Like I explained before on my blog that A SWIFT code is an international bank code that identifies particular banks worldwide. It's also known as a Bank Identifier Code (BIC). CommBank uses SWIFT codes to send money to overseas banks. A SWIFT code consists of 8 or 11 characters.
The SWIFT code is 8 or 11 characters, made up of: 4 letters: Institution Code or bank code. 2 letters: ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code 2 letters or digits: location code
if the second character is "0", then it is typically a test BIC as opposed to a BIC used on the live network.
if the second character is "1", then it denotes a passive participant in the SWIFT network
if the second character is "2", then it typically indicates a reverse billing BIC, where the recipient pays for the message as opposed to the more usual mode whereby the sender pays for the message.
3 letters or digits: branch code, optional ('XXX' for primary office). Where an 8-digit code is given, it may be assumed that it refers to the primary office.
SWIFT Standards, a division of The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), handles the registration of these codes. For this reason, Business Identifier Codes (BICs) are often called SWIFT addresses or codes.
For Swift codes of COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA SYDNEY click here