IBAN Generator

IBAN is the International Bank Account Number, an internationally accepted standard for numbering bank customer accounts, following an ISO standard methodology for accuracy verification. Bank customers can use this unique customer account number to make or receive secure payments locally and internationally.

The International Bank Account Number (IBAN) is a 22-character code with two main components: the header and the Basic Bank Account Number (BBAN). This unique code helps identify an account number of a customer, as well as his bank. It comprises the Bank Identifier (which determines the account holding bank) and the customer account number.

In the case of Bahrain, the Bank Identifier is the first four letters of the respective bank’s SWIFT Code (BIC). The remaining part of the BBAN is the existing customer account number.

The header contains the ISO two-letter country code and the two check digits that help identify and verify the IBAN internationally. For Bahrain, the first two characters of an IBAN are always ‘BH.’ The 14-character customer account number in the IBAN contains numbers (0 to 9) and uppercase letters (A to Z) depending on the respective bank. The length and structure of BBAN vary from country to country.

The IBAN helps in improving the efficiency of electronic fund transfers. It allows banks to check the validity of the recipient, regardless of the bank or country where they maintain their account. As a result, electronic payments containing a validated IBAN could be credited faster to the recipient’s account. The usage of IBAN is seen as a way to strengthen Bahrain’s status as a leading regional financial center.

The IBAN helps ensure that your payments are made to the correct account without delay. Banks must check the IBAN’s accuracy when initiating a payment. Payments can only be carried out when the IBAN has been verified.

All customers have a corresponding IBAN for their account and each account has a unique IBAN. Bank customers who receive or make electronic payments in Bahrain or abroad use the IBAN as a unique identifier. If you have more than one bank account, you will have unique IBAN for each account.

Bank customers can use IBAN for their inter-bank domestic and cross-border electronic payments.

Each of your account numbers can be converted into IBAN format and given to you by your bank. In addition, your IBAN and bank SWIFT Code are also printed on your bank statement(s) and available as well on your online banking or mobile application.

You can use IBAN for the following domestic and cross-border payments:

• Making electronic bank payments to an account of a customer at a bank in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
• Receiving electronic bank payments from an account of a customer in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
• Making electronic bank payments to an account in a country that has adopted IBAN.
• Receiving electronic bank payments from a person in a country that has adopted IBAN.
• Receiving electronic bank payments from someone in a country that has not adopted IBAN.

Yes, the bank will accept the payment and check the accuracy of the IBAN.

The following characteristics can distinguish an IBAN:

• The IBAN is made up of 22 characters.
• A two-letter country code at the beginning of the IBAN.
• The third and fourth characters consist of two numbers, which represent the check digit.
• Four letters after the check digits that identify the respective bank where the beneficiary maintains the account.

For example, for Account Number 100000123456, the IBAN* will be BH83 BBKU 0010 0000 1234 56.

In this example, the IBAN starts with “BH” (country code for Bahrain), followed by “83” (the two check digits), “BBKU” (bank identifier, which is the first four letters of the SWIFT Code (BIC) of the bank).

*Example only. No existing customer account has this IBAN structure.

No. Your existing account number will continue to be valid. The IBAN is not a new account number but a representation of your account number in an electronically recognizable ISO standard format.

Adopting IBAN in Bahrain does not require changing or replacing the existing account numbers.

No. Aside from making and receiving international payments, you can also use the IBAN to make domestic electronic payments.

Only retail banks with customer accounts for electronic payments are authorized to generate IBAN. No other party is permitted to create IBAN for bank customers.

1. The IBAN is generated by the bank holding the account of the beneficiary (i.e., the recipient of the payment);
2. The beneficiary provides the IBAN to the paying/ordering customer;
3. The paying/ordering customer conducts an electronic fund transfer/payment order, which includes the beneficiary’s IBAN;
4. The paying/ordering customer’s bank validates the IBAN in the outward payment message;
5. After receiving the inward payment message, the beneficiary’s bank validates the IBAN and credits the money to the beneficiary’s account.

Yes, online tools are available to validate/check IBAN structures. One is the UN/CEFACT TBG5 IBAN’ validator’ of the UN/CEFACT United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business.

There are two standard ways to write an IBAN:

• When you write or print an IBAN on a document, it has to be split into groups of four characters, e.g., BH83 BBKU 0010 0000 1234 56.

• On the other hand, there should not be spaces between the characters when entering the IBAN in an electronic payment message. The IBAN should be written in an electronic payment message as a continuous string of characters, i.e., BH83BBKU00100000123456.

As of May 2022, 82 countries use IBAN. You can obtain details of the IBAN of these countries from the IBAN Registry at the SWIFT website: https://www.swift.com/standards/data-standards/iban-international-bank-account-number.