IBAN
IBAN stands for International Bank Account Number and is a number attached to all accounts in the EU countries plus Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Iceland. The IBAN is made up of a code that identifies the country the account belongs to, the account holder's bank and the account number itself. The IBAN makes it easier and faster to process cross-border payments. Why use the IBAN?
The IBAN makes automatic processing of cross-border payments easier and enables the bank to check, immediately upon receipt, whether the account numbers are correct. This ensures a fast credit to the account. At the same time, you avoid fees for manual processing of transfers.

How an IBAN is constructed
The IBAN is an international standard (ISO 13616). The number comprises maximum 34 alphanumerical characters, which are structured as follows:
  • Two letters representing the home country of the account-holding bank (ISO 3166 country code with two letters, e.g. IE for Ireland)
  • Two numbers that are a control key
  • Maximum of 30 alphanumeric characters that identify the bank and the ordinary account number
An IBAN in Northern Bank consists of 22 characters, which comprise the ISO country code + control key + sort code + the ordinary account number of 8 digits.

Example of the IBAN in Northern Bank
Here is an example of how an IBAN is constructed for a fictional Northern Bank account with sort code 950121 and account number 12345678:
Country codeControl No.Sort codeAccount No.
GB08DABA95012112345678


Importers and the IBAN
Ask your foreign supplier to notify you of its IBAN so that you can write it on the payment orders that you send via Northern Bank. If your supplier lives in the EU, the IBAN must appear on its invoices.

Exporters and the IBAN
The IBAN must appear on your invoices so that your foreign customers can write it on the payment orders to you.


How do you get an IBAN?
The bank assigns an IBAN to each of your accounts. You cannot automatically calculate an IBAN yourself, as each bank might have different methods of registering their account numbers in the IBAN. The IBAN appears on account statements and in the bank's online systems.

List of Countries with Mandatory IBAN for Euro payments from 1 January 2007
CountryExample of IBAN construction
Austria AT611904300234573278
BelgiumBE65539007547034
BulgariaBG80BNBG96611020345678
CyprusCY17002001280000001200527600
Czech RepublicCZ6508000000192000145399
Denmark DK5000400440116243
EstoniaEE382200221020145685
Finland FI2112345600000786
France FR1420041010050500013M02607
GermanyDE89370400440532013087
Greece GR1601101250000000012300695
HungaryHU42117730161111101800000000
IcelandIS140159260076545510730339
Ireland IE08DABA95150112345678
Italy IT60X0542811101000000123332
LatviaLV80BANK0000435195001
Liechtenstein LI9300762011623852957
LithuaniaLT121000011101001000
Luxembourg LU280019400644750000
MaltaMT84MALT011000012345MTLCAST001S
NetherlandsNL91ABNA0417164299
Norway NO9386011117946
PolandPL61109010140000071219812874
Portugal PT50000201231234567890154
RomaniaRO49AAAA1B31007593840000
SlovakiaSK3112000000198742637541
SloveniaSI56191000000123438
SpainES9121000418450200051322
SwedenSE3550000000054910000008
Switzerland CH9300762011623852957
UKGB29DABA95012112345678


Other Countries that require IBAN

AndorraAD1200012030200359100100
Tunisia TN5914207207100707129648
TurkeyTR330006100519785467851327

Please note that the accounts listed above are fictional and are for illustrative purposes only.



Is your IBAN valid?
Here you can check whether an IBAN is valid.

This check will NOT confirm that the bank account exists, simply that the format of the IBAN conforms to the required standard for the bank and country.

Key in the IBAN and press the Check button.





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