IFSC and MICR Codes

IFSC stands for Indian Financial System Code. It is an 11 character alphanumeric code which is unique for every branch of a bank. The first four characters represent the bank name, the fifth character is generally is zero while the last six digits are unique and represent a particular branch of the bank. Whenever you transfers funds online through any of the money transfer facilities— national electronic fund transfer (NEFT), real time gross settlement (RTGS) and immediate payment system (IMPS), you will have to provide the IFSC code of the beneficiary account. If you are using net banking facility to buy mutual funds or insurance, you will need the IFSC code.

IFSC code helps the National Clearing Cell of the Reserve Bank of India in identifying the particular branch of the bank and in executing the transaction without any error.

Following are the ways in which you can get the IFSC code of a bank branch:-
1. You can get the IFSC code of the branch using Paisabazaar’s IFSC Code Locator tool.
2. You can find the IFSC code on your cheque and bank passbook.
3. You can get the branchwise list of IFSC codes for each bank on the Reserve Bank of India’s website.
4. You can get the list of IFSC code on a particular bank’s website for all its branches.

MICR stands for magnetic ink character recognition code. It is character recognition technology that helps in faster processing of cheques. Like IFSC code, every branch of a bank has a unique MICR code. It comprises of nine digits. The first three digits in the MICR code represent the city code, the next three give the bank code and the last three digits cover the branch of the bank. For example, if you have an account with State Bank of India, Mumbai, Empire House Fort branch then its nine digit MICR code will be 400005003 wherein 400, the first three digits representing the city code for Mumbai; 005, the next three digits representing the bank code for SBI; and 002, the last three digits representing the bank branch code for Empire House Fort branch.

MICR code helps in the fast and error-free processing of cheques. MICR code is printed in a unique magnetic ink usually iron oxide which is readable by machine. The cheque reading machine reads the MICR code and processes the cheque automatically hence reducing the scope of error.

1. You can find the MICR code using Paisabazar.com’s IFSC code locator tool.
2. MICR code is also printed on your cheque and the pass book.
3. You can also find the MICR code on the bank’s website.

MICR code is a nine digit code used for the clearing the cheques while IFSC code is a 11 character alphanumeric code used in case of online transfer of funds.

The most commonly used method of transferring funds online is NEFT. It stands for national electronic fund transfer. Using NEFT, you can electronically transfer funds from your bank account to any other account of the same bank or any other bank. The money transfer facility under NEFT doesn’t happen instantly. It happens with a time lag in 12 hourly settlements during the weekdays between 8 am to 7 pm (Monday to Friday) and 6 hourly settlements from 8 am to 1 pm on Saturdays (except 2nd and 4th Saturday). You can’t transfer funds using NEFT on Sundays.

There are no minimum limit and maximum limit on the amount of money that can be transferred using NEFT as per the Reserve Bank of India while there is a maximum limit of Rs 50,000 per transaction.

Following are the charges applicable for transferring funds under NEFT

*Plus service tax

It stands for real time gross settlement. As the name suggests, the fund transfer under this facility happens on a real time basis without any time lag. Under RTGS fund transfer facility there is a minimum limit of Rs 2 lakh. There is no maximum limit on the amount that can be transferred under the facility as per the Reserve Bank of India while banks may have an upper ceiling. Also, to transfer funds under this facility both the transferring bank as well as the receiving bank have to be RTGS enabled. The facility is available between 9 am to 4.30 pm between Monday and Friday and 9 am to 2 pm on Saturday.

Following charges will be levied if you use RTGS facility

*Plus service tax

It stands for immediate payment service (IMPS). It is the latest electronic fund transfer facility which was introduced in November 2010. Under this facility, the bank account holder can transfer funds using their mobile phone, ATM and net banking. As the name suggests, using IMPS facility, the money is transferred instantly to the beneficiary’s account. The most important benefit of IMPS facility is that you can transfer money anytime 24X7 throughout the year 365 days using IMPS money transfer facility, even on bank holidays. A fund transferor as well as the receiver should have a mobile money identifier (MMID), a seven digit random number issued by the bank upon the registration for IMPS for transferring funds under this facility.

Following charges will be levied for using IMPS facility

*plus service tax