All about IFSC or Indian Financial System Code

IFSC or Indian Financial System Code is an alpha-numeric code that uniquely identifies a bank-branch participating in the NEFT system. This is an 11 digit code with the first 4 alpha characters representing the bank, and the last 6 characters representing the branch. The 5th character is 0 (zero). IFSC is used by the NEFT system to identify the originating / destination banks / branches and also to route the messages appropriately to the concerned banks / branches.

IFSC            ABCD0XXXXXX

ABCD      -    Bank Code like SBIN for State Bank of India
0               -    5th Digit in IFSC is always Zero
XXXXXX -   Represents the branch like 000630 for SBI, Main Branch Dehradun

So, the complete IFSC of SBI Main Branch Dehradun in SBIN0000630

How can the IFSC of a bank-branch be found?Ans: Bank-wise list of IFSCs is available with all the bank-branches participating in NEFT. List of bank-wise branches participating in NEFT and their IFSCs is available on the website of Reserve Bank of India at http://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/bs_viewcontent.aspx?Id=2009 . All the banks have also been advised to print the IFSC of the branch on cheques issued to their customers.

Further, banks have also been advised to ensure that their branch staff provide necessary assistance to customers in filling out the required details, including IFSC details, in the NEFT application form, and also help in ensuring that there is no mismatch between the IFSC code and branch details of beneficiary branch as provided by the customer.