SEPA transfer
IBAN en BIC
An IBAN is an international bank account number. IBANs make the routing of payments within Europe quicker and easier. In the future IBANs will also be used outside Europe. The use of an IBAN is obligatory for cross-border transfers in the member states of the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA)*. Ask the person to whom you wish to send a payment for his/her IBAN. If you are expecting a payment from abroad, give the client your own IBAN. From now on, this will appear on your paper statement. You can also generate your own IBAN.
Always use IBAN and BIC
Always use an IBAN and BIC (also known as a SWIFT address) for your cross-border euro payments to EU countries. In anticipation of a genuine single European payments market, since 1 January 2006 all cross-border payments in euros within the European Union must be provided with a Bank Identifier Code (BIC) and an International Bank Account Number (IBAN). This applies to all cross-border payments in euros within the European Union, regardless of the amount or the currency code of the account to be debited. ABN AMRO will continue processing payments without an IBAN for the time being. The beneficiary's bank charges an additional processing fee for this to the originating bank. Up to August 2006, ABN AMRO absorbed these costs itself and did not pass them on to you.
Fees
Since August 2006 ABN AMRO has been applying a fee of € 7 to transfers without an IBAN. It is recommended that an IBAN should be used for all payments within the European Union. This will also prevent the payment from being rejected by the beneficiary's bank. The above has no effect on our current service in which an incorrect or missing BIC is corrected or added, which is subject to the usual supplementary charge of € 10 per transfer.
BIC list
Do you have Internet Banking? You can find the BIC list under Overview in the left-hand navigation menu of Internet Banking.
Exporters
If you're an exporter, you can easily generate your own IBAN. It is important from now on to quote your IBAN together with the ABN AMRO BIC (ABNANL2A) on all your invoices. Your client will then be able to pay you more quickly and more easily.
Importer
If you're an importer, we would advise you to make a few adjustments to how you administer your accounts payable and to replace your foreign creditors' account numbers with the corresponding IBANs. Since 1 July 2003 this has been a way of saving yourself a lot of money. You yourself can check whether a foreign supplier's IBAN is correct. You will generally find the IBAN quoted on the invoice.
