BIC Alpha RHEINTAL Bank AG, Basel (Switzerland) (SWIFT code)

The BIC of Alpha RHEINTAL Bank AG in Basel is ARBHCH22XXX. The abbreviation BIC stands for 'Business Identifier Code' (formerly 'Bank Identifier Code'). This is an internationally standardised code for the identification of branch offices in payment transactions. It is used by credit institutions, brokers and similar companies worldwide, and it uniquely identifies each partner who directly or indirectly participates in payment transactions. In payment transactions, the BIC/SWIFT BIC is used in combination with an IBAN (= International Bank Account Number), whereby the BIC identifies the bank and the IBAN identifies the relevant account held there.

In turn, an IBAN consists of the following components:

1. The two character country code.
2. The two digit check digit. This is between 02 and 98. Using this check digit, a single incorrect character is always recognised, individual transposed digits are almost always recognised and even with several errors, the recognition rate is still high.
3. A character string which identifies the actual account. In most countries, this is purely numerical. This is also known as BBAN (= Basic Bank Account Number). In most countries, this is the bank code and the account number.

For the fictitious account number 679012021 and bank code 6920, this results in an IBAN similar to this one: CH99 6920 6790 1202 1. To improve the readability of the IBAN, it is usually divided into blocks of four characters each. The IBAN can be up to 34 characters long, but it is shorter in most countries.

As you can see, an IBAN itself already contains a code which uniquely identifies the bank in question. For example, for Alpha RHEINTAL Bank AG, this is the 6920. For this reason, the BIC, in our example ARBHCH22XXX, is not required for transfers within Europe. The IBAN alone is enough in this case. The additional details of a BIC or SWIFT code are only required for transfers in which one of the banks involved in the transaction has its headquarters outside of Europe, and which is run via the SWIFT system.

The BIC also contains a country code. In contrast to the IBAN, this is not at the start of the BIC, but is instead at positions 5 and 6. For example, for the BIC ARBHCH22XXX, this is CH. In a few cases, the country code from the IBAN may differ from the country code of the associated BIC because different standards are used.

A BIC is either 8 or 11 characters long and does not contain its own check digit. In contrast to the IBAN, a BIC, apart from its length, can only be checked by reviewing whether it is included in the BIC directory regularly updated by SWIFT. In the case of the IBAN, on the other hand, it is possible to use a mathematical procedure to check whether this is formally correct, by using the check digit contained in it. Only formally correct IBANs may exist. The question of whether a specific IBAN actually exists, however, can only be answered by the associated bank. Forged or no longer existing IBANs cannot be recognised by the check digit.

Its headquarters are Alpha RHEINTAL Bank AG in Basel. In turn, Basel is in Switzerland. Alpha RHEINTAL Bank AG can be contacted by phone at 061 378 85 80.