For cross-border transfers, i.e. EUR transfers within the European Union and some other countries that are part of the European Economic Area, the European Committee for Banking Standards has prescribed a bank connection standard: IBAN (International Bank Account Number) and BIC (Bank Identifier Code). An up-to-date overview of countries using IBAN is available at www.ecbs.org.
IBAN Characteristics
The IBAN international account number format is based on a standard created by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The IBAN account number format contains a unified control mechanism allowing a preliminary check of account numbers before the payment transfer, thus reducing the risk of mistakes in cross-border transfers.
IBAN Structure:
- 2 country code characters
- 2 control cipher characters
- a maximum of 30 characters for the bank code and account number (different for each country)
Examples:
| Country | Czech Republic Germany |
| Account number | 1234567890/2500 53201300 BLZ 37040044 |
| Electronic IBAN format (without spaces) |
CZ9025000000001234567890 DE89370400440532013000 |
| Written IBAN format (groups of four characters each) |
CZ90 2500 0000 0012 3456 7890 DE89 3704 0044 0532 0130 00 |
BIC Characteristics
BIC (a bank's SWIFT address) enables the exact identification of a beneficiary's bank.
Use of IBAN
Payment Transfers Abroad:
IBAN will be used for payments to the countries of the European Economic Area. Your business partners, whom you pay for goods or services, should provide you with bank connection in the IBAN and BIC formats. The use of IBAN and BIC for cross-border transfers is one of the conditions for automatic processing, so called STP - Straight Through Processing. If a cross-border transfer order does not contain IBAN and BIC, the processing or beneficiary's bank can apply extra charges for non-automated processing. These charges would then be recharged to you according to Section 1 of the General Provisions of the List of Charges and Commissions for providing banking services. For this reason we recommend you ask your business partners to give you their IBAN and BIC.
The IBAN electronic format is intended for payments transferred via the LBBW Direct electronic banking systems.
IBAN must not be used for CZK transfers within the Czech Republic, or for CZK and foreign currency transfers within LBBW Bank CZ a.s.
Payments from abroad:
With the accession of the Czech Republic to the European Union, European Parliament and Council Regulation No. 2560/2001 on cross-border payments will become applicable. This regulation obliges suppliers who accept payments from the European Union and some other countries that are part of the European Economic Area to state their account numbers in the IBAN format, and include their bank's BIC, on invoices for goods or services.
Your IBAN is given on your account statement.
Your bank's BIC is SOLACZPP.
Further information on IBAN is available e.g. on the Internet pages of the Czech National Bank www.cnb.cz or the European Committee for Banking Standards www.ecbs.org. If you have any questions, please contact your bank advisor.
