IBAN Number Format by SEPA Country

We have already covered the IBAN Number in the post SEPA: IBAN & BIC – The Definitive Guide. The purpose of this post is to give you a quick snapshot of the IBAN number format by SEPA country. In short, the IBAN is the International Bank Account Number – it is a globally agreed way of identifying account numbers. The international organisation for standardisation (ISO) has defined the IBAN structure under ISO 13616-1:2007, and SWIFT is the IBAN registration authority.

Interesting IBAN Number Info:

According to the SWIFT IBAN Registry as at January 2015:

• 66 countries were using the IBAN format
• Norway has the shortest IBAN at 15 characters
• Malta has the longest IBAN at 31 characters

I need to get out more…..!!

SEPA and the IBAN Number:

From a SEPA perspective the IBAN number is important because the SEPA Regulation [EU No 260/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2012] states the IBAN should be used in place of the traditionally used BBAN (country specific basic bank account number) to identify unambiguously an account.

Unless otherwise stated, the information in this post references the SWIFT IBAN Registry.

IBAN Number Structure:

The IBAN structure consists of:

• A 2 letter country code – defined under ISO 3166
• 2 check digit – defined under ISO/IEC 7064
• Up to 30 alpha-numeric characters – which is made up of the Basic Bank Account Number (BBAN)
  • The BBAN number indicates an account at a bank in a particular country – it is typically made up of a bank identifier, sort code and account number
• For example – AB12123456789012345678901234567890 – is obviously made up, but if it was valid would consist of:
  • Country Code Value: AB
  • Check Digit Value: 12
  • BBAN Value: 123456789012345678901234567890

To help illustrate the components I have indicated the following colours the Country, Check Digit and BBAN structure below…..

IBAN Number by SEPA Country (Eurozone Countries only!):

Austria IBAN Number:

• IBAN Structure: AT2!n5!n11!n
• IBAN Length: 20
• IBAN Example: AT121234512345678901

Belgium IBAN Number:

• IBAN Structure: BE2!n3!n7!n2!n
• IBAN Length: 16
• IBAN Example: BE12123123456712

Bulgaria IBAN Number:

• IBAN Structure: BG2!n4!a4!n2!n8!c
• IBAN Length: 22
• IBAN Example: BG12ABCD12341212345678

Cyprus IBAN Number:

• IBAN Structure: CY2!n3!n5!n16!c
• IBAN Length: 28
• IBAN Example: CY12123123451234567890123456

Czech Republic IBAN Number:

• IBAN Structure: CZ2!n4!n6!n10!n
• IBAN Length: 24
• IBAN Example: CZ1212341234561234567890

Denmark IBAN Number:

• IBAN Structure: DK2!n4!n9!n1!n
• IBAN Length: 18
• IBAN Example: DK1212341234567891

Estonia IBAN Number:

• IBAN Structure: EE2!n2!n2!n11!n1!n
• IBAN Length: 20
• IBAN Example: EE121212123456789011

Finland IBAN Number:

• IBAN Structure: FI2!n6!n7!n1!n
• IBAN Length: 18
• IBAN Example: FI1212345612345671

France IBAN Number:

• IBAN Structure: FR2!n5!n5!n11!c2!n
• IBAN Length: 27
• IBAN Example: FR1212345123451234567890112

Germany IBAN Number:

• IBAN Structure: DE2!n8!n10!n
• IBAN Length: 22
• IBAN Example: DE12123456781234567890

Greece IBAN Number:

• IBAN Structure: GR2!n3!n4!n16!n
• IBAN Length: 27
• IBAN Example: GR1212312341234567890123456

Ireland IBAN Number:

• IBAN Structure: IE2!n4!a6!n8!n
• IBAN Length: 22
• IBAN Example: IE12ABCD12345612345678

Italy IBAN Number:

• IBAN Structure: IT2!n1!a5!n5!n12!c
• IBAN Length: 27
• IBAN Example: IT12A1234512345123456789012

Latvia IBAN Number:

• IBAN Structure: LV2!n4!a13!c
• IBAN Length: 21
• IBAN Example: LV12ABCD1234567890123

Lithuania IBAN Number:

• IBAN Structure: LT2!n5!n11!n
• IBAN Length: 20
• IBAN Example: LT121234512345678901

Luxembourg IBAN Number:

• IBAN Structure: LU2!n3!n13!n
• IBAN Length: 20
• IBAN Example: LU121231234567890123

Malta IBAN Number:

• IBAN Structure: MT2!n4!a5!n18!c
• IBAN Length: 31
• IBAN Example: MT12ABCD12345123456789012345678

The Netherlands IBAN Number:

• IBAN Structure: NL2!n4!a10!n
• IBAN Length: 18
• IBAN Example: NL12ABCD1234567890

Portugal IBAN Number:

• IBAN Structure: PT2!n4!n4!n11!n2!n
• IBAN Length: 25
• IBAN Example: PT12123412341234567890112

Slovakia IBAN Number:

• IBAN Structure: SK2!n4!n6!n10!n
• IBAN Length: 24
• IBAN Example: SK1212341234561234567890

Slovenia IBAN Number:

• IBAN Structure: SI2!n5!n8!n2!n
• IBAN Length: 19
• IBAN Example: SI12123451234567812

Spain IBAN Number:

• IBAN Structure: ES2!n4!n4!n1!n1!n10!n
• IBAN Length: 24
• IBAN Example: ES1212341234111234567890

 

This is only a guide, and obviously the above IBAN examples are made up. The purpose here is to give you an overview of what the IBAN number for a given SEPA country should look like. Please check and validate any ‘real’ IBAN numbers through your bank or an external provider. As you can see this post will not tell you how to validate an IBAN number – for that there are many solutions that will enable your submitted SEPA Credit Transfers / SEPA Direct Debits to straight-through-process (STP). You need to work out which solution, if one is required, is right for you. You may even choose to go the traditional way of asking your supplier/customer – but as we all know sometimes they may give you the wrong IBAN number or it may be entered into your system incorrectly. Nothing is straight forward, eh?

Anyway, this post should at least give you an idea of what the IBAN number format is and what the IBAN you have ought to look like by SEPA country. I hope that helps!