What is an IBAN Number & How To Find It? With Examples

If you own a business and are making payments internationally, then at some point you will come across something called an "IBAN number". An International Bank Account Number, better known as an IBAN Number, is an international numbering system used to recognize bank accounts in relation to cross-border payments. Knowing your beneficiary’s IBAN is what you need to make sure your transnational payment arrives safely at its destination.

This article aims to answer all of your questions related to IBAN based on our experience in the payment services industry. We will also provide tips and tools to help you check, validate and calculate an IBAN. Without further ado, let's get into it!

What is an IBAN?

Before it was created different standards for bank account identification across countries were confusing and the source of many transaction errors.

For countries that have applied IBAN, transaction errors have been reduced to under 0.1% of the total number of transfers.

To give a little background on where the International Bank Account Number originates, it was initially implemented by the European Central Bank (ECB) for banking standards to overcome these international payment difficulties.

Initially, the system was developed to facilitate the processing of cross-border money transfers within the EU.

As banks gradually adopted it beyond the EU, it was made an international standard under ISO 13616:1997.

Currently, the scheme has been employed by most European countries and several other countries worldwide, namely in the Middle East and the Caribbean.

A complete list of these countries is provided at the end of this article.

Another 25 countries are currently conducting partial/experimental use of the IBAN system.

Many major countries do not use the IBAN system, including the USA, Canada, Australia, China, and Japan.

However, all these countries recognize the system and process IBAN payments.

How do you recognize an IBAN number?

It is a series of up to 34 characters, including both letters and numbers.

The IBAN Number is not the same as the bank account number.

Actually, it includes the bank account number, plus some more characters that identify the country and bank you’re sending money to.

The IBAN number contains:

• Two-letter country identification code
• Two check digits
• Up to 30 characters for the Basic Bank Account Number (known as BBAN). Each country decides the BBAN format to cater to its national standard for domestic payments.

Let’s have a look at what an IBAN Number looks like:

Example of French IBAN Number format

Example of UK IBAN Number format

SWIFT/BIC vs. IBAN

SWIFT/BIC and IBAN are both internationally acknowledged banking standards used for cross-border payments.

However, there are some key differences between those international transfer systems:

• The SWIFT system was created before any initial attempts to homogenize international banking transfers through IBAN. Today, SWIFT is the largest international payment system worldwide.
• The most significant difference lies in what they identify. Each IBAN pinpoints an individual account in a given bank in a given country. Each SWIFT/BIC code identifies a bank or a financial institution in an international transaction. Both information actually complements each other when a cross-border payment is made to a country participating in the IBAN system: proper routing of the transaction will be subject to providing the correct SWIFT/BIC code and IBAN in the payment details.
• Unlike BIC/SWIFT codes, IBAN codes aren’t assigned by a central organization. They are directly issued by the banks according to a format described in the IBAN Structure.
• SWIFT/BIC codes contain a mix of numbers and letters, and they are always 8 or 11 characters.
• As a result, the SWIFT/BIC code is always required to process a transaction and the IBAN information is provided to locate the beneficiary bank account in countries participating in the IBAN system.

💡Tips: When it comes to international payments, SWIFT and BIC are used interchangeably.

How do you find the IBAN number?

In order to find your IBAN number, here are the steps:

1. Check your bank statement: Your IBAN number is usually printed on your bank statement, along with your account number and sort code.
2. Check your online banking: Log in to your online banking account and navigate to the account information section. Your IBAN number should be listed there
3. Contact your bank: If you are unable to find your IBAN number using the above methods, contact your bank's customer service. They will be able to provide you with the information you need.

Make sure you have the correct IBAN number when making international transfers as any payment instructions made using the wrong IBAN will cause the payment to be delayed and rejected.

You can also expect your bank to charge a fee for the inaccurate payment.

In case you only have part of your beneficiary’s IBAN, you may want to find out the missing pieces by using an IBAN calculator.

We have tried this tool on multiple occasions, and it was reliable in providing the correct IBAN Number.

Believe it or not, it is pretty common for beneficiaries to provide their payment details with an invalid IBAN.

To do so, you can use an IBAN checker that will help you flag any potential errors.

By following these simple steps, you can easily find your IBAN number and ensure smooth international money transfers.

⚠️Disclaimer: These are external tools so we do not guarantee they will be accurate at all times. Please use them at your own discretion.

List of IBAN Numbers by Country

When is an IBAN number required?

IBAN is needed when you make a cross-border payment and the bank of your beneficiary is located in a country participating in the IBAN system.

When instructing the payment, it must be entered in the field reserved for the beneficiary’s account number, without spaces.

In addition to the IBAN number, you will need at the very least the following information to instruct the payment to your beneficiary:

• The account name
• SWIFT/BIC code

Depending on your bank you may be requested additional information such as the beneficiary’s bank name, the bank address, and the beneficiary’s address.

What happens if you used the wrong IBAN number?

If you happen to instruct an international payment with the wrong IBAN, your payment will be rejected by the beneficiary bank and your bank will also charge you a fee to retrieve it. This is why using the correct IBAN can save you both time and money in the long run.