IFSC Code Lookup

IFSC stands for Indian Financial System Code — an 11-character code that the Reserve Bank of India assigns to every bank branch that participates in electronic fund transfers. It follows a fixed pattern: the first 4 characters are letters identifying the bank (e.g. HDFC, SBIN, ICIC), the 5th character is always a zero (reserved for future use), and the last 6 characters are alphanumeric and identify the specific branch. For example, in HDFC0001234, "HDFC" is the bank and "001234" is the branch. The RBI uses the IFSC to route NEFT, RTGS, and IMPS payments to the exact destination branch.

All four are electronic transfer rails, but they differ in speed, limits, and availability. NEFT (National Electronic Funds Transfer) settles in near-real-time batches with no minimum amount — good for routine transfers. RTGS (Real-Time Gross Settlement) settles each transaction individually and instantly but has a ₹2 lakh minimum, so it is meant for large/high-value payments. IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) is instant and works 24x7 including holidays, typically up to ₹5 lakh. UPI (Unified Payments Interface) is the instant, 24x7, mobile-first rail used by apps like Google Pay, PhonePe, and BHIM — it sits on top of IMPS. NEFT, RTGS, and IMPS all use the IFSC to identify the branch; UPI usually uses a VPA (you@bank) but the underlying account still maps to an IFSC.

Your IFSC is printed in several places: on your cheque leaf (usually near the account number at the bottom, or printed at the top alongside the branch name), on the first page of your passbook, and inside your net-banking or mobile-banking app under account details. You can also look it up here by knowing your bank and branch, or check the RBI website. If you only know the bank and city, your branch is the missing piece — call the branch or check a recent bank statement, which prints the IFSC in the header.

They serve different systems. The IFSC is an 11-character alphanumeric code used for electronic transfers (NEFT, RTGS, IMPS). The MICR (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition) code is a 9-digit numeric code printed in special magnetic ink at the bottom of a cheque, used to clear physical cheques through the cheque-truncation system. The MICR encodes the city (first 3 digits), bank (middle 3), and branch (last 3). A branch typically has both: the IFSC for digital payments and the MICR for cheque clearing. This tool shows both when the branch has them.

IFSC is domestic; SWIFT is international. The IFSC routes payments within India. A SWIFT code (also called a BIC, Bank Identifier Code) is an 8- or 11-character code used to route cross-border wire transfers between banks worldwide. Only branches authorised to handle foreign-exchange transactions are assigned a SWIFT code, so most local branches will show no SWIFT code in this tool — that is normal. To receive money from abroad you generally need the bank's SWIFT code plus your account number (and sometimes the IFSC as a secondary identifier).

Yes. An IFSC can change after a bank merger, a branch relocation or consolidation, or a core-banking migration. The most common cause in recent years has been mergers — for example, when associate banks merged into SBI, or when banks like Dena and Vijaya merged into Bank of Baroda, the surviving bank reissued IFSCs (and often new account numbers) for the absorbed branches. If a transfer to an old IFSC bounces, ask the beneficiary for their current IFSC, confirm it on a recent statement or in net-banking, and re-verify it here before retrying.