SWIFT/BIC vs routing number — what an overseas sender actually needs
US banks do not use IBANs. If someone abroad is sending you money, they need a SWIFT/BIC plus your routing and account number. Here is exactly what to give them, and why US accounts have no IBAN.
These solve different problems. A routing number identifies a bank inside the United States. A SWIFT/BIC code identifies a bank internationally. If money is crossing the US border you will generally need both, and the sender's form will often ask for something the US does not have.
The United States has no IBAN
This is the single biggest source of confusion for anyone sending money into a US account. IBAN — the International Bank Account Number — is used across Europe and much of the Middle East and Asia, but the United States never adopted it. There is no such thing as a US IBAN, and any website offering to "generate" one for you is producing something no bank will accept.
When an overseas transfer form insists on an IBAN field, the practical fix is to select the United States as the destination country first; well-built forms then swap the IBAN field for routing and account number fields. If the form genuinely cannot handle it, the sender's bank is not set up for US payments and they should use a different provider.
What to send someone abroad
- Your bank's SWIFT/BIC code (8 or 11 characters, e.g. CHASUS33).
- Your account number.
- Your full legal name exactly as the bank holds it — mismatches cause holds.
- The bank's name and address.
- Often the domestic wire routing number too, quoted in the payment message so the receiving bank can apply the funds internally.
Anatomy of a SWIFT code
Take CHASUS33. CHAS is the institution, US is the country, 33 is the location. An 11-character code adds three more characters for a specific branch or department. If a sender's form only accepts 11 characters and you have 8, appending XXX is the standard convention.
When your bank has no SWIFT code
Most US credit unions and many smaller banks do not hold their own BIC. They receive international payments through a correspondent — a larger bank that does — and publish instructions naming that intermediary along with a "for further credit to" line carrying your account details. Ask your bank for those instructions directly. This is not a situation to improvise in: money sent to a correspondent without the correct further-credit details can sit unallocated for weeks.
Buzdy shows a SWIFT code on a bank's page only where the bank publishes one itself, and labels it as bank-published. Unlike routing numbers, SWIFT codes are not held in the Federal Reserve directory, so we cannot verify them against a primary US source and we do not pretend otherwise.
Common questions
Do US bank accounts have an IBAN?
No. The United States never adopted IBAN. If an overseas payment form insists on one, it was designed for Europe — supply the SWIFT/BIC code with your routing and account number instead, and if the field cannot be left blank, ask the sender to use their bank's "United States" payment option.
What does an overseas sender actually need?
Four things: the SWIFT/BIC code of your US bank, your account number, your full name exactly as the bank holds it, and the bank's name and address. Many US banks also want the domestic wire routing number included in the message so funds can be applied internally.
My bank has no SWIFT code. Can I still receive money from abroad?
Usually yes, through a correspondent bank. Smaller banks and most credit unions do not hold their own BIC and instead publish incoming-wire instructions naming a larger intermediary bank plus a "for further credit to" line with your details. Ask your bank for those instructions in writing — guessing here loses money.
Is a SWIFT code the same as a BIC?
Yes, the terms are used interchangeably. It is 8 or 11 characters: four for the bank, two for the country, two for the location, and optionally three more for a specific branch.
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