International Bank Account Number in Pakistan

When can customers use IBAN in Pakistan?
By 30th June 2013, customers can use IBAN for payments in Pakistan.

What is the IBAN?
IBAN is the acronym for ISO 13616 standard compliant International Bank Account Number. It is new format of existing account number which can be used confidently in making or receiving payments (currently excluding Cheques) within the country as well as abroad. The confidence comes from two sources: the first is the internationally accepted standard for numbering bank customer accounts and the second is the ISO standard methodology for verifying the accuracy of the IBAN even before remitting the payment. An IBAN contains information relating to the country in which the IBAN was issued and where the IBAN account is held, bank code of account holder's bank as well as the account number itself. An IBAN contains information relating to the country, bank of the beneficiary as well as the account number itself. Formation of IBAN in Pakistan is a composition of 24 alpha-numeric characters.

What is benefit of IBAN?
IBAN facilitate accuracy and validation of account number of the recipient at the point of initiating a payment, regardless of the bank/country where customer maintains his/her account. It allows exchanging account identification details in machine readable form, hence ensure faster and more reliable electronic customer fund transfers while minimizing risk of delays.

What is the difference between an IBAN and a normal account number?
An IBAN can be distinguished from a normal account number using the following:

- Two letters at the beginning of the IBAN, which refer to the country code where the account resides
- Two numbers (in the third and fourth position of the IBAN), which represent the check digit
- Four characters (after the check digits) to identify the respective bank where the beneficiary maintains his/her account
- The length of the IBAN is 24 characters.

What are the benefits of IBAN versus a normal account number?
The main benefit of IBAN versus a normal account number is that it increases the efficiency of electronic funds transfers.

- A bank account standard across Pakistan will bring more efficiency in payment processing by enabling the payments\clearing systems to electronically validate account numbers and to decide the route a payment should take without manual intervention.
- Elimination of delays in credit transfers originating from IBAN compliant countries to Pakistan as same are delayed, sometimes for several days due to manual intervention required for sending credit transfers to non IBAN compliant account numbers.
- IBAN implementation will help in bringing more efficiency in remittance related transactions as a significant percentage of these transactions are rejected due to inaccurate account numbers information. Account validation at remitting institution due to IBAN’s check digit mechanism will significantly reduce errors related to account numbers.

What can I use IBAN for?
IBAN can be used for the following local and international payments after June 30, 2013:

Making a fund transfer (through a bank) to an account at a bank in Pakistan;
Making a payment (through a bank) to an account in a country that has adopted IBAN;
Receiving a fund transfer (through a bank) from an account at a bank in Pakistan;
Receiving a fund transfer (through a bank) from an account in a country that has adopted IBAN; and
Receiving a fund transfer (through a bank) from an account in a country that has not adopted IBAN.

Validate an International Bank Account Number structure and length, identify the bank owning this account, BIC code and address at IBAN checker.

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