How many characters does a Bulgarian IBAN have?

22. It is made of BG, two check digits and an 18-character basic bank account number: a 4-letter bank code taken from the bank's BIC, 4 digits for the branch, 2 digits for the account type and 8 characters set by the bank.

What is the difference between an IBAN and a BIC or SWIFT code?

The IBAN identifies an account. The BIC, often called the SWIFT code, identifies a bank. For euro transfers within SEPA the IBAN is enough, while some international transfers outside SEPA also ask for the BIC.

Can a company refuse to pay to an IBAN from another EU country?

For euro transfers within the EU, no. Article 9 of Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 says a payer may not specify the member state where the payee's account is located, provided the account is reachable.

Do US dollar accounts have an IBAN?

Accounts in the United States do not use IBANs. US dollar payments to them go by ACH or wire, using a routing number and an account number instead.

Does a valid IBAN prove the account belongs to the right person?

No. The check digits only catch typing errors. For euro credit transfers, Regulation (EU) 2024/886 requires the payer's bank to offer a check that the payee's name matches the IBAN, with deadlines that depend on whether the bank's country uses the euro.

IBAN

By xChange.bg team
Published 16 September 2026

The IBAN was designed to cut the number of misrouted cross-border payments by giving every account a single, checkable format. In Bulgaria all bank accounts have had IBANs since 5 June 2006, and the same number is used for payments at home and abroad.

How an IBAN is built

Every IBAN has three parts:

Country code: two letters under the ISO standard, such as BG, DE or FR.
Check digits: two digits calculated from the rest of the number.
Basic bank account number (BBAN): a national format that identifies the bank, often the branch, and the account.

Length varies by country, up to 34 characters. On paper it is written in groups of four characters. In electronic form there are no spaces.

The Bulgarian IBAN

Under Ordinance No 13 of the Bulgarian National Bank, a Bulgarian IBAN has 22 characters:

Part	Length	In the BNB example
Country code	2 letters	BG
Check digits	2 digits	80
Bank code (first 4 letters of the BIC)	4 letters	BNBG
Branch identifier	4 digits	9661
Account type	2 digits	10
Account number set by the bank	8 characters	20345678

The characters are digits 0-9 and capital Latin letters A-Z.

How the check digits catch errors

To validate an IBAN, move the first four characters to the end, replace each letter with a number (A = 10, B = 11 up to Z = 35) and divide the resulting number by 97. A valid IBAN leaves a remainder of 1. Change the last digit of the BNB example from 8 to 9 and the remainder becomes 28, so the IBAN is rejected. Swapping the last two digits gives a remainder of 50 and is caught as well. You can run this check with the IBAN checker.

IBANs and EU payment rules

For euro payments, SEPA runs on IBANs. EU law forbids a payer or payee from demanding an account in a particular member state, as long as the account can be reached through SEPA. Regulation (EU) 2024/886 added a verification of payee service: before you authorise a euro credit transfer, your bank checks whether the name you entered matches the account holder of the IBAN and tells you if it does not.

Example

You invoice a client in the Netherlands for EUR 1,800 and give your IBAN. The client's accounting team types one digit wrong. Their banking software flags the number because the check fails, and they correct it. If they had copied a different, valid IBAN by mistake, the check digits would not help. The payee name check can then warn them that the name does not match before they confirm.

Common confusion

An IBAN is not proof of identity. It identifies an account, not its owner.
The IBAN country is where the account is held, not the nationality of the holder.
Not every account has one. US dollar accounts at US banks use routing and account numbers.

Frequently asked questions

How many characters does a Bulgarian IBAN have?: 22. It is made of BG, two check digits and an 18-character basic bank account number: a 4-letter bank code taken from the bank's BIC, 4 digits for the branch, 2 digits for the account type and 8 characters set by the bank.
What is the difference between an IBAN and a BIC or SWIFT code?: The IBAN identifies an account. The BIC, often called the SWIFT code, identifies a bank. For euro transfers within SEPA the IBAN is enough, while some international transfers outside SEPA also ask for the BIC.
Can a company refuse to pay to an IBAN from another EU country?: For euro transfers within the EU, no. Article 9 of Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 says a payer may not specify the member state where the payee's account is located, provided the account is reachable.
Do US dollar accounts have an IBAN?: Accounts in the United States do not use IBANs. US dollar payments to them go by ACH or wire, using a routing number and an account number instead.
Does a valid IBAN prove the account belongs to the right person?: No. The check digits only catch typing errors. For euro credit transfers, Regulation (EU) 2024/886 requires the payer's bank to offer a check that the payee's name matches the IBAN, with deadlines that depend on whether the bank's country uses the euro.