Skip to content

🇮🇳 Sending to India

IN · IND · +91 · South Asia

INR

National format   SWIFT BIC required

← Back to Country-specific guides

Required information

  • Account number

    9-18 digits depending on the core banking product used by the branch.

  • SWIFT BIC

    Beneficiary bank BIC (8 or 11 characters).

  • IFSC

    11-character alphanumeric (Indian Financial System Code, identifies a specific bank branch)

  • Purpose-of-payment code (mandatory)

    5-character Purpose of Payment code beginning with 'P'.

  • Beneficiary full name

    Spelled out exactly as registered at the bank. No initials or abbreviations.

  • Beneficiary address

    Match the address template — partial addresses cause holds.

For your end users

India: A 5-character RBI Purpose code starting with 'P' is mandatory and must match your transaction type. Beneficiary name must exactly match - no initials. Use the 11-character IFSC code in addition to SWIFT/BIC. INR payments ≥ 500 million require an LEI for both parties.

Real-Time Alternative

UPI (Unified Payments Interface)

Last reviewed by GIB compliance on 2026-05-19. Reference material only.

  • Currency

    INR

  • Typical settlement

    1-2 business days; payments ≥ INR 500M with LEI requirements may take longer.

  • SWIFT BIC

    Required

  • Local clearing

    RTGS / NEFT / IMPS / UPI

Account format

How beneficiary account numbers are structured for India. Failure to match this format is the single most common reason wires are rejected at the destination.

Field Value
Format tier National format
Length 9-18 digits depending on the core banking product used by the branch.

Routing identifiers

Which routing codes the wire-creation API call must include for India.

Field Value
SWIFT BIC Required
Branch identifier Required
IFSC Required
Format 11-character alphanumeric (Indian Financial System Code, identifies a specific bank branch)
Directory ↗ Source
Local clearing RTGS / NEFT / IMPS / UPI

Address format

How India expects the beneficiary address to appear on the wire. Free-form variations frequently trigger compliance holds.

  1. Full Name
  2. House/Building Number, Street Name
  3. Area/Locality
  4. City + State + PIN Code
  5. INDIA
Field Value
Postal code Optional — validated against the format below when provided
Postal code regex ^\d{6}$

Counterparty fields

Party details the destination expects on the beneficiary. Mandatory fields are required by the destination; recommended fields reduce the chance of a delay or return.

Recommended:

  • Whether the beneficiary is a company or a person (Cdtr/Id/OrgId or Cdtr/Id/PrvtId)
  • Beneficiary phone number (Cdtr/CtctDtls/PhneNb)
  • Local bank code (CdtrAgt/FinInstnId/ClrSysMmbId/MmbId) — 11-character IFSC code

Purpose of payment

Put the country's own code in <Purp><Prtry> (purpose_code_proprietary). Requirement: Mandatory (confirmed) GIB check: a missing or unexpected purpose is reported as a validation warning; the wire is not held.

Field Value
Code format 5-character Purpose of Payment code beginning with 'P'.
Source ↗ RBI A.P. (DIR Series) Circular 50
Excluded codes P1302, P1303, P1304, P1499, P0099, P0001, P1011, P1099

Available codes:

5-character codes beginning with 'P', published by the Reserve Bank of India. Category buckets (non-exhaustive): P00xx personal transfers/family maintenance/gifts; P01xx trade in goods (export/import); P03xx FDI and overseas investment (P0006/P0007/P0008 trigger extra documentation); P05xx services (consulting, legal, IT, technical); P07xx financial services (interest, fees); P08xx travel (business, education, medical, leisure); P09xx government and official transfers; P10xx insurance and pension; P11xx personal compensation. Excluded codes (NOT supported): P1302, P1303, P1304, P1499, P0099, P0001, P1011, P1099.

Remittance info

Extra content the regulator requires inside the free-text remittance field, beyond the purpose-of-payment code.

Code must match transaction and supporting documentation.

Operational notes

Field Value
Currencies accepted INR, USD
Typical settlement 1-2 business days; payments ≥ INR 500M with LEI requirements may take longer.
Banking holidays ↗ Calendar

Known issues:

  • Account numbers must not include dashes, spaces, or non-standard characters.
  • FDI codes P0006/P0007/P0008 require additional declaration + remitter/investor details, plus Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate from the receiving bank.

Common rejection reasons

Documented patterns that cause this country's banks to return wires. Universal reasons (sanctions holds, missing BIC) aren't repeated here.

Account number containing dashes, spaces, or non-standard characters.
Beneficiary name mismatch - initials not allowed.
Missing or wrong 11-character IFSC code.
Wrong PoP code or use of an excluded code (P1302, P1303, P1304, P1499, P0099, P0001, P1011, P1099).
INR payment ≥ 500M without an LEI for both remitter and beneficiary.
FDI inflow (codes P0006/P0007/P0008) without the required declaration and Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate.
Sanctions or compliance hold.

Validate before you send

Check identifiers before you submit. The IBAN check runs in your browser (format plus the ISO 13616 MOD-97 check digit). GIB's API checks the IBAN format for countries where an IBAN is required. The BIC lookup searches GIB's BIC directory and needs a dashboard login.

BIC lookup

Loading…

References

First-party sources — central banks, FX regulators, ISO registries. Always re-verify against these before pushing volume to a new corridor.

Disclaimer

These country guides aggregate information from central banks, regulators, and industry-standard references. Global Innovations Bank reviews them on a rolling cadence and notes the verification date on each page. Payment-corridor rules change between releases, so we cannot guarantee continued accuracy.

Always verify against the primary sources linked in the References section before going live in a new corridor. Re-check applicable sanctions lists (OFAC, EU, UK, UN consolidated, and any state-level requirements) at the time of payment, since designations shift between our refreshes.

For fintech partners on GIB's sponsor-bank rails, these guides do not replace your BSA/AML, KYC, sanctions-screening, or transaction-monitoring obligations under your program agreement with GIB.

Nothing in this material constitutes legal, tax, or regulatory advice, and wire-acceptance decisions remain at the discretion of GIB Compliance and the destination bank.

← Back to Country-specific guides