IFSC Code Validator
Check an Indian Financial System Code before you send to an Indian bank account. Validates the eleven-character structure the Reserve Bank of India defines.
Checked in your browser. The code never leaves your device.
How an IFSC is built
Eleven characters in three fixed parts, and the middle one is the reason this tool can be useful at all. Because an IFSC carries no checksum, structure is the only thing that can be checked without querying the RBI: four letters, a mandatory zero, then six characters of branch identifier.
The absence of a checksum matters more than it sounds. A routing number or an IBAN will reject a single mistyped digit; an IFSC will not. If the branch portion is wrong but well-formed, the transfer can be accepted, routed, and only then returned, often days later and with fees taken.
Where to confirm a code
The first four letters are a contraction of the bank’s name, but often not an obvious one. Several banks kept the code they were issued under a former name, so reading the institution from those letters is a guess, and a guess is not what you want standing between you and a transfer.
The Reserve Bank of India publishes the authoritative directory of every NEFT-enabled branch, and it is the only place a code should be confirmed. Your recipient can also read theirs directly from a chequebook or their banking app, which is faster and equally reliable. This tool deliberately does not name the bank behind a code, because we cannot verify that mapping against the RBI’s own file.
What sending to India costs
India is the largest remittance corridor in the world, and the gap between providers on it is wide. The fee is rarely the deciding factor: on USD to INR the exchange-rate markup ranges from close to nothing to several percent, which on a $1,000 transfer is the difference between a few dollars and fifty.
Compare what each provider charges on this route in our guide to sending money to India, or price a specific amount with the Remitly and Wise calculators. Receiving from abroad usually needs a SWIFT code too, which you can check with the BIC/SWIFT validator.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an IFSC?
The Indian Financial System Code: eleven characters identifying one specific branch of one specific bank. The Reserve Bank of India assigns them, and every electronic transfer inside India (NEFT, RTGS or IMPS) is routed by IFSC. Unlike a SWIFT code, which stops at the bank, an IFSC goes all the way down to the branch.
Why is the fifth character always zero?
The RBI reserved it when the format was designed, leaving room to extend the scheme later. It has never been used for anything else, so a character other than zero in position five is the fastest way to spot a mistyped or invented code.
Do I need an IFSC to receive money from abroad?
Usually yes, alongside the SWIFT code. The SWIFT code brings the money into the receiving bank in India; the IFSC tells that bank which branch holds the account. Many remittance services ask for both, and some ask only for the IFSC because they hold their own banking relationship in India.
My branch merged and the IFSC changed. What happens to payments?
Indian banking has consolidated heavily, and merged branches are reissued codes. Payments to a retired IFSC are typically returned rather than misdelivered, though banks run a grace period. If a transfer bounces after a merger, ask the recipient to confirm the current code on a recent statement or in their net banking.
Can this tool tell me which branch an IFSC belongs to?
It reads the bank from the first four letters where we recognise them, but it does not look up branches. The branch portion is an internal identifier, not a location code, so it cannot be decoded. The RBI publishes the authoritative list, and your recipient can read theirs from a chequebook or their banking app.
Is an IFSC the same as a MICR code?
No. MICR is a nine-digit number printed along the bottom of a cheque for physical clearing. IFSC is alphanumeric and used for electronic transfers. Both identify a branch, but forms are rarely interchangeable, and entering one where the other is expected will fail.
Structure only. An IFSC has no checksum, so a well-formed code can still belong to no branch. Confirm it with the recipient.