What is a UAE IBAN and why is it always 23 characters?

The United Arab Emirates adopted the International Bank Account Number (IBAN) standard defined in ISO 13616. Every UAE IBAN is exactly 23 characters long because the Central Bank of the UAE allocated a fixed-width BBAN of 19 digits (3 for the bank code plus 16 for the domestic account number). Adding the mandatory 2-letter country code AE and the 2 check digits gives 4 + 19 = 23. No UAE bank uses a shorter or longer IBAN regardless of account type.

How does the MOD-97 checksum work?

The ISO 7064 MOD-97-10 algorithm rearranges the IBAN by moving the first four characters to the end, then replaces every letter with its numeric equivalent (A=10, B=11 through Z=35). The resulting all-digit string is interpreted as a single large integer and divided by 97. A structurally sound IBAN always yields a remainder of exactly 1. Because the number can be hundreds of digits long, the validator folds the modulo progressively one digit at a time to stay within safe integer arithmetic.

What is the 3-digit bank code in a UAE IBAN?

Positions 5 to 7 of the IBAN (the first three digits of the BBAN) identify the issuing institution as assigned by the Central Bank of the UAE. For example, code 035 is Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), 040 is Emirates NBD, 045 is Mashreq, and 050 is First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB). The validator recognises the most common codes and displays the bank name. An unrecognised code does not by itself make the IBAN invalid — newer banks or branches may use codes not yet in the lookup table.

Does a "Valid" result mean the account exists?

No. A green Valid result means the IBAN passes all published structural rules — correct country code, correct length, correct BBAN format, and a MOD-97 remainder of 1. It does not mean the account is open, funded, or reachable. Only your receiving bank or the Central Bank of the UAE can confirm whether a specific account is active. Use this tool to catch typos and formatting errors before initiating a transfer.

Why might a UAE IBAN fail the checksum even when it looks correct?

The most common cause is a single transposed digit. Swapping any two adjacent digits, or misreading one digit, almost always changes the MOD-97 remainder away from 1. Another cause is copying the account number in its local domestic format without the AE prefix and check digits — a raw 19-digit account number is not an IBAN and will fail length validation. Always obtain the full 23-character IBAN from your bank statement or the recipient directly.

Is my IBAN data private?

Completely. The entire validation algorithm runs inside your browser using JavaScript. No data is transmitted to any server, logged, or stored anywhere. You can use this tool on a sensitive corporate or personal account number with confidence.

UAE IBAN Validator — Gera Tools

The UAE IBAN Validator checks any United Arab Emirates bank account number against the full international standard — ISO 13616 structure, the correct 23-character length mandated by the Central Bank of the UAE, the fixed BBAN layout of a 3-digit bank code followed by a 16-digit account number, and the ISO 7064 MOD-97-10 checksum. It also identifies the issuing bank from the bank code where the institution is in the registry. Everything runs locally in your browser: your account number is never transmitted anywhere.

Why UAE IBANs are always 23 characters

When the UAE adopted the IBAN standard, the Central Bank fixed the domestic BBAN (Basic Bank Account Number) at exactly 19 numeric digits: 3 digits for the bank code and 16 digits for the account number. Combined with the mandatory country prefix AE and the 2 check digits that follow, every UAE IBAN is precisely 4 + 19 = 23 characters — no more, no less, regardless of the bank or account type. This makes the length check one of the fastest and most reliable first-pass validations.

How it works

Validation proceeds through four distinct checks, each of which is reported separately in the breakdown table.

Step 1 — Country code. The first two characters must be AE. If you paste a non-UAE IBAN, the tool tells you immediately so you can switch to the correct country.

Step 2 — Length. The stripped input (spaces removed, letters uppercased) must be exactly 23 characters. A wrong length almost always means a digit was cut off during a copy-paste or the IBAN was confused with the raw domestic account number.

Step 3 — BBAN structure. Positions 5–23 must all be numeric digits. UAE IBANs contain no letters after the AE prefix, so any letter in the BBAN is a formatting error.

Step 4 — ISO 7064 MOD-97-10 checksum. The standard algorithm rearranges the IBAN by moving the first four characters to the end, then substitutes every letter with its two-digit numeric value (A becomes 10, B becomes 11, through Z becoming 35). The resulting long digit string is divided by 97. A valid IBAN yields a remainder of exactly 1. Because the digit string can be very long, the validator computes the modulo progressively — one digit at a time — to avoid floating-point overflow.

Worked example

Consider the test IBAN AE07 0331 2345 6789 0123 456 (23 characters, spaces stripped):

Field	Value	Notes
Country code	AE	United Arab Emirates
Check digits	07	Positions 3–4
Bank code	033	Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB)
Account number	1234567890123456	Positions 8–23 (16 digits)

MOD-97 rearrangement:

Move AE07 to the end: 0331234567890123456AE07

Expand letters (A=10, E=14): 0331234567890123456101407

Fold through mod 97 progressively. A valid IBAN produces remainder 1, confirming the check digits are consistent with the bank code and account number. Any single-digit substitution or transposition almost certainly shifts the remainder away from 1 and is caught immediately.

The formatted output AE07 0331 2345 6789 0123 456 groups digits into blocks of four — the conventional display format used on bank statements and in payment instructions across the UAE.

Every figure is computed inside your browser. Nothing is stored or uploaded.