KARACHI: State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has decided to implement International Bank Account Number (IBAN) standard in the country with a view to bring account code standardisation and efficiency in processing of payments for domestic as well as cross-border transactions, according to a press statement.
Guidelines issued by SBP contain details for IBAN generation, validation and implementation timelines. These have been developed in consultation with Pakistan Banks’ Association nominated committee on IBAN.
According to the guidelines, IBAN, an international standard (ISO 13616) for identifying bank accounts across borders will be implemented in two phases. Firstly, all banks shall generate IBANs and notify all their customers by December 2012. Secondly, IBAN account numbers will become fully operational both for domestic and international financial transactions by June 2013.
SBP has asked banks to generate and issue IBANs to its account holders. Banks should encourage customers to use and quote their IBAN numbers in all transactions during the transition period. Banks are further advised to develop online utilities for converting their account numbers to IBAN in order to facilitate their account holders besides quoting IBAN number in account statements issued to account holders.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 16th, 2012.
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I think Tag Line is not matched with the Content!