how to use your IBAN number

The EU’s standard for bank account numbers, IBAN (International Bank Account Number), was adopted by Hungary on 1^st January, 2003. IBAN unambiguously identifies the account holding country, the bank managing the account, and the account holder. Using your IBAN together with BIC (Bank Identifier Code, also called SWIFT) you can manage your international finances swiftly and reliably.

The European Union is making significant efforts to harmonize the conditions of transactions involving the common currency. As a first step, a single international bank account number, IBAN, was introduced. IBAN, together with the international bank identifier code, BIC, standardizes the identification of banks and bank accounts, thus facilitating the automation of payment transactions.

What is IBAN?

IBAN stands for International Bank Account Number. Its length and structure may vary from country to country, but it always starts with the country’s standard ISO 1366 code. Although IBAN was originally introduced in the EEA, several non-member states followed suit (see below).

The structure of Hungarian IBANs:

1. characters 1-2: Hungary’s ISO 1366 code: HU;
2. characters 3-4: check digit;
3. characters 5-28: Hungarian GIRO account number.

What is BIC/SWIFT?

The bank identifier code identifies banks in payment transactions, and ensures that every payment finds its way to the payee’s bank. The BIC, also called SWIFT consists of 8 or 11 characters, of which characters 5-6 represent the country’s ISO code, and must be the same as characters 1-2 in the IBAN (e.g. HU for Hungary).

It is always a good idea to state the BIC/SWIFT code as specifying solely the bank’s name will always leave some room for error.

Please enter the BIC/SWIFT code of the payee’s bank in the appropriate field.

Why it is important to use the IBAN and BIC/SWIFT codes:

It is highly advisable that you state the payee’s IBAN number and their bank’s BIC number in the appropriate fields when you make payments within the European Economic Area. Otherwise you may incur extra costs, or your transfer order may get rejected altogether.

It is also important that every customer of ours – you included – informs their partners of their IBAN and K&H Bank’s BIC codes, which is OKHBHUHB.

You should also ask your partners to disclose to you their IBAN number and their bank’s BIC code.

How to find out your IBAN

• it is shown on your account statements
• you can ask any of our branches  
• you can ask our help desk (K&H TeleCenter, K&H Cégvonal or K&H Corporate Help Desk)

How to use the IBAN number

When you submit a foreign-currency transfer order on paper or electronically, state the payee’s IBAN in the relevant field.

The IBAN needs to be written without any spaces or hyphens, with nothing else added to it (e.g. a reference to ‘IBAN’).

If you want to check whether the IBAN disclosed to you by your partner fits their country’s standard structure, please visit our website for help.

More information

Members of the European Economic Area – EEA:

The 27 EU member states (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom) as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.