Clearing requirements
All bank offices participating in any of the following clearings must have a sorting code:
Every bank office with a sorting code does not necessarily participate in all these clearings, however, once a sorting code has been issued to a bank office, the same sorting code will be used in all of the clearings. Also the name of such a code varies. For a quick search the side bar contains the main search tool. Although there is a strong correlation between BIC Codes and sort codes, sort codes are not explicitly encoded into BIC codes.
Although sort codes in both countries have the same format, they are regulated by different authorities as each country has its own banking system. The pace of change is quicker now, driven in particular by the increased use of online banking, and the new Faster Payments Service.