How do IBANs work?
- IBANs are derived from the customer's existing Sterling and/or currency account numbers.
- Customers should ensure the use of their IBAN & BIC by specifying it on their international invoices, i.e. instead of quoting account numbers and branch detail for cross-border payments within the EU / EEA, customers MUST quote their IBAN & BIC.
- When a customer wants to make a cross-border payment, the customer will ask their bank to pay, quoting the IBAN and BIC provided by the beneficiary. The sending bank will have confidence in the IBAN after it passes the validity check. A customer should use only the IBAN & BIC to identify an account. Additional information such as bank / branch codes or account numbers should not be provided.
- The beneficiary bank will recognise the payment as destined for that country from its country code. It extracts the domestic account number from the IBAN and uses it to pay the funds to the beneficiary's account.
Find out more
If you are a NatWest corporate customer, contact your Relationship Manager.
If your turnover is more than £1m and you are not a NatWest corporate customer, contact your nearest Corporate Banking Centre - find your nearest Commercial Banking Centre
If your turnover is less than £1m, contact your local branch - visit your nearest branch.