The first one or two digits identify the bank with the rest of the sortode identifying the branch an ccount is held.
A sort code is the name given by both the British and Irish banking industry to the bank codes which are used to route money transfers between banks within their respective countries via their respective clearance organisations. A sort code is the name given by both the British and Irish banking industry to the bank codes which are used to route money transfers between banks within their respective countries via their respective clearance organisations. The site contains over 500 banks with 26,000 sortcodes.
It identifies both the bank, and the branch where the account is held. The sort code, which is a six-digit number, is usually formatted as three pairs of numbers, for example, 12-34-56.