A sort code is the name given by both the British and Irish banking industry to the bank codes which are used to route money transfers between banks within their respective countries via their respective clearance organisations. In Ireland it is known as the NSC or National Sort Code[1] and is regulated by IPSO (Irish Payment Services Organisation).[2] Although sort codes in both countries have the same format, they are regulated by different authorities as each country has its own banking system.[3] [4]
Banks in Northern Ireland can be part of either the British or the Irish clearing system, depending on their country of registration.[5] Also, sort codes for Northern Ireland branches of banks registered in both Northern Ireland and the Republic, are valid, and recognised for use in the Republic.[2] The numbering ranges for both are complementary, but do not overlap.
The sort code, which is a six-digit number, is usually formatted as three pairs of numbers, for example 12-34-56. It identifies both the bank and the branch where the account is held. In some cases, the first digit of the sort code identifies the bank itself and in other cases the first 2 digits identify the bank.[1] Although there is a strong correlation between BIC Codes and sort codes, sort codes are not explicitly encoded into BIC codes (although they are encoded into IBANs).
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Six-digit sort codes were introduced in a staggered process during the 1960s as the banking industry moved towards automation. Prior to this and to facilitate the manual processing of cheques branches were allocated a 'national code' which would comprise anything between three and five digits. These took the following form:
The bank itself would be allocated a main number; Lloyds Bank for example was allocated 3, National Provincial was allocated 5, Martins was allocated 11.
Main clearing branches (usually elite London branches) would bear only one digit after the main number, e.g. 111. Metropolitan branches (which covered Greater London) consisted of two digits after the 11, e.g. 1124. Country branches made up the rest of the country, and bear three digits after the 11, e.g. 11056.[6] They were displayed on cheques in this fashion, with the bank identifier taking precedence.
To facilitate the move to a six-digit-structure the national codes were retained but where a single-digit was used to identify the bank a two-digit number was introduced, e.g. Barclays branches went from 2 to 20, Midland from 4 to 40, etc.
The British and Irish sort codes are only used for domestic money transfers. If money is being transferred across international borders, an international network is used. Many European countries use the IBAN as a means of identifying bank account numbers, but transfers to, amongst others, the United States and Australia make use of the BIC Codes. The sort code is included as one of the fields in IBANs assigned to British and Irish bank.
In some countries there is no direct equivalent of sort codes as the bank and branch codes are maintained separately from each other in those countries.[7] Other countries, however, have codes which are equivalent to sort codes, but with formats unique to the country concerned. Examples include:
The codes listed above for Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Sweden are incorporated into the IBANs for those countries.
In the United Kingdom the initial digits of bank sort codes are allocated to settlement members of the Cheque and Credit Clearing Company and the Belfast Bankers' Clearing Committee. These numbers are six digits long, formatted into three pairs which are separated by hyphens.
The following list shows the first two digits of the sort codes allocated to clearing banks. Thus, in the example 01-10-01, 01 indicates that the bank is a branch of the National Westminster Bank; the other sets of digits are for internal use. This example represents the NatWest branch in Manchester. Clearing banks can act for other banks, so looking up a bank by sort code in this list does not always mean the account is actually handled by that bank, e.g. the sort code 08-32-00 HMRC VAT is not a Co-operative Bank account but a Citibank account, as is 08-32-10 for National Insurance.
The clearing system in Great Britain is managed by the Cheque and Credit Clearing Company, under the umbrella of the Association for Payment Clearing Services.
In 1991 the Committee of London and Scottish Bankers, formerly the Committee of London Clearing Bankers, was wound up and its work absorbed with that of the British Bankers' Association. In the following list the dates in parenthesis signify the year of merger with the present-day sort code holder, or subsidiary thereof.
| Range | Bank | Note |
|---|---|---|
01 |
National Westminster Bank | formerly District Bank (1962) |
05 |
Clydesdale Bank | trading as Yorkshire Bank |
07-00 to 07-49 |
Nationwide Building Society | |
08 |
The Co-operative Bank | |
08-31 to 08-32 |
US Citibank for UK Government use (NS&I, HMRC etc.) | |
08-60 to 08-61 |
clearing accounts for building societies, Northern Rock etc. | |
08-90 to 08-99 |
||
09-00 to 09-19 |
Santander UK | formerly Abbey National (2010) |
09-01-31 to 09-01-36 for Alliance & Leicester migrated accounts |
||
10-00 to 10-79 |
Bank of England | previously used for Government accounts |
11 |
Bank of Scotland | for Halifax |
12-00 to 12-69 |
12-60-00 to 12-69-99 for Sainsbury's Bank |
|
13 |
Barclays Bank | |
14 |
formerly Martins Bank (1967) | |
15 |
Royal Bank of Scotland | formerly Williams & Glyn's Bank (1985), itself formerly Glyn, Mills & Co. (1970) |
16 |
formerly Williams & Glyn's Bank (1985), itself formerly Williams Deacon's Bank (1970) |
|
17 |
formerly Williams & Glyn's Bank (1985), itself formerly The National Bank (1970) |
|
18 |
for Coutts & Co a subsidiary of National Westminster Bank (1920) |
|
19 |
||
20 to 29 |
Barclays Bank | 23-00-00 for Metro Bank |
30 to 39 |
Lloyds TSB Bank | formerly Lloyds Bank (1995) |
40 to 49 |
HSBC Bank | formerly Midland Bank
|
50 to 59 |
National Westminster Bank | formerly National Provincial Bank (1968) |
60 to 66 |
formerly Westminster Bank (1968) | |
60-91-00 to 60-95-99 |
direct clearing branches of foreign banks in UK | |
72* |
Santander UK | formerly Alliance & Leicester (2010), itself formerly Girobank (1985) |
77-00 to 77-44 |
Lloyds TSB Bank | formerly Trustee Savings Bank (1995) |
77-46 to 77-99 |
*being phased out
Separately operated by the Committee of Scottish Clearing Bankers until 1985.
| Range | Bank | Note |
|---|---|---|
80 to 81 |
Bank of Scotland | |
82 |
Clydesdale Bank | |
83 |
Royal Bank of Scotland | formerly National Commercial Bank of Scotland (1969), formerly Commercial Bank of Scotland (1959) |
84 |
formerly National Commercial Bank of Scotland (1969), formerly National Bank of Scotland (1959) |
|
86 |
||
87 |
Lloyds TSB Scotland | formerly TSB Scotland (1995) |
89-00 to 89-29 |
Santander UK | formerly Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank (2010) formerly Girobank (2003) |
The clearing system in Northern Ireland is operated under the Belfast Clearing Rules which are agreed by the Belfast Bankers’ Clearing Company Ltd. (formerly the Northern Ireland Bankers’ Association).
| Range | Bank | Note |
|---|---|---|
90 |
Bank of Ireland | |
91 |
Northern Bank | formerly Belfast Banking Company (1970) |
93 |
Allied Irish Banks (UK) | for First Trust Bank formerly TSB Northern Ireland (1991) |
94 |
Bank of Ireland | |
95 |
Northern Bank | subsidiary of Danske Bank (2005) former Midland Bank subsidiary (1965) |
98 |
Ulster Bank | subsidiary of National Westminster Bank (1917) |
The sort code ranges in use in the Republic of Ireland are broadly similar to those used in Northern Ireland. The only exceptions are:
It should also be noted that, in the Republic, the trading name of Northern Bank is National Irish Bank.