In Australia, BSB codes are allocated by the Australian Payments Clearing Association (APCA). BSB codes are used in a number of payment systems in Australia:

 Paper transactions

Cheques are the most common payment method in Australia. BSB and bank account numbers appear on cheques and are used to identify the specific bank account number to be debited. BSB codes are also used on deposit and other vouchers. Paper transactions are processed under the Australian Paper Clearing System (APCS) (also known as CS1) drawn up by APCA. Account instructions which do not have a BSB code must be processed manually.

 Electronic transactions

Electronic fund transfers between bank accounts use the Direct Entry system. For transfers using the Direct Entry System, BSB and bank account numbers must be given for the accounts to be debited as well as for the account to which funds are to be transferred. Electronic transactions are processed under the Bulk Electronic Clearing System (BECS) (also known as CS2) drawn up by APCA.

 Internationl transactions

For international transfers, a SWIFT identifier is used in addition to a BSB and bank account number.

Format

In both Australia and New Zealand, the format of the BSB code originally was for the first two digits to indicate the "bank" and the other four digits to specify the "branch" of that financial institution. In Australia, the major banks have at least historically structured their branch codes with the first of the four digit branch code indicating the state where the branch was located. Some of the larger banks have two bank codes. This is largely historic, a legacy from the time when banks maintained separate trading (cheque) and savings entities. The first digit of the bank code was either 0 (for trading bank accounts) or 1 (for savings bank accounts), with a common second digit. For example, 03 was for Westpac's trading accounts, while 73 was for Westpac's savings accounts. This distinction is now of only historic significance.

For example, the Australian BSB code "033088" breaks down to:

• 03 = Westpac Banking Corporation, historically the trading operation
• 3 = Victoria
• 088 = 383 Chapel Street, Prahran

Today, with the recognition of many new financial institutions in Australia, the structure of the BSB has had to be modified. While banks generally still follow the state branch structure, building societies and credit unions often do not. Many smaller financial institutions are now identified by the first three digits of the BSB with the "state" field being part of the "bank" identifier. Building societies and former ones start with 63xxxx and credit unions 80xxxx. The state code structure is not always used - e.g. Bendigo Bank which started as a building society in Victoria has code 633xxx, and the Queensland based Heritage Building Society has 638xxx. A financial institution may also use one centralised BSB for all accounts. Suncorp uses 484799 for all deposit accounts regardless of which branch or state the account was opened in. St George Bank does something similar to Suncorp.

 

List of Australian Bank codes

Number	Code	Bank Name
01	ANZ	Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited
02	BNZ	Bank of New Zealand
03 or 73	WBC	Westpac Banking Corporation
06 or 76	CBA	Commonwealth Bank of Australia
08 or 78	NAB	National Australia Bank
09	RBA	Reserve Bank of Australia
10	BSA	BankSA
11 or 33	STG or SGP	St George Bank
12 or 639	BQL or HOM	Bank of Queensland
14	PIB	Rabobank
15	T&C	Town & Country Bank
18	MBL	Macquarie Bank
19	BOM	Bank of Melbourne (2011) previously Advance Bank
21	CMB	JPMorgan Chase Bank
23	BAL	Bank of America
24	CTI	Citibank
26	BTA	BT Financial Group
29	BOT	Bank of Tokyo
30	BWA	BankWest
31		bankmecu
34 or 985	HBA or HSB	HSBC Bank Australia
35	BOC	Bank of China
38	KIWI	Kiwibank
40	CST	Commonwealth Bank Group
41	DBA	Deutsche Bank Australia
42 or 52	TBT	Colonial Trust Bank
45	OCB	OCBC Bank
46	ADV	Advance Bank
47	CBL	Campbell Brothers Limited
48 or 664	MET or SUN	Suncorp-Metway
55	BML	Bank of Melbourne (1989)
57	ASL	Australian Settlements Limited
61		Adelaide Bank
630	ABS	ABS Building Society Ltd
632	BAE	B&E Limited
633	BBL	Bendigo Bank
634	UFS	Uniting Financial Services
637	GBS	Greater Building Society Ltd
638	HBS	Heritage Bank
640	HUM	Hume Building Society Limited
641 or 647	IMB or AUB	IMB Ltd
642	ADC	Australian Defence Credit Union Ltd
645 or 656	MPB or BAY	Wide Bay Australia Ltd
646	MMB	Maitland Mutual Building Soc Ltd
650	NEW	Newcastle Permanent Building Society
653	PPB	Pioneer Permanent Building Society
655	ROK	The Rock Building Society Limited
657	GBS	Greater Building Society
70	CUS	Credit Unions
728	SCU	Summerland Credit Union (1 July 2011 728-728)
80	CRU	Credit Unions
812	TMB	Teachers Mutual Bank Limited
813	CAP	Capricornian Ltd
814	CUA	Credit Union Australia Ltd
815	PCU	Police Dept Employees C/U Ltd
817	WCU	Warwick Credit Union
819 or 931	IBK or ICB	Industrial & Commercial Bank of Australia
902	APO	Australia Post
913	SSB	State Street Bank & Trust Company
915	FNC	FNC Agency - Bank One, NA
917	ARA	Arab Bank Australia
918	MCB	Mizuho Corporate Bank
922	UOB	United Overseas Bank
923 or 936	ING or GNI	ING Bank
932	NEC	New England Credit Union Ltd
939	AMP	AMP Bank
941	BCY	Bank of Cyprus Australia
942	LBA	Laiki Bank
943	TBB	Taiwan Business Bank
944	MEB	Members Equity Bank
946	UBS	UBS AG
951	INV	Investec Bank (Australia) Limited
952	RBS	Royal Bank of Scotland
969	MSL	Tyro Payments
980	BOC	Bank of China Australia

 

List of State codes

The major banks structure their BSB codes according to States. This is largely historic and have only limited significance in electronic banking. For those who maintain State codes, the State code is the first of the four digit branch field and are:

• 2 - Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales
• 3 - Victoria
• 4 - Queensland
• 5 - South Australia, Northern Territory
• 6 - Western Australia
• 7 - Tasmania

 

The Australian Payments Clearing Association (APCA) was established on 18 February 1992 as the self-regulatory body for the Australian payment system. Initially, APCA was formed as part of the reorganisation and reform of the Australian interbank payment clearance system, starting with cheque and debit/credit card interbank clearance.

Today APCA sets, manages and develops regulations, procedures and standards governing payments clearing and settlement within Australia. Payments systems covered by APCA's rules include cheques, direct debits and deposits, electronic transactions, ATM and EFTPOS and high value payments.

APCA is a company limited by guarantee. It has 80 members including the leading Australian financial institutions (e.g., banks, building societies and credit unions), major retailers and others involved in the payment system. The Bank State Branch Numbers (BSB) system is regulated and managed by APCA.

 

 APCA's Objectives

APCA's stated mission is "to achieve and maintain international best practice in the operation of the Australian payments clearing system."

APCA's role is to manage and develop the Australian payments clearing system, so as to:

• preserve the integrity of the system
• identify and control settlement risk
• improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the system
• ensure principles of equity and competitive neutrality are applied in determining participation in the system
• facilitate the co-ordination of payments clearing arrangements among providers of payment services
• assist the community's understanding of the system and ensure that public debate is well informed.

 

List of banks in Australia

 

Bank State Branch#List of Bank codes