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IBAN Discrimination Complaint Helper

Was your EU/EEA euro IBAN rejected by a company saying 'we only accept a local IBAN'? This may be IBAN discrimination, which is prohibited under EU law. Generate a ready complaint text below.

Updated:

Privacy: The calculation runs in your browser; the full IBAN, account number, amount and reference you enter are not sent to a server, logged or passed to analytics. Some tools may pass only a non-sensitive term (e.g. bank code, BIC, currency) to a lookup service for search/matching. Per-tool detail: Privacy.

Scope warning: this protection applies only to euro (SEPA) accounts within the EU/EEA (Regulation (EU) 260/2012, Art. 9). A Turkish IBAN or an IBAN outside the EU/EEA is not covered — because Turkey is not a SEPA member; not because discrimination is permitted, but because it is outside the scope of the regulation.

How does this tool calculate?

High — matches current official data
Method/formula used
Generation of a complaint text citing Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 260/2012 from the incident details you enter + guidance to the competent authority.
Data used
Regulation (EU) 260/2012 Art.9 + Art.10; CJEU C-28/18; European Commission IBAN discrimination guidance
Unsupported cases
  • Covers only EU/EEA euro accounts
  • A Turkish IBAN / a non-SEPA IBAN is OUT of scope
  • Not legal advice

What is IBAN discrimination?

A company or institution refusing to accept a valid EU/EEA euro IBAN and requiring "only a local IBAN" or an account/residency condition in a particular country is prohibited under EU law. Basis: Regulation (EU) No 260/2012, Article 9 ("Payment accessibility"). The Court of Justice of the European Union also confirmed this in its C-28/18 judgment.

Scope (critical)

  • The protection applies only to euro accounts within the EU/EEA.
  • Non-EU/EEA SEPA countries such as the United Kingdom and Switzerland, and Turkey (not a SEPA member), are not covered by this regulation.
  • This tool is not legal advice; it produces a ready draft text.

Where do you complain?

  • The competent national authority (in the country where the incident occurred; usually the central bank/financial supervisory authority) — European Commission IBAN discrimination page.
  • For cross-border consumer financial disputes, FIN-NET; if a public body is involved, SOLVIT.

Sources

SEPA Regulation — Regulation (EU) No 260/2012, Article 9 (Payment accessibility): a party making/accepting a euro transfer or direct debit to a payment account within the EU/EEA may not stipulate in which member state the account must be (prohibition of IBAN discrimination). Confirmed by CJEU C-28/18. Scope: EU/EEA euro accounts only — non-SEPA (e.g. Turkish) IBANs are OUT of scope.

European Union — Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 (amends 924/2009)

A
Document date:
2012-03-14
Last checked:
2026-07-17
Valid from:
2012-03-31
eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2012/260

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