What is IFSC Code?

IFSC code which stands for Indian Financial System Code. It is of 11 digits Alphanumeric that is used for online fund transfer and many other banking transactions. Indian Financial System Code is unique in nature and it defines the bank branch’s identity.

You can find this IFSC code on many banking documents like your cheque book, Passbook. Even you can find it while using the internet or mobile banking for any transactions. you too can find it on the official website of any bank and the RBI.

The Indian Financial System Code is assigned to each bank by the Reserve Bank Of India(RBI) in order to participate in the online transfer of money. without a valid IFSC code, you can not initiate online transfer money through IMPS, RTGS, and NEFT.

Where to Find IFSC Code?

You can find it in many ways. Mentioned below are the ones.

  • You can search in the cheque book and Passbook provided by the bank.
  • By Visiting the official website of the respective bank.
  • It is available on internet and mobile banking under My Accounts and Account Summary.
  • You can call over the branch or customer care and ask for it.

Format of Indian Financial System Code

It consists of 11 Alphanumeric characters which is combination of three components.Let us make it easy through an example.

If the Indian Financial System Code of Citi bank is CITI0000004,Bangalore branch, then

  • The First four character represents the bank Code i.e. CITI
  • The Fifth character is a ‘0‘.
  • The remaining 6 characters represents specific branch code i.e. 000004

Features of Indian Financial System Code

The below mentioned are the salient features of Indian Financial System Code.

  • Unique Identity: Since the Indian Financial System Code is unique for each branch it is very easy for the customer to find out the right branch hence avoiding any mistakes.
  • Fast and secure: The fund transfer done using IFSC code like IMPS, RTGS, NEFT is fast and secure.it will take a few minutes to credit into the beneficiary bank account.
  • Diversification: Indian Financial System Code can be helpful for any kind of fund transfer like IMPS, RTGS, and NEFT.
  • Tracking transactions: As the RBI assigns the Indian Financial System Code to the banks, it ensures regular tracking of all banking transactions hence avoiding any discrepancy.
  • Smooth Fund transfer: IFSC code enables us to do smooth and hassle-free online transactions.

How Does Indian Financial System Code Work?

While doing any online transactions like NEFT, RTGS, and IMPS, the Indian Financial System Code is mandatory. you need to know the destination bank IFSC code in order to make the transaction successful.

Also you need Payee account number with valid IFSC code and you are ready to do online fund transfer.

For example: Suppose you want to transfer the money from your SBI account to let’s say PNB bank. In this scenario, you need to know the Account Number of the beneficiary and the PNB branch IFSC code where you want to transfer the money.

Since there are so many PNB branches in India, knowing the selected or the valid one will help you to do fund transfer in a very smooth way.

Apart from fund transfers, the Indian Financial System Code is also helpful to purchase mutual funds and insurance through internet banking.

Importance of Indian Financial System Code

The importance of the Indian financial system code is as follows.

  • The code uniquely identifies the specific bank branch, so helps customers avoid any potential mistakes during the online transfer of funds through NEFT, RTGS, or IMPS.
  • Both sender and receiver receive a quick communication message or email if anything takes place either debit or credit to their account. this process makes transparency in an online transaction.
  • The Customer need not to visit any bank. they can opt for online transactions using Indian Financial System Code.
  • It’s a great way to promote digital India and also make things paperless. while doing online transactions using IFSC code you do not have to submit any cheque hence saving the paper and hence our environment.

Why IFSC Code is Essential?

  • Indian Financial System Code is mandatory to do online fund transfer using NEFT, RTGS, and IMPS.
  • It provides a proper tracking facility to RBI and hence RBI can keep and eye about the flow of money from one account to another.
  • For bank customers, its is important because most electronic fund transfers cannot be initiated until the beneficiary/payer’s IFSC code is provided with the bank account number

Methods Used for Online Money Fund Transfer Using IFSC Code

There are mainly three methods that we can use to transfer money using the Indian Financial System Code. Below mentioned are the ones. For all these transactions you need to have internet banking or a mobile banking facility.

NEFT: It stands for National Electronic Fund transfer. this is used to transfer money from one account to another one. Here valid IFSC code should be provided to ensure that the money is safely transferred from one account to another bank account.

This is a popular system of transferring money in India. Along with the IFSC code, you need to provide the Beneficiary name, account number, and account type in order to transfer the fund successfully. All NEFT transactions are settled in batch-wise format.

RTGS: RTGS stands for Real-Time Gross Settlement. It is also a popular money transfer system from one bank to another bank.

The word Real-Time means “Money is transferred instantaneously” and Gross Settlement means ” Settlement of funds transfers happens on an order by order basis”.

RTGS fund transfers are usually for high value transactions and cleared immediately. In this also you need Payee name, account number, IFSC code.

IMPS: It stands for Immediate Payment Service. It is the most popular method of transferring funds launched by RBI in 2010. using this method money can be transferred all over India through Mobile or Internet banking.

This system is very fast, economical, secure, and there is no restriction to the maximum amount that can be transferred. Here you need also the IFSC code and other details of the beneficiary.

FAQs

1-Is Indian Financial System code and branch code same?

No, Its not the same. In fact Branch code is a part of 11 digit IFSC code.

2-How many digits are in Indian Financial System Code?

There are 11 digit in IFSC code.

3-How can I get bank address from Indian Financial System code?

Use the website of the RBI in order to find the address from IFSC code.

4-What happen if I use wrong Indian Financial System Code?

While transferring funds, if the sender or payer enters the wrong IFSC code, the money will be debited from his/her account, but will not be credited to the beneficiary’s or payee’s account due to the wrong IFSC code.


For example – If the beneficiary’s account is in PNB and the wrong IFSC code is from another PNB branch,
the bank will have an internal agreement and the money will only be credited to the beneficiary’s account.


If the wrong Indian Financial System Code is from another bank, the payer or sender has to submit an application with their bank details and transaction ID to their bank branch.

5-How to find Branch Code from Indian Financial System code?

In the 11 digit Indian Financial System Code the last 6 digit represents specific branch code. For Example-

SBIN0000583, this IFSC code is of Nirman Bhawan, Delhi Branch. In this 11 digit IFSC code, the last 6 digit i. e. 000583 represents a specific branch code.

7-In any scenario does Indian Financial System Code changes?

Yes, It changes in the case if the bank has been merged with other bank.

8-IFSC code is mandatory for IMPS?

yes, for online transfer of funds through IMPS,NEFT,RTGS it is mandatory.

9-Who issues Indian Financial System Code?

The central bank or Reserve bank if India(RBI) assigns IFSC code to the banks.

10-IFSC code and SWIFT code are same?

No, it’s not the same.IFSC code is used to transfer funds through NEFT, IMPS, RTGS only in India whereas SWIFT code is used to transfer funds internationally.

11-Is sharing Indian Financial System Code safe?

yes, it is completely safe. IFSC code is different for every branch and it is not possible to misuse for any fraud. also, the bank ensures complete safety while transferring funds.

12-What is the full form of IFSC?

IFSC stands for “Indian Financial System Code“.

13-How to Identify Indian Financial System Code of a bank?

Out of 11 digits the first four characters of the IFSC code are alphabets denoting the name of the bank. For example:

For SBI bank Indian Financial System code starts with SBIN, Similarly, For HDFC bank it starts with HDFC, for ICICI bank its starts with ICIC.

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