad into an account in Switzerland

When you are waiting for money from abroad in Switzerland, give the sender everything they need in one go. Give them the account holder’s name, your account number or IBAN, the BIC of your bank and your address, which some banks require.

Find your bank in the list above to check its code. You can include your bank’s name and city because some forms have separate fields for it.

The amount you receive can be less than the amount sent. Intermediary banks may deduct a fee, and when currencies differ, an exchange rate margin comes on top. For business payments, agree how the fees are split.

Verifying a SWIFT code from Switzerland

The best place to find the right code is paperwork issued by the bank. When the code you were given differs from the code listed here, stop and ask: check with the recipient or the bank.

We collect SWIFT/BIC codes using publicly available data and check them regularly. Even so, banks merge or change codes. Use our data as a reference; the recipient’s bank details are leading. GoldexPay is a comparison service.

Watch out for payment requests containing a new account – a common fraud method. A real SWIFT code tells you nothing about whether a request is genuine – scammers use the codes of real banks.

Filter: banks in Switzerland with :letter

The letter filter narrows the list to banks from Switzerland that begin with :letter, so you can find a bank faster. The counts in the introduction always refer to the whole country.

Cannot find the bank? The registered name might begin with another word, for example the full legal name rather than a brand name. The full overview for Switzerland remains available when you cannot find the bank here.

Recognising a SWIFT code from Switzerland

Bank identifier codes follow one international format: 8 characters. Characters one to four stand for the bank, characters five and six form the country code and the next two mark the location.

You can spot a code from Switzerland from the fifth and sixth characters. If those two letters point to another country, the code belongs to a bank somewhere else, so check again.

If the last three are XXX, it refers to the main office. In most cases the head office code is what you need, unless the recipient gives you a branch code.