International Bank Account Number (IBAN) EU use only
What is the purpose of an IBAN and BIC?
An IBAN or International Bank Account Number is your bank account number in a standard, internationally recognised format. Used with the Bank Identifier Code (BIC) it helps international payments to be processed automatically, making them faster and more secure. It also helps prevent payments being rejected, delayed in account posting processes or misapplied and for which you would likely incur further charges for.
Payments going out of your account - what's needed?
You will need an Iternational Bank Account Number (IBAN)
Mandatory use of an IBAN applies when making payments to countries in the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area (EEA) and some other countries e.g. Switzerland. It consists of a:
- Country code - to identify the country the money is going to
- Check number - this is a 2 digit number calculated by the bank issuing the IBAN and is used to validate the IBAN
- Bank code - to identify the bank
- Sort code and account number - to identify the customer the money is going to
When sending a SWIFT (International) payment the person you are sending the money to (the beneficiary) should provide you with their IBAN, which is available from their bank. The beneficiary should also be able to provide you with BIC details for their bank.
A Bank Identifier Code (BIC)
This stands for Bank Identifier Code and lets us know what bank, country and branch the payment is going to. The BIC is a universal method of identifying financial institutions in order to send overseas SWIFT payments. It is issued by SWIFT and should be used on all international payments.
The BIC consists of eight or eleven characters comprised of the following:
- Bank code - 4 alphabetic characters
- Country code - 2 letters
- Location code - 2 alphanumeric characters, except zero
- Branch code - 3 alphanumeric characters
*If you do not provide a valid BIC and IBAN (where applicable) then your payment request may be rejected as under EU legislation a receiving bank is under no obligation to take a payment without these details.
Payments coming into your account
There is no charge for receiving a payment into your account from overseas using the SWIFT payment service.
Your IBAN, BIC and SWIFT address appear at the top of your paper or online statement. You will find it directly above the list of detailed transactions
- Nationwide's IBAN format is: GB xx NAIA xxxx xxxxxxxx
Please note, when advising the person sending you money of your BIC you will need to say that there should not be any spaces in between any of the letters or numbers in it.
Nationwide's BIC is NAIAGB21, but other examples of BIC's are SABNESMM or BSABEB1085
Information needed for senders transferring within Europe
- Nationwide SWIFT address: NAIAGB21 (This number is also known as our BIC or Bank Identifier Code)
- Name of the account holder
- Sort code and account number
- SWIFT Intermediary Bank address: MIDLGB22
- * Your IBAN number (International Bank Account Number, which can be found on all statements issued after the 04 May 2004).
* If you have a passbook account please quote the IBAN number GB97NAIA07009333333334. The sender will also need to quote your full account number as additional reference section.
Information needed for senders transferring outside Europe
- The Nationwide SWIFT address: NAIAGB21 (This number is also known as our BIC or Bank Identifier Code)
- Name of the account holder
- Sort code and account number
- SWIFT Intermediary Bank MIDLGB22
To access your statement online
Log in to the Online Bank and:
- Select View accounts - tab located at the top of the page, view tab image
- Select your FlexAccount - listed under current accounts
- Select Statement archive - from the View accounts menu on the left side of the page
- Select a statement date from those listed