BIC validation

GET

bic

BIC validation

curl --request GET \
  --url https://bankvalidation.cleariflow.com/v1/bic/

<?php

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
  CURLOPT_URL => "https://bankvalidation.cleariflow.com/v1/bic/",
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
  CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
  CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
  CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "GET",
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
  echo "cURL Error #:" . $err;
} else {
  echo $response;
}

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"net/http"
	"io"
)

func main() {

	url := "https://bankvalidation.cleariflow.com/v1/bic/"

	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", url, nil)

	res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

	defer res.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)

	fmt.Println(string(body))

}

require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

url = URI("https://bankvalidation.cleariflow.com/v1/bic/")

http = Net::HTTP.new(url.host, url.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(url)

response = http.request(request)
puts response.read_body

{
  "bic": "DEUTDEFF500",
  "is_valid": true,
  "country_code": "DE",
  "country_name": "Germany",
  "bank_code": "DEUT",
  "bank_name": "Bank information not available",
  "location_code": "F",
  "branch_code": "500",
  "details": {
    "type": "BIC",
    "active": true,
    "institution_type": "Bank"
  }
}

Getting started

Base URL

https://bankvalidation.cleariflow.com/v1/bic/

Validation endpoint

The bic endpoint requires your API key and a BIC parameter to perform comprehensive validation of Business Identifier Codes.

https://bankvalidation.cleariflow.com/v1/bic/
? api_key = YOUR_UNIQUE_API_KEY
& bic = DEUTDEFF500

This successful request validates a German BIC and returns detailed information:

{
  "bic": "DEUTDEFF500",
  "is_valid": true,
  "country_code": "DE",
  "country_name": "Germany",
  "bank_code": "DEUT",
  "bank_name": "Bank information not available",
  "location_code": "F",
  "branch_code": "500",
  "details": {
    "type": "BIC",
    "active": true,
    "institution_type": "Bank"
  }
}

Request parameters

String

required

Your unique API key. Note that each user has unique API keys for each of Cleariflow APIs, so your Bank Validation API key will not work for your Exchange Rates API, for example.

String

required

The Business Identifier Code to validate. Spaces are allowed and will be automatically removed during processing. The BIC should follow the ISO 9362 standard format.

Response parameters

The API response is returned in a universal and lightweight JSON format.

String

The normalized BIC without spaces, returned in uppercase format.

Boolean

Overall validation result indicating whether the BIC is valid according to all validation rules.

String

The two-letter ISO country code (e.g., DE for Germany, US for United States).

String

The full name of the country associated with the BIC.

String

The 4-character bank identifier code (e.g., DEUT for Deutsche Bank).

String

The name of the bank (currently shows “Bank information not available”).

String

The 2-character location code indicating the city or region (e.g., FF for Frankfurt).

String

The 3-character branch code (optional, may be empty for 8-character BICs).

Object

Additional detailed information about the BIC type and status.

String

The type of identifier (typically “BIC”).

Boolean

Whether the BIC is currently active and in use.

String

The type of financial institution (e.g., “Bank”, “Credit Union”).

Examples

Valid German BIC (8 characters)

Request:

GET https://bankvalidation.cleariflow.com/v1/bic/?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY&bic=DEUTDEFF

Response:

{
  "bic": "DEUTDEFF",
  "is_valid": true,
  "country_code": "DE",
  "country_name": "Germany",
  "bank_code": "DEUT",
  "bank_name": "Bank information not available",
  "location_code": "FF",
  "branch_code": "",
  "details": {
    "type": "BIC",
    "active": true,
    "institution_type": "Bank"
  }
}

Valid German BIC (11 characters with branch)

Request:

GET https://bankvalidation.cleariflow.com/v1/bic/?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY&bic=DEUTDEFF500

Response:

{
  "bic": "DEUTDEFF500",
  "is_valid": true,
  "country_code": "DE",
  "country_name": "Germany",
  "bank_code": "DEUT",
  "bank_name": "Bank information not available",
  "location_code": "FF",
  "branch_code": "500",
  "details": {
    "type": "BIC",
    "active": true,
    "institution_type": "Bank"
  }
}

Valid US BIC

Request:

GET https://bankvalidation.cleariflow.com/v1/bic/?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY&bic=CHASUS33

Response:

{
  "bic": "CHASUS33",
  "is_valid": true,
  "country_code": "US",
  "country_name": "United States",
  "bank_code": "CHAS",
  "bank_name": "Bank information not available",
  "location_code": "33",
  "branch_code": "",
  "details": {
    "type": "BIC",
    "active": true,
    "institution_type": "Bank"
  }
}

Valid UK BIC

Request:

GET https://bankvalidation.cleariflow.com/v1/bic/?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY&bic=NWBKGB2L

Response:

{
  "bic": "NWBKGB2L",
  "is_valid": true,
  "country_code": "GB",
  "country_name": "United Kingdom",
  "bank_code": "NWBK",
  "bank_name": "Bank information not available",
  "location_code": "2L",
  "branch_code": "",
  "details": {
    "type": "BIC",
    "active": true,
    "institution_type": "Bank"
  }
}

Invalid BIC

Request:

GET https://bankvalidation.cleariflow.com/v1/bic/?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY&bic=INVALID

