merkblatt-bankleitzahlendatei-data.pdf

Here are the key points summarized:

General Information

• The Bankleitzahlendatei (BLZ) is a database that contains information about banks and financial institutions in Germany.
• The database was created by the Deutsche Bundesbank to facilitate electronic payments and other banking transactions.

Structure of the BLZ

• The BLZ consists of 14 fields, each containing specific information about a bank or financial institution.
• The first field is the Bankleitzahl (BLZ) itself, which is a unique identifier assigned to each bank or financial institution.
• The second field contains a marker indicating whether the bank or financial institution is a leading payment service provider ("1") or not ("2").
• The third field contains the name of the bank or financial institution.

Additional Fields

• Field 8: Business Identifier Code (BIC) - used for international transactions
• Field 9: Indicator for calculation method for checksums
• Field 10: Sequence number of the data record
• Field 11: Change indicator ("A" for addition, "D" for deletion, "U" for unchanged, and "M" for modification)
• Field 12: Hint at intended bank account closure (0 for no hint, 1 for intended closure)
• Field 13: Hint at successor bank account (only in the extended BLZ)

Use of the BLZ

• The BLZ is used to facilitate electronic payments and other banking transactions.
• Banks and financial institutions can use the BLZ to identify each other and initiate transactions.
• The BLZ is also used by financial institutions to verify the identity of their customers.

History and Development

• The BLZ was created in 1956 by the Deutsche Bundesbank.
• Over time, the structure and content of the BLZ have evolved to meet changing needs in the banking industry.