Bank Validation Quick Start Guide

Bank Validation verifies bank account numbers and sort codes to reduce failed payments and fraud.

Coverage

UK accounts: Full validation including account number and sort code verification
International accounts: IBAN validation for EMEA regions (excluding US)

Available Endpoints

Bank Validation provides four API endpoints:

UK Validation

Individual Validate - Validate a single UK bank account and sort code
Batch Validate - Validate multiple UK accounts in bulk
RetrieveBySortcode - Validate using only the sort code

International Validation

International Validate - Validate international bank accounts (EMEA, excluding US)

Getting Started

Create an API key if you don’t have one
Choose the appropriate endpoint for your use case
Make your first request using the endpoint documentation above

Here’s a simple example request for the Individual Validate endpoint:

curl --request GET \
  --url https://api.addressy.com/BankAccountValidation/Interactive/Validate/v2.00/json6.ws

import requests

url = "https://api.addressy.com/BankAccountValidation/Interactive/Validate/v2.00/json6.ws"

response = requests.get(url)

print(response.json())

const url = 'https://api.addressy.com/BankAccountValidation/Interactive/Validate/v2.00/json6.ws';
const options = {method: 'GET', body: undefined};

try {
  const response = await fetch(url, options);
  const data = await response.json();
  console.log(data);
} catch (error) {
  console.error(error);
}

<?php

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
  CURLOPT_URL => "https://api.addressy.com/BankAccountValidation/Interactive/Validate/v2.00/json6.ws",
  CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
  CURLOPT_ENCODING => "",
  CURLOPT_MAXREDIRS => 10,
  CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 30,
  CURLOPT_HTTP_VERSION => CURL_HTTP_VERSION_1_1,
  CURLOPT_CUSTOMREQUEST => "GET",
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
$err = curl_error($curl);

curl_close($curl);

if ($err) {
  echo "cURL Error #:" . $err;
} else {
  echo $response;
}

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"net/http"
	"io"
)

func main() {

	url := "https://api.addressy.com/BankAccountValidation/Interactive/Validate/v2.00/json6.ws"

	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", url, nil)

	res, _ := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)

	defer res.Body.Close()
	body, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)

	fmt.Println(res)
	fmt.Println(string(body))

}

HttpResponse<String> response = Unirest.get("https://api.addressy.com/BankAccountValidation/Interactive/Validate/v2.00/json6.ws")
  .asString();

require 'uri'
require 'net/http'

url = URI("https://api.addressy.com/BankAccountValidation/Interactive/Validate/v2.00/json6.ws")

http = Net::HTTP.new(url.host, url.port)
http.use_ssl = true

request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(url)

response = http.request(request)
puts response.read_body

What Bank Validation Returns

Bank Validation confirms:

Whether the account number matches the sort code
Bank and branch information for the sort code

Response should be in the following format:

{
  "Items": [
    {
      "IsCorrect": "False",
      "IsDirectDebitCapable": "False",
      "StatusInformation": "UnknownSortCode",
      "CorrectedSortCode": "",
      "CorrectedAccountNumber": "",
      "IBAN": "",
      "Bank": "",
      "BankBIC": "",
      "Branch": "",
      "BranchBIC": "",
      "ContactAddressLine1": "",
      "ContactAddressLine2": "",
      "ContactPostTown": "",
      "ContactPostcode": "",
      "ContactPhone": "",
      "ContactFax": "",
      "FasterPaymentsSupported": "",
      "CHAPSSupported": ""
    }
  ]
}

And you can use this information below to interpret the response fields:

Response Fields

Validation Results

Field	Type	Description
`IsCorrect`	boolean	Whether the account number and sort code are valid
`IsDirectDebitCapable`	boolean	Whether the branch can accept direct debits
`StatusInformation`	string	Details about the validation outcome. `DetailsChanged` means check corrected fields for BACS submission. `CautiousOK` indicates the sort code exists but has no validation rules (rare)

Corrected Details

Field	Type	Description
`CorrectedSortCode`	string	The correct sort code (6 digits, no hyphens). May differ from the original
`CorrectedAccountNumber`	string	The correct account number (8 digits, BACS format)
`IBAN`	string	Correctly formatted IBAN for the account

Bank Information

Field	Type	Description
`Bank`	string	Name of the banking institution
`BankBIC`	string	Banking institution’s BIC (SWIFT BIC)
`Branch`	string	Name of the account holding branch
`BranchBIC`	string	Branch’s BIC

Contact Information

Field	Type	Description
`ContactAddressLine1`	string	Line 1 of branch contact address (may be contact centre for BACS enquiries, not physical branch)
`ContactAddressLine2`	string	Line 2 of branch contact address
`ContactPostTown`	string	Branch contact post town
`ContactPostcode`	string	Branch contact postcode
`ContactPhone`	string	Branch contact phone number
`ContactFax`	string	Branch contact fax number

Payment Services

Field	Type	Description
`FasterPaymentsSupported`	boolean	Whether the account supports Faster Payments
`CHAPSSupported`	boolean	Whether the account supports CHAPS

Error Response Fields

When an error occurs, the API returns an error response with the following structure:

Field	Type	Description
`Error`	string	The error ID
`Description`	string	A description of the error
`Cause`	string	The cause of the error
`Resolution`	string	Actions to resolve the error

Common Error Codes

Status Code	Meaning	Common Causes
400	Bad Request	Invalid parameters, malformed request, missing required fields
401	Unauthorized	Invalid or missing API key
403	Forbidden	API key doesn’t have permission for this service, or daily limit exceeded
500	Internal Server Error	Server-side issue, temporary service disruption

Tip: Check the Resolution field for specific steps to fix the error. For more details on error responses, see Individual Bank Validation in API documentation.

Note: Bank Validation does not return information about account holders. Only sort code and account number validity are verified.

Try Bank Validation

Test Bank Validation using the Individual Validate Playground to make your first request.

FAQ

Why doesn't the branch address match the physical location?

Many banks use central processing depots for BACS and other transactions. A sort code may return the bank’s central depot address rather than the specific branch location.

Is Bank Validation available worldwide?

Most Bank Validation services are UK-only. The International Validate endpoint covers EMEA regions (excluding US).

Overview

Location Solutions

Data Validation

Resources

Bank Validation Quick Start Guide

Coverage

Available Endpoints

UK Validation

International Validation

Getting Started

What Bank Validation Returns

Validation Results

Corrected Details

Bank Information

Contact Information

Payment Services

Common Error Codes

Try Bank Validation

FAQ

​Coverage

​Available Endpoints

​UK Validation

​International Validation

​Getting Started

​What Bank Validation Returns

​Validation Results

​Corrected Details

​Bank Information

​Contact Information

​Payment Services

​Common Error Codes

​Try Bank Validation

​FAQ

Coverage

Available Endpoints

UK Validation

International Validation

Getting Started

What Bank Validation Returns

Validation Results

Corrected Details

Bank Information

Contact Information

Payment Services

Common Error Codes

Try Bank Validation

FAQ