EBA EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS - The EBA’s work on virtual IBANs

Over the last few years, we have observed that some credit, payment and e-money institutions issue "virtual IBANs” (vIBANs). A vIBAN is a number/ identifier that is used by PSPs to re-route payments to a payment account (the ‘master account’). Contrary to standard IBANs, vIBANs may not contain the country code of the jurisdiction in which the master account is held.

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date: 30/04/2024

In November 2023, we launched a survey to collect information from national competent authorities on the extent of the use and issuing of vIBANs in their Member States and potential risks and supervisory challenges they associated with vIBANs. In February, we also sought input from representatives of the private sector via a round-table discussion and bi-lateral meetings to better understand how vIBANs work and why they are issued.

We will publish a report on the use of vIBANs in the EU and their impact on financial institutions and their customers in May 2024.