IBAN (International Bank Account Number)
A standardised international format for identifying a bank account, used across Europe and many other countries to route international payments.
Also known as: International Bank Account Number, bank account number IBAN
Last reviewed: 10 June 2026
An IBAN (International Bank Account Number) is a unique code that combines a country code, check digits, and the local bank account number into a single string of up to 34 alphanumeric characters. It is required for SEPA transfers and most European international payments, allowing banks to validate the account reference before processing.
Fraudsters in invoice scams and APP fraud rely on victims not verifying IBANs. A criminal intercepting an email thread substitutes their own IBAN into a payment instruction — the victim sees an apparently normal invoice but the money goes to the fraudster's account.
Always confirm an IBAN by calling the payee on a number you find independently, especially if the IBAN appears in an email you were not expecting. Online IBAN validators can check formatting and country plausibility but cannot confirm account ownership — only the bank can do that.