• What is IBAN?
• Who will need IBANs?
• What does an IBAN look like?
• IBAN Payment Flow
• Countries Implementing IBAN
• Where can I obtain my IBAN from Bank of Ireland ?
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Download PDF Brochure

What is IBAN?

IBAN stands for International Bank Account Number. An IBAN is not a new account number, but simply a new format for an existing bank account number that will be recognised internationally. It has been developed by the European Committee for Banking Standards to improve the efficiency of cross-border payments with regard to speed, quality and cost.

The IBAN is being introduced in Europe to facilitate the automatic processing of cross-border payments. IBANs include all the necessary details for a receiving bank to apply the payment directly to a beneficiary's bank account without any manual intervention. An IBAN contains information relating to the country, bank and branch of the beneficiary as well as the account number itself.

A comparison with a telephone number can help illustrate this. For local calls the basic phone number is sufficient, for international calls the country and area code are required. Similarly with payments, the basic account number can be used domestically, but the IBAN should be used for international payments.

Who will need IBANs?

From January 2002, individuals and companies either making or receiving cross-border payments in Europe can use IBANs. Those making payments will need to quote the IBAN plus Bank Identifier Code (BIC) of the beneficiary on their payment instructions. Receivers of payments from abroad are likely to be asked for their IBAN by those making payments to them, and so will need to know what the IBAN for their receiving account is. This will be made available by their bank. The BIC for Bank of Ireland is BOFIIE2D for the Republic of Ireland. Payment instructions containing an IBAN should also contain the BIC of the receiving bank.

What does an IBAN look like?

The following is an example of an IBAN for an Irish bank account:

IE99 BOFI 9014 9012 3456 78

This IBAN is constructed as follows:

The check digits are simply a pair of numbers that permit the arithmetical validation of any IBAN. Details of how this is calculated are readily available, but would not be practical in this communication.

The branch sort code and your account number are part of the IBAN.

Irish IBANs will always contain 22 characters and be in the above format. The length and composition of IBANs can vary from country to country due to the different domestic clearing and account numbering systems. 34 is the maximum number of characters for any IBAN.

IBAN Payment Flow

1. Account holding bank issues IBAN to receiving customer.
2. Beneficiary of payment gives details of IBAN & BIC to paying customer.
3. Paying customer gives sending bank instructions which include IBAN & BIC.
4. Sending bank validates IBAN and sends payment to beneficiary bank for credit to beneficiary's account.

This will then hopefully pave the way for a fast, effective and keenly priced cross-border payments service in Europe.

Countries Implementing IBAN

• Austria
• Belgium
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Italy
• Luxembourg
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• United Kingdom

Where can I obtain my IBAN from Bank of Ireland ?

Your IBAN is available from your branch or printed on the top right hand corner of your current account statement.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q.Will IBAN replace my existing bank account number?

A. No. The IBAN will be a way of representing existing account numbers in a recognisable format across Europe. An IBAN will contain additional characters in front of the account number including the country code, a two-digit validation number and part of the BIC.

Q.Why will I as a customer benefit from using IBANs?

A. IBANs on outgoing cross-border payments will be validated by Bank of Ireland prior to sending them to the foreign bank. This will ensure that the IBAN is arithmetically correct, and when used in conjunction with the BIC code of the beneficiary bank will facilitate the straight through processing (STP) of the payment and get it to its destination with the minimum of delay.

Q.When will IBANs be used in Europe?

A. Some banks in Europe have already started to give their customers IBANs. Most banks will be using IBANs by January 1st 2002. Irish banks are in a position to make IBANs available to their customers from the end of September 2001.

Q.Will I need an IBAN if I am making or receiving a payment to or from a country outside the EU e.g. USA or Japan?

A. IBANs will be optional for payment messages originating from or going to non-EU countries. The IBAN, while a worldwide standard, is being introduced in Europe from January 1st 2002.

Q.Is IBAN connected with the changeover to the euro?

A. While not directly linked to the changeover to the euro, the IBAN should ease the straight through processing of cross- border payments in Europe. Such payments could increase with the changeover to the euro and therefore the introduction of IBAN is well-timed.

Q.Who will use IBAN?

A. Anyone making or receiving cross-border payments within Europe, whether personal or business, can benefit from the introduction of IBAN.

Q.I make payments to Europe on a regular basis. What should I do about IBAN?

A. If you receive an invoice containing an IBAN, which requests you to direct payments to the IBAN-numbered account, you should quote the IBAN in the account number field of the Interpay application form. You should also quote the BIC code of the receiving bank on the form. If your invoice does not contain an IBAN you should contact your supplier and ask him to provide you with his IBAN + BIC. This will improve the efficiency of making the payment and eliminate unnecessary delays.

Q.I am based in the Republic of Ireland and I currently receive payments from Europe on a regular basis. What should I do about IBAN?

A. If you receive payments from Europe it is important that you include your IBAN on invoices and request your customers to make payments to your IBAN account number. As they will also need your bank's BIC code in order to make the payment you should include Bank of Ireland's BIC code (BOFIIE2D) on all your invoices.

Q.When will Bank of Ireland start validating IBANs on outgoing payments?

A. Bank of Ireland and all other Irish banks will be validating all IBANs on outgoing payments by January 1st 2002 in line with other EU countries.

Download PDF Brochure

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