International Bank Account Number (IBAN) Account identifier in UAE

The UAE Central Bank recently launched a new account identifier called the International Bank Account Number (IBAN) to reduce errors in local and international money transfers. However, many banking customers remain clueless as to what the fuss is all about.

IBAN is a unique 23-digit long, internationally recognised code assigned to each bank account. It's nothing more than an extended version of the conventional bank account and is primarily used in payment transactions in over 50 countries in the world, including all European Union states and Arab countries like Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia.

The use of IBAN takes effect in the UAE today, which means banks now accept and process payment instructions using the new code, but it's not mandatory yet because the Central Bank has granted a three-month grace period, to allow more time for everyone to successfully transition to the new system.

Banks in the country have already provided their account holders with their IBANs. However, when Gulf News asked some customers about it, many did not know what it was for. Two out of three said they had not received their IBAN yet