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When providing beneficiary account data during payment creation or during RFIs, OFIs may need to submit IBAN (International Bank Account Number) values that follow a specific format. You can validate these numbers by checking their structure, their country-specific length, and their country code against the bank country. An IBAN has 15 to 34 alphanumeric characters and follows the ISO 13616 standard. Its structure is:
  • First 2 characters: country code (uppercase letters, ISO 3166-1 alpha-2)
  • Next 2 characters: check digits (digits)
  • Remaining 11 to 30 characters: country-specific BBAN (Basic Bank Account Number), alphanumeric
IBANs are validated by their format, their country-specific length, and by matching their country code against BANK_COUNTRY.

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Country-specific length

Each IBAN-issuing country has a fixed length defined by the ISO 13616 registry. The following table lists the expected lengths: Some overseas territories use their parent country’s IBAN format:

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Cross-field validation with bank country

When both IBAN and BANK_COUNTRY are provided, the IBAN’s country code (first 2 characters) must match BANK_COUNTRY. Overseas territories resolve to their parent country before the check. For example, an IBAN starting with GG (Guernsey) is treated as GB.

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Example

The following is an example of validating the IBAN GB82WEST12345698765432: Structure
  • Country code: GB (United Kingdom)
  • Check digits: 82
  • BBAN: WEST12345698765432 (18 characters)
  • Total length: 22 (matches the fixed length for GB)
Cross-field check
  • IBAN country code: GB
  • BANK_COUNTRY: GB (matches)