A A A

Home » Topics » Financial & insurances » Finances


26/01/2007

Bank transfers in the EU

 

Trivia for quiz fans

The IBAN counts max. 34 alphanumeric signs and has a fixed length per country. The Belgian IBAN counts 16 signs and comprises a country code (2 letters), a control number (2 numbers) and a domestic bank account number. Example: IBAN BE68 5390 0754 7034.

Europe already applied equal charges for withdrawals of Euro banknotes from ATMs and electronic payments with a bank card for a maximum of € 12,500 since 1 July 2002. From 1 July 2003 this also applies to all bank transfers in Euro for a maximum amount of € 12,500. And since 1 January 2006 the maximum amount has been raised to € 50,000.

Attention! You need to provide the bank with the international bank account number or IBAN of the beneficiary and the identification code (BIC or Bank Identifier Code, also referred to as S.W.I.F.T. address) of his bank.

The bank is obliged to inform you about any charges that you will have to pay and also has to provide you with its own IBAN and BIC. At the latest on 1 July 2003 your bank has to mention this information on your bank statements.

Nothing has changed for domestic bank transfers.

The charges for manual transfers are slightly different from bank to bank (usually € 0.15 to € 0.25). Most banks charge no fee for electronic transfers.