Accounts

Today, IBAN is used in 33 European countries.
The aim of IBAN is to reduce errors in money transfers made through banks in European countries and other financial institutions and defaults that result from such errors. With the help of IBAN the transferred money passes from the sender’s account to the receiver’s quickly and without error. This reduces the holding period of the transaction and its cost.

How does IBAN provide convenience for account holders?
Currently the form and length of account numbers is different for every country and every bank. As a result of this lack of standardization, customers who transfer money to another country or bank can’t be sure the accuracy of the account numbers they receive from people with whom they will be making a money transfer.

Particularly when buying and selling properties or services is at issue, there are different account numbers on the bills coming from many different sellers and this leads to the possibility of mistakes being made in the transfer process. Consequently, money transfers that made with wrong account numbers fail to go through. When the money reaches the receiving bank it is understood that the account number is faulty. To correct the faulty transactions, many different operations are required, extending processing times and increasing costs.

In countries that have adopted the IBAN system, an IBAN is assigned to every bank account and given to the account holder. The IBAN has a specific format and standard for every country. In IBAN there is a two-stage ‘control number’ that is made with a special encryption algorithm. When a customer wanting to transfer money to another country or bank gives his or her IBAN to the sender bank, the receiver accounts’ IBAN is checked in the receiver bank before the money goes to the receiving bank. If the IBAN is faulty, money will not be sent to the receiving bank and the faulty transaction will be canceled.

Usage of IBAN

Assume that Mr. Ahmet, who lives in Germany, wants to send a money order to his son, Ali, who lives in Turkey.

As Ali doesn’t know his IBAN number, he will go to his bank to learn it.

Ali tells his father his IBAN number.
After Mr. Ahmet learns the IBAN of the account to which he is sending the money order, he goes to his own bank in Germany. Mr. Ahmet gives his sons’ IBAN and tells them that he wants to send a money order to this account.

The authorized person from Mr. Ahmet’s bank will check this IBAN number to make sure that it is correct. If the given IBAN number is correct, the money transfer will be processed.
The money transfer has been conducted with correct IBAN number. When the transfer message coming from Mr. Ahmet’s bank in Germany reachs Ali’s bank in turkey, the funds that Mr. Ahmet has sent will pass to Ali’s account automatically.

IBAN uses figures and letters indicating only one account amongst bank accounts all over the world. Every account has an IBAN and an IBAN indicates only one account.
An IBAN uses a maximum of 34 figures. The first four figures of the IBAN are the country code, consisting of two digits and a control figure of another two digits. The control number shows whether the IBAN is correct and valid. Another part of the IBAN contains the national bank account number. This part can be determined by every country on condition that the maximum length of the IBAN must be 34-digits.

The IBAN length of our country has been determined as 26 digits. You can see Turkey’s IBAN form below.

The IBAN standards for some European countries are listed in the table below:

Country Length Sample Numbers
Germany	22	DE89 3704 0044 0532 0130 00
Avustria	20	AT61 1904 3002 3457 3201
Belgium	16	BE68 5390 0754 7034
Denmark	18	DK50 0040 0440 1162 43
Finland	18	FI21 1234 5600 0007 85
France	27	FR14 2004 1010 0505 0001 3M02 606
Holland	18	NL91 ABNA 0417 1643 00
England	22	GB29 NWBK 6016 1331 9268 19
Sweden	24	SE35 5000 0000 0549 1000 0003
Switzerland	21	CH39 0070 0115 2018 4917 3

Presentation of IBAN in Electronic Environment and Paper Environment

If an IBAN number is used in an electronic environment, (for example, on a computer or screen) all of the letters and figures must be written without spaces or extra spacing symbols.This kind of display is called ‘electronic display.’ The IBAN format that is printed on paper is called ‘spelling display.’ In this form, the IBAN is written as separated from the left side with 4 groups of numbers. After the numbers are written for each group, if still are remaining numbers, they are written side-by-side.

Electronic display of IBAN:

• TR5600061000 00012990022302

Spelling displaying of IBAN:

• TR56 0006 1000 0001 2990 0223 02

Usage of IBAN in Turkey

The usage of IBAN in Turkey began on September 1, 2005. All of the banks in our country produce an IBAN number for every account that is opened by customer (undated TL and currency accounta) and available for money transfers. Since September 1, 2005 banks have started to accept money orders from abroad with IBAN numbers.

Usage of IBAN for Domestic Money Transfers

In addition to money transfers sent abroad, the IBAN has been used for money transfers between banks in our country (EFT transactions) since September 1, 2005. So, from a bank or other financial institution, customers can send money orders to an account at another bank or financial institution in Turkey.

With money transfers made with IBAN there will be no need for such details as the receiver’s agency, town, etc. The transfer process can be completed with only the account number. So, as with international money transfers, in our country, EFT transactions among banks avoid the risk of delays resulting from misspellings and other errors. The use of IBAN is not obligatory for domestic or foreign money transfers. Money transfers with the normal account numbers are still possible. It is up to the receiver and sender to decide whether or not to use IBAN for money transfers.

What should customers do?

To learn the IBANs for your bank accounts, get in touch with your bank. You can only get your IBAN for your accounts from your Bank. Other people, corporations, or institutions have no right to produce IBANs for your account. To benefit from the services provided by IBAN, give your IBAN to people who will send money to your account and ask for the IBAN of people you will send money to. Write your IBAN number on documents you will give to people or institutions you trade with or transfer money to. The risk of error in money transfers made made with IBAN is extremely low. Money transfers conducted with IBAN let you send and receive sooner than money transfers made with normal account numbers. Therefore, please choose IBAN not only for international money transfers, but also for domestic money orders and EFT transactions.