Payment Clearing Code

A payment clearing code is an identifier assigned to a bank, or to a branch of a bank, so that a country's domestic clearing system can route payments to it. Each country has its own scheme: the United Kingdom uses the six-digit sort code, the United States the nine-digit routing transit number, Australia the BSB, Canada a transit and institution number, and India the IFSC code. Clearing codes are usually combined with an account number to form the full domestic account details. In international payments, the clearing code may be needed in addition to the Bank Identifier Code (BIC) so that the final bank can pass the funds to the right domestic system. ISO 20022 messages carry it in a dedicated clearing system member identification element, with a code naming the clearing system. Countries using the IBAN often embed the national clearing code within it.