International Bank Account Number

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The International Bank Account Number (IBAN) is an international standard for identifying bank accounts across national borders. It was originally adopted by the European Committee for Banking Standards, and was later adopted as ISO 13616:1997 and now as ISO 13616:2007. The official IBAN registrar under ISO 13616:2003 is SWIFT and the IBAN registry is currently at SWIFT.

The IBAN was developed to facilitate payments within the European Union. Customers, especially individuals and SMEs, are frequently confused by differing national standards for bank account numbers. The IBAN is not yet used for routing, because the IBAN has not been widely adopted outside Europe, among other reasons. The ECBS expects that adoption may take up to ten years, so it remains necessary to use the current ISO 9362 Bank Identifier Code system (BIC or SWIFT code) in conjunction with the BBAN or IBAN.

At present, the United States does not participate in IBAN, although in Mexico they have a similar system called the CLABE. Any adoption of the IBAN standard by U.S. banks would likely be initiated by ANSI ASC X9, the U.S. financial services standards development organization.

Currently all European non-CIS countries, as well as Israel, Tunisa, Mauritius, and Turkey participate in the IBAN system, while the rest of the world remains outside of it. British dependencies (except Gibraltar and the Crown Dependencies) don't participate in the IBAN system.

The IBAN consists of a ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code, followed by two check digits (represented by kk in the examples below), and up to thirty alphanumeric characters for the domestic bank account number, called the BBAN (Basic Bank Account Number). It is up to each country's national banking community to decide on the length of the BBAN for accounts in that country, but its length must be fixed for any given country.

The IBAN must not contain spaces when stored electronically. When printed on paper, however, the norm is to express it in groups of four characters, the last group being of variable length.

