What is an IBAN?
How the International Bank Account Number is structured, how IBAN validation differs from Verification of Payee, and why you need both to pay safely.
What is an IBAN?
An IBAN (International Bank Account Number) is the standardised way to identify a bank account for cross-border and SEPA payments. It encodes the country, a check, and the domestic account details in one string.
Validating an IBAN confirms that the number is well-formed and passes its check digits — but it says nothing about who owns the account. That is the gap Verification of Payee fills.
Verification of Payee checks whether the account holder name matches the IBAN, so a payer is not just sending to a valid account, but to the right one.
What an IBAN contains
The parts of an IBAN.
Country code
Two letters identifying the country, e.g. IT, DE, FR.
Check digits
Two digits that validate the IBAN's integrity.
Account details
The domestic bank and account number (BBAN).
Reading an IBAN, left to right
An example structure (lengths vary by country).
- 1–2
Country code
Two letters for the country, such as IT for Italy.
- 3–4
Check digits
Two digits used to validate the whole IBAN.
- 5+
BBAN
The domestic bank, branch and account number.
Why IBAN validation is not enough
Two different checks, both needed.
Validation
Confirms the IBAN is well-formed and passes its check digits.
Verification
Confirms the account holder name matches the IBAN.
Together
A valid IBAN owned by the right payee — the safe combination.
What is an IBAN?
Common questions about IBANs.
IBAN stands for International Bank Account Number, the standardised format used to identify a bank account for SEPA and cross-border payments.
An IBAN contains a two-letter country code, two check digits, and the domestic basic bank account number (BBAN) that identifies the bank and account.
No. IBAN validation only confirms the number is well-formed. Verification of Payee additionally confirms that the account holder name matches the IBAN.
Validation stops you paying to a malformed IBAN; Verification of Payee stops you paying the wrong person. Together they make a transfer both valid and correctly addressed.
Verify the name behind an IBAN
Talk to RoxPay about Verification of Payee — confirming the name matches the IBAN before you pay.