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IBAN stands for International Bank Account Number (IBAN). It is simply the existing account number in a format/structure that makes it internationally recognisable. It does not replace the current account number, merely presents it in a different format.
The IBAN ensures an international standard for identifying bank accounts across and within national borders, in a way that minimises the risk of propagating transcription errors. |
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The introduction of IBAN is a strategic initiative for the country driven by the Central Bank of the UAE.
Introducing IBAN will help institutions originating payment instructions to validate the account numbers prior to execution.
IBAN is currently adopted by the banks of most European countries plus a number of other countries across the world that have chosen to adopt it (See point 12 below).
Instruction originating institutions will be mandated to validate the IBAN for all domestic transactions, irrespective of the currency. |
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| The IBAN consists of 23 alpha-numeric digits, as mandated by the Central Bank of the UAE: |
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First 2 digits are the Alpha Country Code |
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3rd and 4th digits are the Check digits (generated using an algorithm based on ISO 7064:2003) |
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5th - 7th digits are the routing code of the bank |
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The final 16 digits are the Basic Bank Account Number (BBAN) |
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Example:
If the RBS bank account number is 1234, the IBAN will be
AE-XX-002-0000000000001234, where: |
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AE is the country code for UAE |
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XX is the check digit |
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002 is the routing code for RBS |
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0000000000001234 is the account number |
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The Central Bank regulation is effective from 19th November 2011, whereby all banks in the UAE are required to accept and process payment instructions with IBAN.
Consequently, all customers will be required to provide an IBAN for all instructions dated on or after 19th November 2011 when making payments from, or receiving payments to, their account.
For Wages Protection System (WPS) transactions, IBAN is effective from 31st Dec 2011. |
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| The IBAN is mandatory for all domestic payments irrespective of the currency and value. |
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All customers will receive a communication from RBS in October 2011, informing them of the IBAN implementation, together with the IBAN number(s) applicable for their account(s). If the letter has not been received, please contact our Client Services team as per the contact details given in point 13.
Please ensure that the IBAN for your account is communicated to all parties from whom you are expecting a remittance to your account.
When you are making payments within the UAE, please contact your beneficiary and request them to provide an IBAN instead of the account number. |
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| If the IBAN is not used, the processing of both inward and outward payments to and from the account is likely to be rejected or delayed. Additional processing charges may also be incurred as prescribed by the UAE Central Bank. |
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To obtain the Bank Identifier Code (BIC) or IBAN of a beneficiary, it is recommended to contact them directly. Alternatively, the beneficiary may quote their BIC and IBAN on their invoice.
If you have standing orders for effecting payments from your RBS account to beneficiary accounts held in banks within the UAE other than RBS, the account details will need to be amended and we request you to provide us the beneficiary IBAN account details as soon as possible. |
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| The IBAN should be entered in the beneficiary's account number field. |
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| Standard charges for telegraphic transfers still apply. However, if payment instructions are given without a valid IBAN, additional charges may be imposed by the sending or receiving bank, depending on which IBAN was not quoted. The sending bank charges will be debited from your account. Please note any charges from the receiving bank may differ between banks. |
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To validate the IBAN, the Central Bank has provided a tool called MYIBAN Utility. The tool enables end user validation of the IBAN. To use the tool, you will need to read the brief user guide. Both are provided below.
User Guide for the tool
Link to the tool
It is advised to use this utility to check if the IBAN provided by your beneficiaries is valid before submitting the payment requests to the bank.
Providing an invalid beneficiary IBAN may lead to delays or rejection, as well as an additional cost in processing of your outward payments.
Please note, this utility cannot verify the actual existence of the account. |
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| IBAN is mandatory in the following countries: |
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Lebanon |
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Kuwait |
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Saudi Arabia |
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In addition, the use of IBAN is standard market practice in European banks to promote efficiency in processing and enable customers to receive funds easier and faster.
If a request is given to make a payment without a valid IBAN to any of the countries listed above or below, additional charges may be imposed by the receiving bank. |
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Albania |
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Andorra |
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Austria |
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Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria |
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Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic |
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Denmark |
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Estonia |
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Faroe Islands, Finland, France |
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Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland |
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Hungary |
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Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy |
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Kazhakhstan |
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Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg |
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Macedonia, Malta, Mauritius, Monaco, Montenegro |
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Netherlands, Norway |
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Poland, Portugal |
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Romania |
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San Marino, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland |
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Tunisia, Turkey |
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United Kingdom |
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| If you have questions or require clarifications on your IBAN, you can contact us at:
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