International Bank Account Number (IBAN)

What is the IBAN?

The IBAN (International Bank Account Number) is a standardized and electronically recognizable format of a Bank Account which has been established by the European Committee for Banking Standards (ECBS). Any account held at a bank may be transposed into IBAN.

What is the purpose of the IBAN?

The aim of the IBAN is to facilitate the automatic processing of cross-border credit transfers. The IBAN provides the means for the automatic capture and validation of account numbers which minimizes the possibility of problems arising from the incorrect and incomplete data in cross border transfer orders.

How can I be informed of my acount’s IBAN?

The bank servicing your account can provide the correct IBAN of that account.

What is the process to be followed after obtaining IBAN?

In order to receive a cross border credit transfer you should forward the IBAN of your account to the ordering customer who will then submit it with the cross border credit transfer order to his Bank.

How is the IBAN constructed?

The IBAN has a maximum of 34 alphanumeric characters. The Cyprus IBAN has a length of 28 characters.

• The first two numbers consists of the ISO country code (CY for Cyprus)
• The next two characters are the check digits that verify the IBAN
• The last part of IBAN consists of the Basic Bank Account Number (BBAN) comprising the code of the Bank, the branch and the account number

Since when is the use of IBAN compulsory?

The use of IBAN for cross border payments has been adopted by the European Union on 1.1.2002 following the decision of the European Parliament which was made known to the European Commission and the European Central bank. This was also in accordance with the relevant undertaking of the European Banking Association. According to European Regulation, the structure and use of the accounts with the IBAN (International Bank Account Number) standards is obligatory for both domestic and cross border transfers.

What are the advantages of using the ΙΒΑΝ?

At the same time, it achieves:

• The standardization of bank accounts
• Identification of the correctness of Bank accounts
• The verification of the correctness of Bank accounts
• Improvement in the servicing of customers
• Automation of transaction processing (STP)
• Reduction of human errors
• Speed in executing transactions
• Reduction in the cost of processing transactions