AFRCZAJJ11-character variant (head office):
AFRCZAJJXXX| Bank code | Country | Location |
|---|---|---|
| AFRC | ZA | JJ |
| African Bank | ZA (South Africa) | Midrand |
An 11-character variant like AFRCZAJJXXX also indicates the head office — the trailing 'XXX' is the default. Codes ending in different sequences (e.g. 'AFRCZAJJ001') refer to specific branches.
African Bank, founded in 1975, is a South African commercial bank focused on unsecured retail lending and increasingly on transactional banking via its MyWORLD account product. The bank was placed under curatorship in 2014 and restructured through a "good bank/bad bank" split overseen by the South African Reserve Bank, with the surviving "good bank" recapitalised and returned to private operation. African Bank is held by a consortium that includes the SARB itself plus the major South African banks and the Government Employees Pension Fund. SWIFT code AFRCZAJJ identifies the Midrand head office; the long form is AFRCZAJJXXX. The bank operates around 400 branches focused on entry-level retail customers.
vs ZAR (South African Rand)
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SWIFT and BIC are two names for the same identifier: an 8 or 11-character code standardised by ISO 9362 that identifies a bank in the SWIFT payment network. For a wire to African Bank, your sending bank needs this code (AFRCZAJJ) to route the payment message through correspondent banks to African Bank in Midrand.
An IBAN, by contrast, identifies a specific bank account — not the institution. IBANs are mandatory in the European Economic Area, the UK, most of the Middle East, and several African countries (but South Africa does not use IBANs universally). For most wires to South Africa, you will supply SWIFT code AFRCZAJJ + the recipient's account number, not an IBAN.
UK sort codes (6 digits) and US routing numbers (9 digits) are domestic-only equivalents — they do not work for international wires. If a US-based sender wants to wire to African Bank, they need the SWIFT code, not the US routing number of the correspondent bank (although their bank may use the routing number internally to route their side of the wire).
One final technical detail on the 11-character form: the last three characters identify a specific branch. When they read 'XXX' (as in AFRCZAJJXXX), they conventionally designate the head office itself. Most international wires use either the 8-character form or the 11-character form with XXX; unless your recipient explicitly tells you otherwise, that is the right choice.
African Bank's SWIFT/BIC code is AFRCZAJJ. This 8-character code identifies the bank's Midrand head office for international wire transfers.
Yes. SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) and BIC (Business Identifier Code) are two names for the same 8 or 11-character identifier standardised by ISO 9362. You will see African Bank's code referenced under either name on different financial platforms.
Yes. For an international wire to reach your African Bank account, the sender needs SWIFT code AFRCZAJJ AND your account number. Some sending banks also request the recipient bank's full address (59 16th Road, Midrand, Midrand).
Typically 1 to 5 business days. The timing depends on the intermediary (correspondent) banks between the sending bank and African Bank. Wires from major global banks (HSBC, Barclays, JPMorgan, Citi) usually clear fastest.
For smaller amounts to South Africa, operators such as Wise, LemFi, Sendwave, and TapTap Send typically offer a rate closer to mid-market and lower fees than a classic SWIFT bank wire. See our South Africa inbound corridor comparison for side-by-side pricing.
Source: African Bank's official website + Wise SWIFT directory. Last verified: 2026-06-04. SWIFT codes change rarely but always confirm with your bank before initiating a transfer. Educational only — not financial advice.