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What is a Sort Code?

bunq

Hey bunqers 🌈

Some of you may have wondered, “Where is my Sort Code’’ or ‘’What happens when I don’t use a Sort Code for my payments?’’ 🤓

No worries, we are here to explain this for you, let’s sort this out!

What is a Sort Code and for what do I use it for?

A Sort Code is a six digits code, which looks like 12-34-56 and it’s used by British and Irish banks.
Banks use these codes to identify the location of the bank where the account is held and to identify and route the money transfers to the respective bank and account.
The Sort Code of a bank is integrated and encoded in the IBAN number of the account but not in the BIC codes of the account.

Sort Codes are not to be confused with SWIFT codes.

How can I find my Sort Code?

Tap on 🏠 Home
Tap on your UK Bank Account
Find your Sort Code under "IBAN & BIC"

How does my Sort Code look like?

Your Sort Code will be different depending on your IBAN's origin. Here's how you can find it:

GB/IE IBAN (Ireland):
- Sort Code: Found in the 9th to 14th digits of the IBAN.
- Example IBAN: GB29BANK12345678901234
- Sort Code: 123456
DE IBAN (Germany)
- Sort Code: Found in the 5th to 12th digits of the IBAN.
- Example IBAN: DE89123456000078901234
- Sort Code: 12345600
FR IBAN (France)
- Sort Code: Found in the 5th to 14th digits of the IBAN.
- Example IBAN: FR7612345612345678901234567
- Sort Code: 1234561234
ES IBAN (Spain)
- Sort Code: Found in the 5th to 12th digits of the IBAN.
- Example IBAN: ES90123456000078901234
- Sort Code: 12345600

Do I need a Sort Code to make a payment?

Now that we know what exactly is a Sort Code, let’s talk about bunq and if you need a Sort Code in order to make a payment.

bunq is part of the EURO-SEPA region and for this reason you don’t need a Sort Code in order to make payments as long as you have an IBAN everything will be fine.

Your bunq IBAN can be found in the app, you check more about this here.

You don’t have to worry if your IBAN is not a UK one, our Dutch IBANs are accepted worldwide and you can use bunq IBAN to receive your salary for example. Your bunq IBAN should be accepted by merchants or employers since European countries have agreed on this simplified IBAN system to facilitate international transfers within Europe 🇪🇺

The important thing is to make your payment in EURO, because we are operating in the European Economic Area and the official currency is EURO.

Don’t worry if you don’t know how to convert your payments, our amazing partner TransferWise is here to help you!
With TransferWise you can send payments in more than 30 currencies, the payment will be converted automatically in EURO. You can find more information about the payment method and how to use it here.