IBAN

IBAN, which stands for International Bank Account Number, is the ISO 13616 international standard for numbering bank accounts. The main component of an IBAN is the Basic Bank Account Number (BBAN), which has a fixed length per country and which includes a bank identifier with a fixed position and a fixed length per country. The standard specifies both electronic and print formats of the IBAN.

IBAN Calculator

To calculate the IBAN for any bank account in Slovakia use the calculator:

IBAN structure

IBANs consists of:

• a two-letter ISO 3166 country code, followed by
• two check digits (providing the primary integrity check for the IBAN standard), and
• the BBAN, consisting of up to thirty alphanumeric characters and including the bank identifier, which uniquely identifies the financial institution servicing the account.

Since the length of the BBAN is fixed per country, the length of IBANs varies according to the country in which the account is held. In France, for example, IBANs have 27 characters; in Germany, 22 characters; in Belgium, 16 characters; and in Slovakia, 24 characters.

The principal EU legal act concerning the use of the IBAN in the European Union is Regulation (EU) 2021/1230 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 July 2021 on cross-border payments in the Union (codification). European Community country is obliged to determine the national length and structure of the IBAN by identifying the positions in which the bank identifier, account number prefix and account number are.

The “Slovak IBAN” is 24 characters long and comprises, from left to right, the following: the country code “SK”; two check digits; the four-digit bank identifier (for example, 0720, the identifier of NBS); six digits comprising zeros or the account number prefix (not longer than six digits and preceded by one or more zeros if shorter than six digits); and ten digits comprising one or more zeros plus the account number, or a ten-digit account number.

The print and electronic formats of the IBAN differ only in that the IBAN in print format shows the alphanumeric characters in groups of four separated by spaces, while the electronic format has no spaces. Neither format requires the word “IBAN” before the number.

The structure of IBANs in Slovakia is governed by NBS Decree No 8/2009 laying down the structure of domestic and international bank account numbers and details about the issuance of an identifier code converter. IBANs are assigned by payment service providers to their customers and are shown on customers’ account statements. The PSP servicing an account is required by law to provide the account holder with the account number in the IBAN format and with information about how the IBAN is used for payments. To calculate the IBAN for any bank account in Slovakia, you can use the IBAN Calculator on the NBS website.