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BankDirectoryPlus File

The table below contains definitions and examples of the bankdirectoryplus fields used.

Table - Bank Field definitions

Field Name Data type Max length Always present? Description
MODIFICATION FLAG Alphabetic 1 Yes

Modification flag In delta files:

  • A (addition)
  • M (modification)
  • D (deletion) In full files:
  • A (addition)
RECORD KEY Alphanumeric 12 Yes The unique key of the record in the file.
OFFICE TYPE Alpha 2 Yes

This field indicates the status of the entity in the entities hierarchy:

  • HO - Head Office
    • DB - Domestic Branch or department
    • SB - Sub Domestic Branch
    • FB - Foreign Branch
    • SF - Sub Foreign Branch
  • UC - Unclassified
PARENT OFFICE KEY Alphanumeric 12 Yes

This field indicates the RECORD KEY of the closest entity upwards in the entities hierarchy.

For example, the "HO" RECORD KEY if the entity is "DB", or the "FB" RECORD KEY if it is "SF".
HEAD OFFICE KEY Alphanumeric 12 Yes This field indicates the RECORD KEY of the "HO - Head Office" in the entities hierarchy.
LEGAL TYPE Alphabetic 1 Yes

This field indicates the status of the entity in the legal hierarchy:

  • L - Legal Entity
  • B - Business Entity
  • U - Unknown
LEGAL PARENT KEY Alphanumeric 12 Yes

This field indicates the RECORD KEY of the "L Legal Entity" in the legal hierarchy.

The legal hierarchy is included in the Entity Plus product. This data is not maintained in Bank Directory Plus. Therefore, the hierarchy is often the same as the record key.
GROUP TYPE Alphabetic 6 No

The type of entity that identifies the group:

  • Parent
  • Member

This data comes from the SWIFT back office. The parent BIC is the BIC at the top of SWIFT traffic hierarchy. This can be different than the legal ultimate parent that is available in Entity Plus.
GROUP PARENT KEY Alphanumeric 12 No The record key of the parent entity. This value identifies the set of entities (records) belonging to the group. It groups BICs and National ID records that belong to the same parent (parent BIC).
INSTITUTION STATUS Alphabetic 4 No

This field indicates the licence status of the institution (if any):

  • BANK = Universal Bank
    • COOP = Cooperative Bank
    • -CBMA = Central Bank/Monetary Authority
  • ASSM = Asset manager
  • CORP = Corporates
  • CRUN = Credit Union
  • ICSD = International Central Securities Depository
  • INVM = Investment Bank
  • MONX = Money Exchange
  • NPAA = National payment association
  • PYMI = Payments Institution
  • SLBH = Saving-Lending Bank Housing (available end April 2016)
  • SUFI = Supervised Financial Institution
  • XCHG = Exchange
  • OTHR = Other
COOPERATIVE GROUP KEY Alphanumeric 12 No If the record indicates a cooperative bank which belongs to a cooperative bank grouping, then this field indicates the Record_Key of the cooperative central bank for that group. Hierarchy in this case flows downward. In the case of any such cooperative central bank, the value here is its own Record_Key. If the cooperative bank concerned does not belong to a cooperative bank grouping, then the field is empty.
ISO LEI CODE Alphanumeric 20 No ISO 17442 defines this Legal Entity Identifier. This information is provided for entities that also have a BIC. The full list of LEIs can be found in the Reach Plus directory (another SWIFTRef directory).
BIC8 Alphanumeric 8 No BIC (party prefix, country, and party suffix) where: •party prefix (4 char) •country code (2 char) •party suffix (2 char)
BRANCH BIC Alphanumeric 3 No The BIC branch identifier associated with the 8-character BIC. If no branch identifier exists, then )00( is used.
BIC Alphanumeric 11 No

This is the unique BIC related to the institution from the BIC Directory 2018. The BIC consists of:

  • party prefix (4 char)
  • country code (2 char)
  • party suffix (2 char)
  • branch identifier (3 char - XXX for main office)
CHIPS UID Numeric 6 No This is the CHIPS Universal ID related to the institution.
NATIONAL ID Alphanumeric 15 No This is the National identifier of the institution/ branch.
CONNECTED BIC Alphanumeric 11 No For a BIC in the field BIC that is not connected to the SWIFT network. This is the connected BIC of the same institution, if available, or of its correspondent through which it connects.
INSTITUTION NAME Any 105 Yes Institution trading name
BRANCH INFORMATION Any 70 No

Branch information

Branch information is derived from the BIC Directory 2018. If the branch information is blank in the BIC Directory 2018 and the respective BIC is linked to a National ID with available branch information, then it will be populated in the BANKDIRECTORYPLUS file.
POB NUMBER Any 35 No

Comma-separated field with the POB number of the institution/branch and the related ZIP code.

Example

"POB 103352, 40024"

This allows customers to use the full POB address:

POB 103352

40024, DUESSELDORF (CITY).
STREET ADDRESS Any 35 No

Four sub-fields provide the building name, detailed building information, street name, and number.

The order of the information in these four fields depends on accepted practices for the individual country.
CITY Any 35 No City name of the institution/branch
CPS Any 90 No County, province, state, or other administrative region of the owner institution/branch
ZIP CODE Any 15 No Zip code of the institution/branch
COUNTRY NAME Any 70 Yes The country name of the institution/branch as indicated in the ISO 3166
ISO COUNTRY CODE Alphabetic 2 Yes The ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code of the country of the institution/branch For more information,
TIMEZONE Alphanumeric 1 No This field will contain the business party suffix information.
SUBTYPE INDICATOR Any type 4 No The business type of the entity. Subtype Indicator is provided only for records with a BIC.>
 
NETWORK CONNECTIVITY Alphanumeric 3 No Status of an entity's connection to SWIFT. Network connectivity is provided only for records containing a BIC. For more information, see .
BRANCH QUALIFIERS Any type 35 No The operational type of the entity. Branch Qualifiers are provided only for records containing a BIC. The BRANCH QUALIFIERS field can contain up to 6 three-character branch qualifiers in alphabetic order.
SERVICE CODES Any type 60 No SWIFT FIN service codes (also called value-added service codes). Service Codes are provided only for records containing a BIC. The field can contain up to 20 three-character codes in alphabetical order.
SSI GROUP KEY Alphanumeric 12 No Indicates which SSI Group the entity belongs to in the SSI Plus files.
IBAN KEY Alphanumeric 12 No Identifies the RECORD KEY in the IBANPLUS txt file that contains the IBAN data for this entity.
FIELD A Alphanumeric 35 No

Contains the future valid-from date of the whole record due to a change to its attributes.

Examples:

  • BIC activated/de-activated in the future
  • NATIONAL ID valid as from a future date

Contains date in format YYYYMMDD. The field is empty in case the record is valid at the date specified in the file name (that is, the publication date).
FIELD B Alphanumeric 70 No
  • National ID Type
  • This is the name of the national code or the name/acronym of the national code provider. Examples:
    • BLZ for the German NATIONAL ID
    • -ABA for the US NATIONAL ID
  • National ID Type + /AN
  • AN stand for Alternative National ID Type. The banks/branches in a country can own National IDs issued by multiple authorities. For example, banks in Brazil can own COMPE national IDs and ISPB National IDs. The second code is indicated as ISPB/AN.
  • National ID Type + /FN
  • FN stands for Foreign National ID Type. In some countries, banks have a National code issued by a foreign payment clearing service, such as a German bank that has a Swiss BC. This is indicated as BC/FN. As this can be related to many countries, this data is not available in Appendix D. The data is available in the file.