How an IBAN is built
Every IBAN starts the same way, and the rest depends on the country. On 13 October 2026, SWIFT's IBAN Registry held 89 national formats, from 15 characters in Norway to 33 in the Russian Federation.
- Country code: two letters, such as GB, DE or RO
- Check digits: two digits that let software catch a mistyped IBAN
- BBAN: the bank identifier, any branch identifier and the account number
- United Kingdom: 22 characters, as in GB29 NWBK 6016 1331 9268 19
- Germany: 22 characters, as in DE89 3704 0044 0532 0130 00
What EU law says about IBANs
Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 makes the IBAN the account identifier for credit transfers and direct debits in euro. A payment service provider may not require a customer to give the BIC as well. A payer or a payee may not specify the member state in which the other's account is to be located, so refusing an IBAN for its country code, known as IBAN discrimination, is not allowed.
Who can issue an IBAN
An IBAN belongs to an account at an institution with its own bank identifier: a bank, an electronic money institution or a payment institution. A fintech without one gives its customers IBANs issued by its partner, often called virtual IBANs when many of them lead to one underlying account. The country code is that of the institution issuing the account, not of the app the customer sees.
IBAN, BBAN or BIC?
- BBAN
- The national account number inside the IBAN. On its own, a BBAN serves only for domestic payments.
- BIC
- Identifies the institution, not the account.
- Sort code and account number
- The UK's domestic pair. Both sit inside a UK IBAN.
Where an IBAN shows up in a platform
Modules that do the work
- Accounts & IBANsCustomer accounts with their own IBANs, on the partner bank and the rails you choose.
- PayoutsMoney out to bank accounts, cards and wallets, on the rail that fits each payment.
- LedgerThe double-entry book of record behind every balance, fee and transfer.
Platforms that need it
Guides that go deeper
- How to launch a neobank without a banking licenceYour own e-money licence, an EMI's agent, a partner bank or a bank licence: how each route works, who holds the money, and what safeguarding and deposit protection cover.
- EMI or payment institution licence in the EU, and the agent routeWhat an e-money institution and a payment institution may do in the EU, the capital each needs, safeguarding, passporting, and launching as an agent first.
- How to build an app like Revolut: licences, launch order and one ledgerA super app is several regulated businesses behind one sign-up. The licence behind each product in the EU, UK and UAE, the order to launch them, one ledger, the Consumer Duty and app review.
Where it is written
The laws and standards this page's facts come from.
- SWIFT, International Bank Account Number (IBAN), with the ISO 13616 IBAN Registry
- ISO 13616-1:2020, International bank account number (IBAN), Part 1: Structure of the IBAN (ISO)
- Regulation (EU) No 260/2012, the SEPA Regulation, consolidated to 8 April 2024 (EUR-Lex)
General information, not legal advice: what applies to you depends on your services and your market.