IBANforge checks a German IBAN in one call against the bank code file of the Deutsche Bundesbank (last read in November 2026): structure and check digits, the Bankleitzahl in the register, the account-number check digit by the Bundesbank method, and the bank and BIC from the same file. When the Bankleitzahl is not in the register, the answer is not_allocated with authoritative: true, because then no bank holds that code.
The API does not match the account holder's name and does not say whether the account exists. The name match is the Verification of Payee run by the banks.
We sell IBANforge. The comparison further down also says when another provider is the better choice.
Correct check digits only prove that the characters fit together. A useful check also answers the questions below, and says where each answer comes from.
Field in the response: validField in the response: bank_code_checkField in the response: national_check_digitsField in the response: bank_code_check.institution, bicField in the response: sepaThe Bundesbank allocates the Bankleitzahlen and updates its stock every quarter, in March, June, September and December. We re-read the file every month, last in November 2026: 3,507 bank codes, 75 of them marked for deletion. In every answer, as_of names the month of that reading, not a Bundesbank validity date.
Because the Bundesbank allocates the codes itself, an absence is a fact about Germany and not about our data: status not_in_register, reason not_allocated, authoritative true. Where we read no complete register, the same miss is absent_from_reference_data and rules nothing out.
The file assigns a check-digit method (Prüfzifferberechnungsmethode) to every Bankleitzahl. The answer names it in national_check_digits.method, with the result and the source. A wrong check digit never turns valid to false. With a method the Bundesbank publishes without test account numbers it is only a warning, and a method we cannot check reliably stays not_checked.
The file carries the BIC next to the Bankleitzahl. bic.source names the file, and bic.basis: national_register says that the BIC was read there and not guessed.
When the Bundesbank marks a Bankleitzahl for deletion, the answer carries retired: true and, when the register names a successor, superseded_by. A format check does not see this.
Quelle: Deutsche Bundesbank, Bankleitzahlendatei, read in November 2026. The update dates at the Bundesbank (German), read on 5 November 2026
These values are not typed by hand: when this page is built they are taken from the Bundesbank file we read in November 2026.
DE89 3704 0044 0532 0130 00 is the specimen IBAN of many tutorials. The Bankleitzahl 37040044 belongs to Commerzbank, and the BIC comes from the same file. It says nothing about the account itself.
Extract of the response
{
"iban": "DE89370400440532013000",
"valid": true,
"bank_code_check": {
"value": "37040044",
"status": "verified",
"match": "register",
"register": "Deutsche Bundesbank Bankleitzahlendatei",
"authoritative": true,
"institution": {
"name": "Commerzbank",
"street": null,
"post_code": "50447",
"town": "Köln",
"country": "DE"
},
"as_of": "2026-11"
},
"bic": {
"code": "COBADEFFXXX",
"bank_name": "Commerzbank",
"source": "Deutsche Bundesbank Bankleitzahlendatei",
"basis": "national_register",
"authoritative": true,
"as_of": "2026-11"
}
}The check digits of this IBAN are correct, so valid stays true. Only the register shows that the Bundesbank never allocated 99999999. next_steps turns that into an action software can branch on.
Extract of the response
{
"iban": "DE37999999990123456789",
"valid": true,
"bank_code_check": {
"value": "99999999",
"status": "not_in_register",
"reason": "not_allocated",
"match": null,
"authoritative": true,
"register": "Deutsche Bundesbank Bankleitzahlendatei",
"as_of": "2026-11"
},
"bic": null,
"next_steps": [
{
"code": "bank_code_not_allocated",
"do": "Do not send. The bank code is absent from the national register, so no institution holds this account."
}
]
}curl -s -X POST https://api.ibanforge.com/v1/iban/validate \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"iban":"DE89370400440532013000"}'For production, take a key. Prices and allowances
Before a credit transfer, the payee name entered is matched against the name that belongs to the IBAN. This applies to SEPA credit transfers and SEPA instant credit transfers between payment accounts. The legal basis is Article 5c of the SEPA Regulation, inserted by Regulation (EU) 2024/886.
Payment service providers in the euro area, since 9 October 2025: the payer's bank asks, the payee's bank answers. A business submitting transfers in a bundle must have the option to opt out. This page is not legal advice.
Whether the bank it resolved is in the European Payments Council VoP register: sepa.vop_participant and sepa.vop_register_status, with register_source and register_as_of when the register was read for that bank. That is a statement about the bank, not about the account.
Match a name. The API never answers Match or No Match and does not replace your bank's check. A false or null in the VoP fields is not a result about a name.
We sell IBANforge; read this comparison knowing that. Every statement about another provider comes from its public pages, read on 24 September 2026. What we did not check says so. If something is wrong or a price has changed, write to support@ibanforge.com.
A free plan that renews, a self-hosted engine, prepaid credits tied to a period.
What a bank code missing from IBANAPI’s registry means (allocated to nobody, or simply not listed) is not stated on the pages we read.
The full comparison with IBANAPISWIFT-licensed BIC data, Verification of Payee, UK sort codes, annual licences.
iban.de, which says its IBAN and BIC services are powered by iban.com, names in its legal notice the company that iban.com’s terms name as licensor. It lists €420 to €3,800 a year for a one-year term, and a free trial of 100 queries active one month.
The full comparison with iban.comA validity boolean, high request rates, an Enterprise plan with an SLA.
The registers of Germany, Austria, Belgium, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein are read in full. There, a missing code comes back as not_allocated.
In the rest of the 89 IBAN countries a partial register or a composite map names the bank, and the answer says that it cannot rule a code out. A batch call takes up to 100 IBANs.