IBAN

The International Bank Account Number: a standardised format for identifying bank accounts, designed to make international transfers reliable.

Structure:

• Country code: two letters, e.g. CH for Switzerland or FR for France.
• Check digits: two digits that validate the IBAN and catch typing errors.
• Bank code: identifies the account-holding bank.
• Branch code: in some countries, identifies the branch.
• Account number: the individual account.

Length: fixed per country: 21 characters in Switzerland, 22 in the UK, 27 in France.

Example: CH93 0076 2011 6238 5295 7.

An IBAN contains no information about the account holder's name or balance.

How IBAN compares with other bank codes