NBB documentation
Table of concordance between national "Bank identification codes"
The NBB keeps a list of national Bank Identification Codes (the so-called "Protocolcodes") that are used to create national bank account numbers and, consequently, credit transfers. Each bank identification number is linked to a BIC published in the T2 directory.
This table will be used for routing purposes in case the NBB only happens to know the account number, allowing to derive the BIC from the bank identification code. Based on this BIC, the "addressee" will be derived from the T2 directory. The participants are freely allowed to use this table for their own routing purposes. This list is kept up-to-date at any time and can be consulted through the secured page of the NBB website. As it is crucial that the exact BIC is linked to the exact Bank Identification Code, the participants are urged to check this list thoroughly and to notify any upcoming changes as soon as possible to the NBB (target2.helpdesk@nbb.be).
TARGET2 Directory (T2DIR)
To support the routing of payments in TARGET2, the needed routing inforÂmation is provided electronically in a structured TARGET2 directory. Knowing the beneficiary’s BIC, name, or national sorting code, the TARGET2 directory delivers the related BIC of the direct participant to be used in the header of a SWIFT message as receiver. Information how to handle the T2DIR updates is explained in the following document.
Codewords NBB-operations
The following tables give an overview of the codewords used in NBB-transactions booked in TARGET2.
Table Codewords direct participants
Table Codewords indirect participants