IBAN

What Does IBAN Mean in a Text?

The Quick Answer

IBAN (International Bank Account Number) is an internationally agreed system for identifying bank accounts across national borders to facilitate the communication and processing of cross-border transactions with a reduced risk of transcription errors.

More Detail...

IBAN was introduced in 1997 as a unifying standard to overcome the regular routing errors caused by the existence of several bank transfer systems which did not have error checking incorporated in their design. It was originally adopted by the European Committee for Banking Standards (ECBS), and in the same year the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) formalised IBAN internationally by creating ISO 13616:1997 (with improvements following in 2003 and 2007.) IBAN consists of up to 34 alphanumeric characters, comprising a country code, two check digits and a long and detailed bank account number. It carries all the routing information needed to get a payment from one bank to another wherever it may be.

Image for IBAN

When I write IBAN, I mean this:

The image shows a typical IBAN number used to identify bank accounts.

Summary of Key Points

"International Bank Account Number" is, by far, the most common meaning for IBAN when it is used in a text. (Bear in mind that it could have another meaning if used in a different context.)

IBAN
Definition:	International Bank Account Number
Type:	Acronym
Guessability:	2: Quite easy to guess
Typical Users:	Adults and Teenagers

Examples of IBAN in Sentences

Here is an example of IBAN in a conversation:

Charlie: Hi, Tony. I am trying to pay your invoice, but I need your bank's IBAN number to transfer the funds.
Jordan: How do I find that information?
Charlie: If it is not on your bank statement you can probably Google it.

An Academic Look at IBAN

IBAN is an acronym (i.e., an abbreviation spoken like a word). Acronyms differ from initialism abbreviations, which are pronounced using their individual letters.