This file specification of the Extended Industry Sort Code Directory (EISCD) explains in detail what each field means and the possible results for each sort code in the database. The data file is updated weekly by the banks and maintained by Vocalink.
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GRP | Field | Field Description | Size | Data type |
GENERAL | 1 | Sort Code | 6 | Int |
2 | BIC – bank | 8 | Char | |
3 | BIC – branch | 3 | Char | |
4 | Sub branch suffix | 2 | Int | |
5 | Short Branch title | 27 | Char | |
6 | Short name of owning bank | 20 | Char | |
7 | Full name of owning bank – line 1 | 35 | Char | |
8 | Full name of owning bank – line 2 | 35 | Char | |
9 | Bank Code of Owning bank | 4 | Int | |
10 | National Central Bank Country Code | 2 | Char | |
11 | Supervisory Body | 1 | Char | |
12 | Deleted Date | 10 | Char | |
13 | Date of last change | 20 | Char | |
14 | Print Indicator | 1 | Int | |
BACS | 15 | Status | 1 | Char |
16 | Date of last change | 10 | Char | |
17 | Date Closed in BACS clearing | 10 | Char | |
18 | Redirection from flag | 1 | Char | |
19 | Redirected to Sort Code | 6 | Int | |
20 | BACS Settlement Bank | 4 | Int | |
21 | Settlement section | 2 | Int | |
22 | Settlement Subsection | 2 | Int | |
23 | Handling bank | 4 | Int | |
24 | Handling Bank stream | 2 | Int | |
25 | Account numbered flag | 1 | Char | |
26 | DDI Voucher flag | 1 | Char | |
27 | Transactions disallowed – DR | 2 | Char | |
28 | Transactions disallowed – CR | 2 | Char | |
29 | Transactions disallowed – CU | 2 | Char | |
30 | Transactions disallowed – PR | 2 | Char | |
31 | Transactions disallowed – BS | 2 | Char | |
32 | Transactions disallowed – DV | 2 | Char | |
33 | Transactions disallowed – AU | 2 | Char | |
34 | Transactions disallowed – Spare | N/A | N/A | |
35 | Transactions disallowed – Spare | N/A | N/A | |
36 | Transactions disallowed – Spare | N/A | N/A | |
37 | Spare field | N/A | N/A | |
CHAPS £ | 38 | Return Indicator | 1 | Char |
39 | Status | 1 | Char | |
40 | Effective date of last change | 10 | Char | |
41 | Date closed in CHAPS £ clearing | 10 | Char | |
42 | CHAPS £ settlement member | 3 | Int | |
43 | CHAPS £ routing BIC – bank | 8 | Char | |
44 | CHAPS £ routing BIC – branch | 3 | Char | |
CHAPS E | 45 | Status | 1 | Char |
46 | Effective date of last change | 10 | Char | |
47 | Date closed in CHAPS Euro clearing | 10 | Char | |
48 | CHAPS Euro routing BIC – bank | 8 | Char | |
49 | CHAPS Euro routing BIC – branch | 3 | Char | |
50 | CHAPS Euro settlement member | 3 | Int | |
51 | Return indicator | 1 | Char | |
52 | SWIFT data | 5 | Char | |
53 | Spare field | N/A | N/A | |
C&CCC | 54 | Status | 1 | Char |
55 | Effective date of last change | 10 | Char | |
56 | Date closed in C&CCC clearing | 10 | Char | |
57 | C&CCC Settlement bank | 4 | Int | |
58 | Debit agency sort code | 6 | Int | |
59 | Return indicator | 1 | Char | |
60 | GB/Northern Ireland Indicator | 20 | Char | |
61 | Status | 1 | Char | |
62 | Effective date of last change | 10 | Char | |
63 | Date closed in Faster Payments clearing | 10 | Char | |
64 | Redirection from flag | 1 | Char | |
65 | Redirection to sorting code | 6 | Char | |
66 | FPS settlement bank – connection type | 2 | Char | |
67 | Padding | 2 | Char | |
68 | FPS settlement bank – bank code | 4 | Char | |
69 | Handling bank – connection type | 2 | Char | |
70 | Padding | 2 | Char | |
71 | Handling bank – bank code | 4 | Char | |
72 | Accounts numbered flag | 1 | Char | |
73 | Agency type | 1 | Char | |
74 | Spare field | N/A | N/A | |
75 | Branch type indicator | 1 | Char | |
76 | Sort Code of main branch | 6 | Int | |
77 | Major Location Name | 30 | Char | |
78 | Minor Location Name | 30 | Char | |
79 | Branch Name or Place | 35 | Char | |
80 | Second entry indicator | 1 | Char | |
81 | Branch name for second entry | 35 | Char | |
82 | Full Branch title – part 1 | 35 | Char | |
83 | Full Branch title – part 2 | 35 | Char | |
84 | Full Branch title – part 3 | 35 | Char | |
85 | Address – line 1 | 35 | Char | |
86 | Address – line 2 | 35 | Char | |
87 | Address – line 3 | 35 | Char | |
88 | Address – line 4 | 35 | Char | |
89 | Address – Town | 30 | Char | |
90 | Address – County | 30 | Char | |
91 | Post Code – major part | 4 | Char | |
92 | Post Code – minor part | 4 | Char | |
93 | Telephone 1, area | 10 | Char | |
94 | Telephone 1, number | 10 | Char | |
95 | Telephone 2, area | 10 | Char | |
96 | Telephone 2, number | 10 | Char |
Further information
If for have any queries about the Extended ISCD or the business processes that it is used for, please
contact support@unifiedsoftware.co.uk
Notes (referenced by field number)
Some field names are self explanatory and have been omitted from these notes.
