International Bank Account Number (IBAN) | 
 
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   An IBAN (International Bank Account
  Number) is a series of alphanumeric characters that uniquely identifies an
  account held at a bank anywhere in the world. The IBAN, which includes a
  country code, a bank code, and a branch and client code, assists in the
  straight through processing of payments. The Bank Identifier Code (BIC), is a
  Bank’s SWIFT address.  It enables the
  exact identification of a beneficiary bank and is used alongside the IBAN. The IBAN
  field is currently optional however, for payments sent within the European
  Union we strongly recommend that you provide an IBAN for the Beneficiary and
  a SWIFT BIC for the Beneficiary Bank to facilitate the processing of your
  payments.  If IBAN and BIC details are
  not provided, payments sent within the European Union could be returned or
  additional fees may be levied by the Receiving Bank. The
  beneficiary’s bank is responsible for generating an IBAN and providing it to
  its customers.  The beneficiary’s bank
  can also provide the appropriate SWIFT BIC. To ensure
  that the SWIFT BIC is forwarded with your payment instructions, you should
  use the bank search function and search by the appropriate SWIFT BIC to
  select the beneficiary bank information for your payment.     | 
 
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