Contents

[edit] Examples

  • Andorra (24 digits) IBAN format: ADkk BBBB SSSS CCCC CCCC CCCC
B = bank code, S = sort code, C = account No.
  • Austria (20) IBAN format: ATkk BBBB BCCC CCCC CCCC
B = bank code, C = account No.
  • Belgium (16) IBAN format: BEkk BBBC CCCC CCCC
The last 12 digits represent: B = bank code, C = account No.
B = bank code, S = sort code, C = account No., K = check digits
  • Bulgaria (22) IBAN format BGkk BBBB SSSS DDCC CCCC CC
B = alphanumeric bank code (first four letters of SWIFT BIC), S = Branch (BAE) number, D = numeric account type, C = alphanumeric account No. Introduced on June 5, 2006.
  • Croatia (21) IBAN format: HRkk BBBB BBBC CCCC CCCC C
B = bank code, C = account No.
  • Cyprus (28) IBAN format: CYkk BBBS SSSS CCCC CCCC CCCC CCCC
B = bank code, S = sort code, C = account No.
B = bank code, C = account No.
  • Denmark (18) IBAN format: DKkk BBBB CCCC CCCC CC
B = bank No., C = account No.
  • Estonia (20) IBAN format: EEkk BBBB CCCC CCCC CCCK
B = bank code, C = account No., K = check digit
Same as Denmark, except for the country code.
  • Finland (18) IBAN format: FIkk BBBB BBCC CCCC CK
B = bank code, branch number and account type, C = account No., K = check digit of the Finnish account numbering scheme.
  • France (27) IBAN format: FRkk BBBB BGGG GGCC CCCC CCCC CKK
B = bank code, G = code guichet (branch), C = account No., K = clé RIB (key).
  • Germany (22) IBAN format: DEkk BBBB BBBB CCCC CCCC CC
B = sort code (Bankleitzahl/BLZ), C = account No.
  • Gibraltar (23) IBAN format: GIkk BBBB CCCC CCCC CCCC CCC
B = first part of BIC, C = account No.
  • Greece (27) IBAN format: GRkk BBB BBBB CCCC CCCC CCCC CCCC
K = check digits of the Greek account numbering scheme, B = bank code and branch number, C = account No.
  • Greenland (18) IBAN format: GLkk CCCC CCCC CCCC CC
Same as Denmark, except for the country code.
  • Hungary (28) IBAN format: HUkk BBBB BBBC CCCC CCCC CCCC CCCC
B = bank code, C = account No.
  • Iceland (26) IBAN format: ISkk BBBB CCCC CCCC XXXX XXXX XX
The first 4-digit group represents the bank code, the next two 4-digit goups represent the account and the last ten digits are the account holder's unique ID number, issued by the Bureau of Statistics.
The first 4 alphanumeric characters are the start of the SWIFT code. Then a 6 digit long sort code and an 8 digit account code follow, both numeric.
  • Israel (23) IBAN format: ILkk BBB NNN CCCCCCCCCCCCC
kk = control code 2 digits, B = bank No. 3 digits, N = branch No. 3 digits, C = account No. 13 digits (typically 6 zeroes followed by a 7 digit No.). Note: Some israeli banks have recently changed account numbers for their clients, extending them from 6 to 7 digits. You want to use the new number.
  • Italy (27) IBAN format: ITkk ABBB BBCC CCCX XXXX XXXX XXX
IT = the country code, kk are the check digits, A the CIN BBAN or CIN IT (check digit, called "Control Internal Number"), BBBBB is the ABI (bank code), CCCCC is the CAB (branch number), and the last 12 digits the account or CC.
  • Latvia (21) IBAN format: LVkk BBBB CCCC CCCC CCCC C
The first four digits are the same as the first four digits of the SWIFT code of the bank, and the 13 digits after that are the number of the individual account (and can include both letters and numbers).
Same as Switzerland except for the country code.
  • Lithuania (20) IBAN format: LTkk BBBB BCCC CCCC CCCC
B = bank code, C = account No.
  • Luxembourg (20) IBAN format: LUkk BBBC CCCC CCCC CCCC
B = bank code, C = account No.
B = bank code, C = account No., K = check digits
  • Malta (31) IBAN format: MTkk BBBB SSSS SCCC CCCC CCCC CCCC CCC
B = fist part of BIC, S = sort code, C = account No.
  • Monaco (27) IBAN format: MCkk BBBB BGGG GGCC CCCC CCCC CKK
Same as France except for the country code.
  • Montenegro (22) IBAN format: MEkk BBBC CCCC CCCC CCCC KK
kk = IBAN digit, B = Bank Code, C = Account number, KK = Check Digit.
  • Netherlands (sometimes referred to as Holland) (18) IBAN format: NLkk BBBB CCCC CCCC CC
The first 4 alphanumeric characters represent a bank and the last 10 digits an account.
  • Norway (15) IBAN format: NOkk BBBB CCCC CCK
B = bank code, C = account No., K = modulo-11 check digit
  • Poland (28) IBAN format: PLkk BBBB BBBk CCCC CCCC CCCC CCCC
B = bank code (1-3 institution ID, 4-7 branch), C = account No., kk = check digits. There are no letters in the code. The single "k" after bank code is the now redundant check digit of the former system, preserved in IBAN.
  • Portugal (25) IBAN format: PTkk BBBB BBBB CCCC CCCC CCCK K
B = bank code (1-4 bank, 5-8 branch; some banks don't identify the branch and use '0000' for digits 5-8), C = account No., K = check digits. As a matter of fact, due to the fact that Portuguese BBAN uses the same validation checksum as IBAN (ISO 7064 mod 97-10 calculation), Portuguese IBAN always start by PT50, followed by the 21-digit BBAN (or NIB, Número de Identificação Bancária).
  • Romania (24) IBAN format: ROkk BBBB CCCC CCCC CCCC CCCC
The first 4 alphanumeric characters represent the bank; according to a rule established by the Romanian National Bank, the BBBB code must be the same with the first 4 characters of the bank's identifier code. The last 16 represent the specific bank branch and an account, combined any way the bank decides (typically the first 4 among the 16 identify the branch). Some banks include the ISO 4217 currency identifier somewhere in the account name.
  • San Marino (27) IBAN format: SMkk ABBB BBCC CCCX XXXX XXXX XXX
Same as Italy except for the country code.
  • Serbia (22) IBAN format: RSkk BBBC CCCC CCCC CCCC CC
B = bank code, C = account No.
  • Slovakia (24) IBAN format: SKkk BBBB CCCC CCCC CCCC CCCC
B = bank code, C = account No.
  • Slovenia (19) IBAN format: SIkk BB BBB CCCCCCCC KK
The first 2 BB digits represent a bank, the next 3 - the branch. The last 2 digits (KK) are the check digits. IBAN check digits (kk) for Slovenia are 5 and 6.
  • Spain (24) IBAN format: ESkk BBBB GGGG KKCC CCCC CCCC
B = bank code, G=Branch/office number, K=Check digits, C = account No.
  • Sweden (24) IBAN format: SEkk BBBB CCCC CCCC CCCC CCCC
The Bs represent the bank code and the Cs the account number.
  • Switzerland (21) IBAN format: CHkk BBBB BCCC CCCC CCCC C
B = bank code, C = account No.
  • Turkey (26) IBAN format: TRkk BBBB BRCC CCCC CCCC CCCC CC
The total number of alphanumeric characters including the country code and the check digits is 26. The first 5 digits represent a bank. The next alphanumeric character, reserved for future use, is set to zero. The following 16 alphanumeric characters represent the specific bank branch and an account. The issuing start date of the Turkish IBAN was: September 1, 2005 [1].
  • Tunisia (24) IBAN format: TNkk BBBB BCCC CCCC CCCC CCCC
B = bank code, C = account No.
B = alphabetical bank code, S = sort code (often a specific branch), C = account No.

[edit] Calculating and validating IBAN checksums

The checksum is a basic ISO 7064 mod 97-10 calculation where the remainder must equal 1.

To validate the checksum:

  1. Check that the total IBAN length is correct as per the country. If not, the IBAN is invalid.
  2. Move the four initial characters to the end of the string.
  3. Replace the letters in the string with digits, expanding the string as necessary, such that A=10, B=11 and Z=35.
  4. Convert the string to an integer and mod-97 the entire number.

If the remainder is 1 you have a valid IBAN number.

To calculate the checksum, make the checksum digits 00 (e.g. GB00 for the UK), move the four initial character to the end of the string, get the remainder (mod-97) and subtract from 98.

/* Someone please check whether this is a correct transliteration of the above. Thanks. */

To calculate the checksum:

  1. Check that the total IBAN length is correct as per the country. If not, the IBAN is invalid.
  2. Make the checksum digits 00 (e.g. GB00 for the UK).
  3. Move the four initial characters to the end of the string.
  4. Replace the letters in the string with digits, expanding the string as necessary, such that A=10, B=11 and Z=35.
  5. Convert the string to an integer and mod-97 the entire number.
  6. Subtract the remainder from 98 and pad with a leading 0, if necessary.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links