If at least once in your life you had to make money transfers to European countries, then the concept of “IBAN code” is familiar to you. It must be called by the sender to complete the transfer. To find out the IBAN number, just go to any banking institution and open a current account. Employees of some financial institutions may recommend a SWIFT code to the sender, with which you can also receive a transfer. Then why is there a need for IBAN? What is it? And why is it not available at all banks?
Basic information
We have determined above that an IBAN is required to complete an international money transfer . What is it - let's find out. This code is the international current account number of an individual customer. It is drawn up in accordance with international standards for assigning numbers to accounts for EU countries and some other states.
Since 2007, this code has become the unique official identifier of the beneficiary's account through which operations are carried out to transfer funds to bank customers located in the economic zone of the European Union in any currency. Over time, other countries began to use it. Now the number of countries using the code has grown to 62. But in the Russian Federation, such a standard for an account does not exist in the banking system, and therefore banks refuse to issue it.
For Russian citizens, an IBAN account number may be required when making a money transfer to EU countries with crediting to the recipient's current account. Information regarding the code is provided by the recipient himself, having previously asked his bank about it.
Since 2007, banks have the right not to conduct money transfer operations if account numbers are not in IBAN format. But this rule applies only to cases when the transfer is made in foreign currency, and only to the benefit of a person serviced by a bank in the EU and EEC countries. Accordingly, by sending money, for example, to France without specifying an IBAN code, the sender will receive it back due to a refusal by the bank. The money will not be returned in full, as the bank will withhold the amount equal to the return commission.
Code structure
Each letter and number in IBAN carries a specific meaning. What does this mean, consider in more detail:
- the first two letters carry information about the country in which the beneficiary's bank is located;
- the next two digits indicate information about the unique IBAN, which is obtained by calculation;
- the next two digits contain information about the BIC code of the banking institution;
- the remaining digits are the client's account number inside the bank.
When is an IBAN code needed?
Its presence is mandatory when making payments and transfers in favor of persons living in the EU and EEC countries, as well as some other states that already apply a similar standard of accounts. And for money transfers to Russia, there is no need for it yet.
How to apply the code in international transactions?
Consider the case when a foreign partner sends an account to you that has a traditional account number and IBAN. When making an international payment, it is better to indicate IBAN in the order in the field designated for the beneficiary's account number. Then the payment will be faster, since it will take less time to process documents. It is worth noting that if the payment order is filled in electronically, it is recommended to enter IBAN without spaces or extra characters.
Use of IBAN number by banking institutions of the Russian Federation
Transfers in favor of a citizen of the Russian Federation are made without an indication of IBAN. To do this, just specify the SWIFT code.
An IBAN account should be indicated only for external transfers from a current account opened with a bank of the Russian Federation. And it is needed only if the payment goes to a bank located in the EU and EEA or in other countries that have also begun to apply this standard of accounts.
What identifier is used for transfers from EU countries to the accounts of Russian banks
We wrote above that if funds are transferred from the EU and EEA countries to Russian accounts, then the IBAN is not indicated in the payment order. What does it mean? This means that the sender just needs to indicate in the document that the transfer is not carried out in the EU, but outside it.
When sending money from Europe to the accounts of Russian banks, it is required to issue a payment order for external banking operations. In this case, the following kind of information should be present there:
- SWIFT code owned by the beneficiary bank;
- settlement account of the client of the recipient bank.
How to find out the details for international cash transactions?
- Information on the necessary details, which are indicated in the payment documents when conducting international transfers, are on the official websites of banking institutions.
- If you have an account opened with a banking institution in another country that has the right to establish an IBAN, for example, in Privatbank, you can find out information about the code in one of the following ways: by contacting a bank branch via the Internet banking system, or by calling the “hot line” .
- In the banking system there is such a thing as an intermediary bank. Its services can be used by banking institutions that are not able to directly perform international banking operations. For example, Alfa Bank has signed an agreement with three financial institutions in Germany so that its customers have the opportunity to transfer funds to this state. How exactly to make an international transfer, the bank staff will tell you.
International payments with Sberbank
To make international payments from any of the countries (including the EU and EEA countries) through Sberbank, the following information must be present in the payment order:
- name of the beneficiary bank;
- location of the branch that services the account;
- full name of the account holder;
- his passport details, TIN and checkpoint numbers;
- BIC, correspondent account and bank account of the recipient bank.
Perhaps additional details will be required, they can be found on the official website of the bank. Sberbank’s IBAN is not listed there, but only because it does not exist in nature yet. For international transfers, Sberbank uses only a SWIFT code, it must be called the sender of funds. Units located in different regions have a different SWIFT code. Information that is suitable for you can be found on the bank's website.
Conclusion
Having studied all the information, it became clear what is an IBAN bank, and its function in the banking system. Such a single standard of an account can make processing of payments made by banks of the EU and EEA and reduce the number of errors when specifying details, since the sending bank of funds can verify the correctness of the indicated account number before making the payment.