Guide
How IFSC and MICR codes are built
Both codes point to a bank branch, but they do different jobs: the IFSC identifies the branch in electronic transfers such as NEFT, while the MICR code sits in the machine-readable line along the bottom of a cheque.
The IFSC: bank, zero, branch
RBI defines the Indian Financial System Code as an alphanumeric code that uniquely identifies a bank branch participating in NEFT. It has 11 characters: the first four are letters representing the bank, the fifth is 0 (zero), and the last six represent the branch (Source: RBI).
B marks a bank-code letter and R a branch-code character. This is a pattern, not a real IFSC.
Two practical consequences follow from that rule:
- The fifth character is never the letter O. In many fonts the letter and the digit look alike. If a code has an O in fifth place, it has been mistyped.
- Codes from the same bank start the same way. If the first four letters do not match the bank you expected, stop and check before going further.
Where to find a branch's IFSC
RBI says a bank-wise list of IFSCs is available at every branch that takes part in NEFT, and that member banks have been advised to print the branch IFSC on the cheques they issue (Source: RBI). RBI also publishes the consolidated list of NEFT-enabled branches that CodeKhoj is built to search (Source: RBI). RBI describes NEFT itself as available round the clock on every day of the year (Source: RBI).
The MICR code: city, bank, branch
MICR stands for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition, the technology behind machine processing of cheques. RBI's procedural guidelines reserve a read band at the bottom of the cheque, where the code line is printed in magnetic ink, and divide that code line into five fields separated by delimiters (Source: RBI):
- the cheque serial number, six digits;
- the sort field, which is the city, bank and branch code, nine digits;
- an account number field of six digits, which is optional;
- a transaction code field of two digits (Government cheques drawn on RBI are an exception);
- the amount field, 13 digits.
The nine-digit sort code is what people usually call the MICR code. In it, the first three digits represent the city, the next three the bank, and the last three the branch. The guidelines say this nine-digit code is unique for any bank branch in the country (Source: RBI).
C, B and R stand for digits. This is a pattern, not a real MICR code.
According to the same guidelines, bank codes are allotted centrally by RBI, while branch codes are allotted by the president of the clearing house the bank is a member of (Source: RBI). These guidelines are dated 2002 and were last updated in January 2014, so treat the allotment details as background; your bank is the authority on its own codes.
IFSC and MICR side by side
| IFSC | MICR sort code | |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 11 characters | 9 digits |
| Characters | 4 letters, the digit 0, then 6 letters or digits | Digits only |
| Parts | Bank, fixed zero, branch | City, bank, branch |
| Where you meet it | Electronic transfers such as NEFT; printed on cheques | The code line at the bottom of a cheque |
Before you send money: a short checklist
- Get the IFSC from the person you are paying, or from their cheque leaf, rather than from a search result alone.
- Run it through the code checker. A format error means the code was copied wrongly.
- Look it up in the IFSC lookup and compare the bank and branch with what the payee told you.
- Remember that the IFSC only names the branch. The account number and the account holder's name still have to be confirmed with the payee.
- If anything does not match, ask your own bank before you pay.