Response:

{
  "bic": "INVALID",
  "is_valid": false,
  "country_code": "",
  "country_name": "",
  "bank_code": "",
  "bank_name": "Bank information not available",
  "location_code": "",
  "branch_code": "",
  "details": {
    "type": "BIC",
    "active": true
  }
}

Error handling

Missing BIC parameter

Request:

GET https://bankvalidation.cleariflow.com/v1/bic/?api_key=YOUR_API_KEY

Response:

{
  "error": {
    "message": "Missing bic",
    "code": "missing_bic"
  }
}

Missing API key

Request:

GET https://bankvalidation.cleariflow.com/v1/bic/?bic=DEUTDEFF500

Response:

{
  "error": {
    "message": "API key is required",
    "code": "missing_api_key"
  }
}

BIC Structure

The BIC consists of several components:

Bank Code (4 characters): Unique identifier for the financial institution
Country Code (2 characters): ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code
Location Code (2 characters): City or region identifier
Branch Code (3 characters): Optional branch identifier (XXX for main office)

Format examples

8-character BIC: DEUTDEFF (Deutsche Bank, Germany, Frankfurt)
11-character BIC: DEUTDEFF500 (Deutsche Bank, Germany, Frankfurt, Branch 500)

Common location codes

FF: Frankfurt, Germany
33: New York, United States
2L: London, United Kingdom
PP: Paris, France
MM: Milan, Italy

Validation Rules

The API performs comprehensive validation including:

Length Validation: Checks if the BIC is 8 or 11 characters long
Format Validation: Verifies the BIC follows the ISO 9362 standard
Character Validation: Ensures only alphanumeric characters are used
Country Code Validation: Validates the country code format
Bank Code Validation: Checks the bank identifier format

BIC format requirements

Bank Code: 4 alphanumeric characters
Country Code: 2 alphabetic characters (ISO 3166-1)
Location Code: 2 alphanumeric characters
Branch Code: 3 alphanumeric characters (optional)

BIC vs SWIFT

BIC (Business Identifier Code) and SWIFT are often used interchangeably:

BIC: The official ISO 9362 standard name
SWIFT: The messaging network that popularized the code
SWIFT Code: Alternative name for BIC

All BICs can be used for SWIFT messaging, but not all SWIFT codes are valid BICs.

Supported Countries

The API supports BIC validation for 50+ countries including:

Europe: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, UK, Poland
Americas: United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico
Asia: Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia
Africa: South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria

For a complete list of supported countries, see the Supported Countries page.

Use Cases

BIC validation is essential for:

International Wire Transfers: Ensuring accurate routing information
SEPA Payments: European payment system requirements
Banking Applications: Customer account validation
Financial Compliance: Regulatory reporting requirements
Payment Processing: E-commerce and fintech applications

BIC validation

curl --request GET \
  --url https://bankvalidation.cleariflow.com/v1/bic/

<?php

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
  CURLOPT_URL => "https://bankvalidation.cleariflow.com/v1/bic/",
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
  CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
  CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
  CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "GET",
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
  echo "cURL Error #:" . $err;
} else {
  echo $response;
}

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"net/http"
	"io"
)

func main() {

	url := "https://bankvalidation.cleariflow.com/v1/bic/"

	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", url, nil)

	res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

	defer res.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)

	fmt.Println(string(body))

}

require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

url = URI("https://bankvalidation.cleariflow.com/v1/bic/")

http = Net::HTTP.new(url.host, url.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(url)

response = http.request(request)
puts response.read_body

{
  "bic": "DEUTDEFF500",
  "is_valid": true,
  "country_code": "DE",
  "country_name": "Germany",
  "bank_code": "DEUT",
  "bank_name": "Bank information not available",
  "location_code": "F",
  "branch_code": "500",
  "details": {
    "type": "BIC",
    "active": true,
    "institution_type": "Bank"
  }
}

Verify

Lookup

Create

Getting started

Base URL

Validation endpoint

Request parameters

Response parameters

Examples

Valid German BIC (8 characters)

Valid German BIC (11 characters with branch)

Valid US BIC

Valid UK BIC

Invalid BIC

Error handling

Missing BIC parameter

Missing API key

BIC Structure

Format examples

Common location codes

Validation Rules

BIC format requirements

BIC vs SWIFT

Supported Countries

Use Cases

​Getting started

​Base URL

​Validation endpoint

​Request parameters

​Response parameters

​Examples

​Valid German BIC (8 characters)

​Valid German BIC (11 characters with branch)

​Valid US BIC

​Valid UK BIC

​Invalid BIC

​Error handling

​Missing BIC parameter

​Missing API key

​BIC Structure

​Format examples

​Common location codes

​Validation Rules

​BIC format requirements

​BIC vs SWIFT

​Supported Countries

​Use Cases

Getting started

Base URL

Validation endpoint

Request parameters

Response parameters

Examples

Valid German BIC (8 characters)

Valid German BIC (11 characters with branch)

Valid US BIC

Valid UK BIC

Invalid BIC

Error handling

Missing BIC parameter

Missing API key

BIC Structure

Format examples

Common location codes

Validation Rules

BIC format requirements

BIC vs SWIFT

Supported Countries

Use Cases