1: Sort codes are allocated to every branch involved in CHAPS Sterling, Bacs and Cheque and Credit
clearings.
2 & 3: BICS are allocated to branches for international payment using SWIFT
4: Sub-branch suffix allows a branch to be identified where it belongs to a cluster of branches. 9:
Identification code of owning bank (as opposed to branch).
11: Supervisory body.
A = Bank of England
B = Building Society Commission,
C = Jersey, Guernsey or Isle of Man authorities,
D = Other.
12: Date from which branch will no longer be used in any clearing. From 31.3.2006 this field will no
longer be populated.
13: Date on which last change was made to any clearing groups or print information.
14: Print indicator. Not applicable. Production of printed copies of the ISCD is forbidden under the
terms and conditions of sale.
15: Bacs clearing status.
M = Bacs Member that accepts Bacs payments,
A = Agency that accepts Bacs payments,
N = does not accept Bacs payments.
16: Date on which Bacs data group was last changed.
18: Banks can ask for payments for a particular sort code to be redirected by Bacs to another sort
code. This is usually used in conjunction with the closure flag i.e. the branch stays on the Bacs
system with another sort code quoted against it to which payments will be directed. This field,
when set, indicates that it has been quoted as the redirection sort code of another branch. In other
word, this sort code will receive payments originally destined for one or more other sort codes.
19: This is the other end of the “from” flag. When present it specifies the sort code to which Bacs
should redirect payments if addressed to this sort code. This field and the preceding one should
never be set together.
20: The Bacs Settlement Bank is the bank that will settle payments for this branch.
21 & 22: Data required for Bacs to perform its settlement.
23: Bacs generated bank code that defines the member that will take the Bacs output for this
branch.
24: For internal use by the handling bank.
25: Some (very few) branches do not have numbered accounts. In such cases, this flag is set to
‘N’, otherwise ‘Y’.
26: Some bank branches are unable to accept electronic lodgment of Direct Debit instructions. A
value of ‘Y’ in this field indicates such a branch. A paper voucher is required in this case.
27 – 36: Transactions disallowed. Some branches cannot accept all Bacs transaction types. These
flags indicate which transaction types are disallowed, if set. So a branch that can accept all
transaction types will have NONE of these flags set.
Code | Meaning | Transaction types disallowed if set |
DR | Direct Debits | 01, 17, 18, 19 |
CR | BACS Credits | 99 |
BS | Building Society Credits | Z4 |
DV | Dividend interest payments | Z5 |
AU | Direct Debit Instructions | 0N, 0C, 0S |
CU | Claims for Unpaid Cheques | 13 |
PR | Will be NULL |
38: Every CHAPS GBP member must specify one office to which returned payments should be sent.
This office will be identified with an “R” in this field
39: Indicates whether the branch can accept CHAPS sterling payments and whether or not it is a direct
office i.e. one of the member BICs which are part of the SWIFT closed user group.
‘D’ = Direct Office (i.e. CUG member) of a CHAPS GBP member that accepts CHAPS GBP payments
‘I’ = Indirect Office of a member or agency bank that accepts CHAPS GBP payments
‘N’ = Does not accept CHAPS GBP payments
40: Date on which CHAPS data group was last changed.
42: CHAPS ID of member that will settle payments for this branch.
43 & 44: SWIFT group to which CHAPS sterling payments to this branch should be routed.
45 – 51: Similar meaning to corresponding fields in CHAPS sterling data group, but applied to CHAPS
euro transactions.
52: This field contains two ‘sub-fields’ separated by a “/” character as follows
RTGS Indicator | This indicator will be set to ‘Y’ if CHAPS Euro is the preferred RTGS system to be used for payments to that office. Otherwise, the indicator will be set to ‘N’ |
Target Status | This indicator gives the Target direct / indirect status for an office. If the owning bank of an office is a CHAPS Euro Member bank AND the Country Code part of the BIC is ‘GB’, then the status will be set to ‘CHP’. Otherwise, the status will be set to ‘CH+’ |
If an office is in CHAPS Euro, then this field will always contain data e.g. ‘Y/CHP’, ‘Y/CH+’, ‘N/CHP’, ‘N/CH
+’
54: Cheque and Credit Clearing Company Status.
‘M’ = Branch of a CCCC member,
‘F’ = full agency bank branch,
‘D’ = debits only,
‘N’ = not in CCCC clearing.
55 – 59: Similar meaning to corresponding fields in CHAPS sterling data group, but applied to CCCC
transactions.
60: Indicates whether office is in mainland Great Britain or Northern Ireland.
61: Indicates status of bank office in the Faster Payments clearing
M | Indicates bank office of FPS member, accepts FPS payments |
A | Indicates bank office of FPS agency bank, accepts FPS payments |
N | Indicates bank office does not accept FPS payments. See field 63. |
75: Branch Type Indicator.
‘M’ = main branch,
‘S’ = sub branch, i.e. within a cluster but sort code as main
‘L’ = linked, i.e. within a cluster but sort code different to main
76: Set for linked branches in a cluster. It identifies the main branch for the cluster.
77-96: Applies to printed directory only.
Free sort code checker
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