Sort Code for Sterling Bank in Nigeria: How to Find Yours
Sterling Bank has no single sort code. Each branch has its own nine digits, printed on your cheque leaf, and customer care can confirm yours.
This page used to list a sort code for every Sterling Bank branch. We have taken that list down. We could not check it against any official source, and parts of it were wrong. Sterling Bank does not publish its branch sort codes anywhere we could read, and neither does the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) or the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS).
The code to rely on is the one printed on your own cheque leaf, or the one the bank gives you for your branch. A wrong sort code on a form does more harm than a missing one, so here is how to get the right one.
How to find your Sterling Bank sort code
On your cheque leaf
The CBN’s cheque rules make the sort code part of every cheque. Its guidelines describe a line of numbers printed in magnetic ink near the bottom of the leaf, which can carry the bank’s routing number, the account number and the cheque number. Look along that line for a group of nine digits beginning 232. That is your sort code.
From your branch
If you have no cheque book, ask at the branch that holds your account. A sort code belongs to a branch, so the one you need is for the branch where the account is kept. That may not be the branch nearest to you.
From customer care
Sterling’s contact page lists two phone lines, 02018888822 and 07008220000, the email address [email protected], and a WhatsApp line. Ask for the sort code of your account’s branch, and have the account number to hand.
We found no Sterling page saying that its app or its USSD menu shows the sort code, so we have left both out.
If your branch has closed or moved
Do not reuse the old branch’s code from memory or from a list. Ask the bank which branch holds your account now, and what that branch’s code is.
How a sort code is built
The format is laid down by the CBN in its standards on bank account numbers. A bank’s sort code has nine digits, in four parts:
- Three digits for the bank. The CBN assigns each bank its code.
- Two digits for the state the branch is in.
- Three digits for the branch.
- One check digit, worked out from the other eight by a set formula.
The first three digits are the bank. The CBN’s own paper on the account-number scheme lists each bank’s code, and Sterling Bank’s is 232.
That gives you a quick test for any code you are handed. It should have nine digits and begin with 232, and its fourth and fifth digits should be the code of the state the branch is in. A Sterling branch in Lagos should have a code that starts 232 15. One in Abuja should start 232 08.
Passing the test does not prove a code is right. It only catches the obvious mistakes.
CBN state codes
These are the state codes the CBN gave the banks. They are the fourth and fifth digits of a sort code.
| State | Code |
|---|---|
| Abia | 23 |
| Abuja (FCT) | 08 |
| Adamawa | 09 |
| Akwa Ibom | 01 |
| Anambra | 02 |
| Bauchi | 03 |
| Bayelsa | 32 |
| Benue | 05 |
| Borno | 06 |
| Cross River | 07 |
| Delta | 24 |
| Ebonyi | 33 |
| Edo | 04 |
| Ekiti | 34 |
| Enugu | 25 |
| Gombe | 35 |
| Imo | 10 |
| Jigawa | 26 |
| Kaduna | 11 |
| Kano | 12 |
| Katsina | 13 |
| Kebbi | 27 |
| Kogi | 28 |
| Kwara | 14 |
| Lagos | 15 |
| Nasarawa | 36 |
| Niger | 16 |
| Ogun | 17 |
| Ondo | 18 |
| Osun | 29 |
| Oyo | 19 |
| Plateau | 20 |
| Rivers | 21 |
| Sokoto | 22 |
| Taraba | 30 |
| Yobe | 31 |
| Zamfara | 37 |
Why old sort code lists cannot be trusted
On 7 November 2018 the CBN sent a circular to every bank and to NIBSS. It told them that each branch’s sort code must carry the code of the state the branch is in, set out the table above, and said that banks which kept using another state’s code would be sanctioned.
Our list was published in October 2018, a month earlier. It showed Sterling’s Aba branch with Imo’s state code and four Onitsha branches with Enugu’s. Under the circular, codes like those had to change.
The same list is still copied around the internet, mistakes included. A code that was right for a branch before November 2018 may have been replaced since, and nobody outside the bank can tell you which ones were. A list that is mostly right is the dangerous kind, because nothing about it looks wrong.
Sterling Bank today
The bank now signs itself Sterling Bank Ltd. It belongs to Sterling Financial Holdings Company, whose shares replaced Sterling Bank’s on the Nigerian Exchange in April 2023. The holding company has a second bank, The Alternative Bank, which does non-interest banking and is separate from Sterling Bank. This page covers Sterling Bank only.
Sterling’s own history page records no merger after 2012. Its branch and ATM locator lists 131 full branches, 18 cash centres and 18 ATM-only points, each with its address. It does not show sort codes.
We have the same guide for Union Bank, Ecobank and FCMB.
Quick answers
What is the sort code for Sterling Bank in Lagos?
There is no single code for Lagos. Every branch has its own nine-digit code. A Lagos branch’s code should begin 232 and have 15 as its fourth and fifth digits.
What is the Sterling Bank sort code for Abuja or Port Harcourt?
The same applies: one code for each branch. Abuja’s state code is 08 and Rivers’ is 21, so those are the digits to expect after 232.
What about Ado Ekiti, Ikere Ekiti or Ogun State?
Ekiti’s state code is 34 and Ogun’s is 17. The rest of the code depends on the branch, so ask that branch or customer care.
Is the sort code the same as the bank code?
No. The bank code is only the first three digits. The sort code is all nine, and it differs from branch to branch.
Is the sort code the same as my account number?
No. Your account number has ten digits and is yours. The sort code has nine and belongs to the branch.
