Which Bank Does an IBAN Belong To?

"Which bank does this IBAN belong to?" is often asked before making a payment or to make sense of an incoming transfer. The answer varies by country, because the bank information inside the IBAN (the BBAN) has a different structure from country to country. In this guide we explain in which situations finding the bank from the IBAN is possible.

German IBAN: finding the bank with the BLZ

Germany is one of the countries where it is easiest to find the bank from the IBAN. The German IBAN is 22 characters, and digits 5–12 inside it are the 8-digit Bankleitzahl (BLZ), i.e. the bank code. This BLZ directly identifies the bank. To find the bank name and BIC from the BLZ, you can use the German IBAN parser or the BLZ lookup tool. This data is based on the Bundesbank (Germany's central bank) BLZ list.

Other countries

Many countries' IBANs also contain a bank code; however, converting this code into a bank name requires a database specific to that country. Because this site has a comprehensive German BLZ database, the most detailed bank parsing is possible for German IBANs. In other countries, even if the bank code appears in the IBAN, unknown codes are treated as "Not verified"; no guessing is done.

Turkish IBAN

A Turkish IBAN is 26 characters and contains a 5-digit bank code; this code indicates the bank. However, because this site does not have a comprehensive Turkish bank-code database, parsing is limited and unknown codes are shown as "Not verified".

An important reminder

Being able to find the bank from an IBAN does not show that the account actually exists or is active. The bank information is only extracted from the structure of the IBAN. Always confirm the recipient's details from a trusted source and, before sending, check the IBAN with the IBAN validation tool.

Summary

Finding the bank from an IBAN depends on the country. In Germany, thanks to the BLZ inside the IBAN, the bank and BIC can be found easily; in other countries parsing may be more limited. The bank information does not prove that the account is active; always confirm the recipient's details.