Multi-country IBAN Generator

Multi-country IBAN: format differences, SEPA scope and how cross-border payments actually flow

An IBAN (International Bank Account Number) is the global format defined by ISO 13616 for identifying bank accounts across borders. Despite the name "International", the structure of each IBAN is country-specific: the prefix (2-letter country code + 2 check digits) is universal, but the BBAN — the domestic part that follows — has a different layout in every country, ranging from 11 to 30 alphanumeric characters. This page generates valid IBANs for ten common countries; here we explain how each one is built and where IBAN actually matters.

Per-country IBAN layouts

• Brazil (BR), 29 chars: BRkk + 8 bank + 5 branch + 10 account + 1 account type + 1 owner letter.
• Portugal (PT), 25 chars: PTkk + 4 bank + 4 branch + 11 account + 2 NIB check digits.
• Germany (DE), 22 chars: DEkk + 8 Bankleitzahl + 10 account.
• United Kingdom (GB), 22 chars: GBkk + 4 bank ID + 6 sort code + 8 account.
• France (FR), 27 chars: FRkk + 5 bank + 5 branch (guichet) + 11 account + 2 RIB key.
• Spain (ES), 24 chars: ESkk + 4 bank + 4 branch + 2 control + 10 account.
• Italy (IT), 27 chars: ITkk + 1 CIN letter + 5 ABI bank + 5 CAB branch + 12 account.
• Netherlands (NL), 18 chars: NLkk + 4-letter BIC + 10 account.
• Switzerland (CH), 21 chars: CHkk + 5 bank + 12 account.
• Belgium (BE), 16 chars: BEkk + 3 bank + 7 account + 2 control digits.

SEPA and TARGET2 — the payment rails behind IBAN

SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) covers 36 European countries — all 27 EU members plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, the UK, Monaco, San Marino, Andorra and Vatican City. Inside SEPA, any euro transfer between IBANs must be priced as a domestic transfer (Regulation EU 924/2009). Underneath, TARGET2 — operated by the European Central Bank — is the real-time gross settlement system that clears most cross-border euro payments. SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (SCT Inst) settles in under 10 seconds, 24/7.

Outside SEPA, IBAN still works but is paired with a SWIFT/BIC code (8 or 11 alphanumerics, e.g. CHASUS33XXX) that identifies the destination bank in the SWIFT network. A correspondent-banking transfer chains together two or three banks and takes 1–5 business days, with each correspondent charging an FX margin.

Open Banking and PSD2

The EU's PSD2 directive (in force since 2018, with PSD3 coming) requires banks to expose APIs for account information (AIS) and payment initiation (PIS). Both APIs use IBAN as the primary key. Fintechs like Wise, Revolut, N26 and Monese issue IBANs to their customers — most are Lithuanian or Belgian IBANs because of the local e-money licence regimes — and route inbound SEPA payments using these IBANs without operating a traditional branch network.

Sanctions screening and AML

Every IBAN involved in a cross-border payment is screened against sanctions lists: OFAC SDN (US Treasury), the EU consolidated sanctions list, the UN Security Council list and various national lists. A hit triggers manual review or rejection. Compliance is mandatory under EU AML Directives (currently AMLD6) and equivalent national regimes. The country code prefix of an IBAN is a cheap first-pass signal — a payment to IR.. (Iran), KP.. (North Korea) or SY.. (Syria) will almost certainly fail.

When NOT to use IBAN

The United States does not use IBAN at all. Domestic transfers run on ABA routing numbers and ACH; international receipts use the SWIFT BIC plus a domestic account number. The UK still uses IBAN for SEPA but most domestic transfers go through Faster Payments using a sort code + account number. Brazil adopted ISO 13616 in 2013 but inland transfers go through TED, DOC or Pix; IBAN is requested only for inbound foreign remittance, and many Brazilian banks still prefer the older "favored account" format with SWIFT BIC.

Frequently asked questions

Does Brazil have an IBAN? Technically yes — BR joined ISO 13616 in 2013 and IBANs exist for every Brazilian account — but in practice nobody uses it domestically. You will only encounter a Brazilian IBAN when receiving money from abroad, and even then half of the banks will still ask for the old account/agency/SWIFT-BIC tuple.

Is Brazil part of SEPA? No. SEPA is strictly European. A euro payment from Germany to Brazil is a SWIFT correspondent transfer, not a SEPA transfer — expect 1–3 business days and FX charges.

Are sanctions checks mandatory on every IBAN payment? Yes, for any payment touching an EU, UK, US or Swiss bank. The screening is done automatically by the bank's AML system; the customer rarely sees it unless there is a hit.

Can I use these mock IBANs in production? No. They pass the ISO 7064 mod-97 check digit and obey per-country length rules, but they are not allocated to any real customer. Use them for unit tests, seed data and sandbox API calls only.

Why do Revolut and Wise issue Lithuanian or Belgian IBANs? Both fintechs hold e-money licences in those jurisdictions; under PSD2 a licence in any EU member state is sufficient to passport services across the SEPA area, so they can offer pan-European IBAN accounts without 27 separate banking licences.