How to find your IBAN in Pakistan: banks, Easypaisa, SadaPay

Scholarship forms, salary forms, refund claims and payments from abroad all ask for an IBAN. In Pakistan the IBAN is not a new account: it is your existing account number written in an international format, which the State Bank of Pakistan made every bank issue from 2012. This page explains what the 24 characters mean and how to find yours at the main banks and wallets, using each bank’s own page.

What a Pakistani IBAN looks like

MCB’s explanation, following the ISO 13616 standard, is the clearest: 24 characters made of a two-letter country code, PK; two check digits; a four-letter bank code taken from the bank’s SWIFT code; and a 16-digit account number. Its example turns account 0646609971000177 into PK24 MUCB 0646 6099 7100 0177. MCB adds that IBAN is “a new format for an existing account number, not a new account number”, and UBL says the same.

The two check digits are calculated from the rest of the number, so a single wrong character makes the IBAN invalid. That is useful: a mistyped IBAN is usually rejected by the bank rather than paid to someone else. Meezan’s page shows that some banks fit a branch code inside the account part; you never need to build an IBAN by hand, because every bank gives it to you.

Getting your IBAN from a bank

• Any bank: it is printed on your account statement. Meezan says it appears on the statements sent every six months.
• Allied Bank: the IBAN page on abl.com asks for your 16-digit account number and shows the IBAN at once.
• Bank Alfalah: bankalfalah.com/iban generates it from your account number.
• Meezan Bank: its website has a generator for Meezan accounts only.
• HBL: the IBAN converter on HBL’s remittance site takes your account number and returns the IBAN and account title.
• UBL: its page says to call 021-111-825-888 to get your IBAN, or ask at the branch.
• Standard Chartered: the bank code finder on sc.com/pk explains the format and shows a sample.

Getting your IBAN from a wallet

• Easypaisa: its FAQ says to go to “Account settings” and tap “Account Information” to see your IBAN, and that tapping the number copies it.
• SadaPay: tap the blue “Load Money” button on the home screen; the account number is under “Receive local transfers” and the IBAN under “Receive international transfers”.
• NayaPay: open the app, tap “Add Money” and copy the 24-digit IBAN.
• JazzCash: its help pages could not be read when this page was written, so no official steps are quoted here; check the app’s account or profile section, or its helpline.

Writing it on a form

1. Copy the IBAN from the app or the bank’s page rather than typing it from memory.
2. Write all 24 characters with no spaces unless the form shows boxes in groups of four.
3. Check that the account title on the form matches the name on the account; payments to a mismatched title can be returned.
4. Keep a screenshot of the IBAN page in case the office asks for proof of the account.

An IBAN lets someone send money to you; it does not let anyone take money out. Even so, give it only to the organisation paying you, and never share the one-time codes your bank sends, which no form or office needs.