The IBAN, the series of numbers that identify our bank account in the bank, has a meaning that not everyone knows. Nothing is random: the string of figures hides more information than is believed. Its widespread use can make us lower our guard and cause a scare, although it is very difficult for it to happen.
With the IBAN you can make transfers, it is used to domicile income -such as payroll- and payments -such as electricity bills-, in the second case with prior authorization.
IBAN stands for International Bank Account Number, or international bank account code. There are 24 letters (2) and numbers (22). The first two letters refer to the country. In the case of Spain, they are the letters ES. It is followed by two "control digits" (DC), "which validate the entire IBAN", as explained in the Bank of Spain's Banking Client Portal. These check digits "serve to detect cases in which any of the characters has been omitted, duplicated or written by mistake".
This is followed by 20 numbers that are the code of the client's account itself.
The first four identify the entity, and are assigned by the Bank of Spain. As an example, CaixaBank's is 2100, BBVA's is 0182, Santander's is 0049, Sabadell's is 0081 and Bankinter's is 0128.
The number with which the identification of the entity begins hides what type of entity it is: if it is a 0 or a 1, it is a bank; if it is a 2 a savings bank; a 3 identifies the credit union; with 6 financial credit institutions and payment institutions; with 17 currency buying and selling establishments; with 43 and 44 appraisal companies and with 98 mutual guarantee companies.
The next four identify the code of the customer's bank office or branch.
This is followed by two other control numbers (DC) and ten figures that represent "the account number itself". In this way, the entire IBAN is completed.
An IBAN, in the European standard, cannot exceed 34 characters between figures and letters. In France they have 27, more than in Spain, while in Germany they are less, 22. The IBAN system is currently used in about eighty countries.
"Sharing the data of your bank account does not imply risks", they explain from the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU). "Normally you will provide the IBAN when someone has to send you a transfer and with that information the only thing they can do is deposit money", it is added. Having it does not imply that you can enter the account, since you will need the username, the access password and complete some additional security method, such as an SMS.
There may be a situation where someone who knows our IBAN puts it on a direct debit -gives it to a company to deduct payments for electricity, insurance, rent...- and they charge us outside costs. "This makes little sense, since the person will be identified and you could report him and claim the money, unless he has acted under a false identity," they point out in any case from the OCU.
To cure yourself of scares, there are a series of tricks to avoid problems. First, don't let too much time go by without reviewing account movements, returning direct debits that don't add up to us - the regulations give a margin of eight weeks to do so - and "if your entity charges you a receipt without you having signed an authorization prior, it is considered an unauthorized payment operation and you can claim a refund up to thirteen months from the date of the charge", they point out from the consumer organization.
