How is the IBAN calculated?
A German IBAN is composed of four components: the country code "DE", a two-digit check digit, the eight-digit bank code (BLZ) and the account number padded to 10 digits. Our generator automatically computes the correct check digit according to the international ISO 7064 standard.
The IBAN calculation is mathematically unambiguous: every valid combination of BLZ and account number yields exactly one IBAN. This calculation is standardized and recognized worldwide by banks and payment providers.
Structure of a German IBAN
A German IBAN always has exactly 22 characters and follows this pattern:
- DE Country codeIdentifies Germany according to ISO 3166-1
- XX Check digitTwo digits enabling error detection
- 8 digits Bank codeUniquely identifies the bank
- 10 digits Account numberPadded with leading zeros
The MOD-97 algorithm
The check digit is calculated using the MOD-97 procedure (ISO 7064). This algorithm can detect up to 98% of all input errors - including digit transpositions, single-digit errors and many multi-digit errors.
The calculation works in four steps:
- Build the BBAN: bank code (8 digits) + account number (10 digits with leading zeros)
- Append the country code: BBAN + "DE00" (where D=13, E=14 as numbers)
- Numeric conversion: letters are replaced by their numeric values (A=10, B=11, ... Z=35)
- Compute the check digit: 98 minus (numeric value MOD 97) = check digit