Why up-to-date sort code data is important
The sort code data used by the UK payments industry is updated constantly to reflect bank and other financial institution changes. Also the name of such a code varies. IBAN and BIC codes are widely used means of identifying bank account numbers, but not the only international system.
Furthermore routing information as specified by ISO 9362 does not contain check digits, so simple errors of transcription were not detectable and it was not possible for a sending bank to validate the routing information prior to submitting the payment.