4217standarden

4217standarden, commonly known as ISO 4217, is the international standard for currency and funds codes. It assigns three-letter alphabetic codes to currencies and related funds, as well as three-digit numeric codes and the number of minor units (decimal places) used to express fractions of the currency. The standard covers traditional currencies, certain funds codes, and some precious metals.

The standard was published in 1978 by the International Organization for Standardization and is maintained by a dedicated ISO 4217 Maintenance Agency. Codes defined by ISO 4217 are widely used in banking, finance, retail, and software, appearing in monetary statements, payment systems, and global pricing.

Code structure and usage: The alphabetic codes (three letters) are usually derived from the currency name or country name (for example, USD for United States dollar, EUR for euro, JPY for Japanese yen). Numeric codes provide a language-independent identifier (for example, 840 for USD, 978 for EUR, 392 for JPY). For each currency, the standard specifies the typical number of decimal places used to separate major and minor units; most currencies use two decimal places (USD, EUR), some use zero (JPY), and a few use three (for example, Kuwaiti dinar). The standard also defines codes for certain non-currency funds and precious metals, such as XAU for gold and XDR for special drawing rights.

ISO 4217 remains essential for international payments, accounting systems, e-commerce, and financial messaging protocols like SWIFT. It provides a consistent framework for representing currencies across borders and platforms.