Laws and regulations issuing NL IBAN

Anyone who provides payment services in the Netherlands must either hold the appropriate authorization issued by DNB or be excepted or exempted from such authorization. A PSP may issue NL-IBANs when DNB has issued a license for payment service 3 and/or 5, as referred to in the annex of Directive (EU) 2015/2366.

For more information about the registration of the license, and whether or not authorization is necessary, check this webpage of the Dutch Central Bank.

Dutch Central Bank publishes PSPs with licenses in their Public register.

Banking Information Reference Portal

Banks and other payment service providers (including electronic money institutions and payment institutions) offering accounts with a Dutch international bank account number (NL IBAN) are under a statutory duty to register with the Banking Information Reference Portal. The Banking Information Reference Portal Act is implemented in the Financial Supervision Act (Wet financieel toezicht – Wft) by means of Section 3:267i (in Dutch). According tot Justid the average connection period is six months.

Government order

Based on the Tax Collection Act (Invorderingswet on the collection of tax debts), a Payment Service Provider (PSP) is obliged under the law to comply with a claim against the tax debtor. The tax debtor cannot claim a refund. For this purpose, the Dutch Government introduced the Government Order.

The Government Order is a government instrument - and not a payment product - that uses the SDD (SEPA Direct Debit) systematics. Because of this foundation, only PSPS's reachable for SDD Core can fulfil this legal obligation.

The Dutch Payments Association is the administrator of the Government Order specifications. The specifications for the submission of a Government Order within SEPA by authorised government institutions are public. The specifications for PSP's can be requested via giraal@betaalvereniging.nl by PSP's that are reachable for SDD Core.

SWIFT BIC Registration Procedures document provides an overview of the procedure for the registration, publication, and maintenance of BICs issued in accordance with ISO 9362. It describes the core roles and responsibilities of the different stakeholders that intervene in these processes. In order to be eligible for a NL Identifier allocated by SWIFT, an European passport from a branch located in the Netherlands is the minimum requirement (ISO 3166-1 country code). Please contact SWIFT for your application of a NL-BIC.

The first four letters of the BIC-8 or BIC-11 will be -with very few exceptions- the identifier code in the NL IBAN (position 5-8) and must therefore be unique. SWIFT ensures this code is unique. BIC DATA Record by SWIFT.

Check the document ‘SWIFTRef - Publication Schedule and Distribution Information’ for information about the publication and activation dates (section 3.2). If you have questions regarding the application for a local IBAN, please contact SWIFT.

The NL IBAN structure is as follows: NL2!n4!a10!n – see SWIFT IBAN BIC Registry.
The NL IBAN is fully in line with the worldwide international standard ISO 13616.
Only a full IBAN is unique. Syntax-checking can only be done using the Modulus 97 check, in compliance with ISO/IEC 7064. The control number at position 3 and 4 of the NL IBAN ensures the correct outcome at the Modulus 97 check.
The identifier code in the NL IBAN (position 5-8) is linked to the BIC of the PSP.
SWIFT IBAN BIC Registry refers to NL IBAN exception clause: Prevent digits 099 at position 9-11 of the NL IBAN.

In the Netherlands we have a Closed User Group (CUG) for G Accounts (blocked accounts). Participants may issue IBANs with the number 099 at position 9-11 of the NL IBAN only for this type of account. This exception clause is to avoid confusion with use as a G Account. By excluding the 099 series, accession to the G Accounts CUG remains a possibility for the future.

In the Netherlands there is no institution acting in the capacity of issuing authority for BICs/business identifiers. As the business identifier in the IBAN is derived from the BIC, the Dutch Payments Association publishes a list of all Dutch BICs and business identifiers. We do not charge for this service.

A PSP who wants to participate in the Dutch payment system with its own NL IBANs should be recorded on this NL IBAN BIC-list, provided that:
(A) The necessary license at the Dutch Central Bank is listed in the Public Register of the Dutch Central Bank (see 1).
(B) NL BIC is included in SWIFTs BIC DATA Record (see 2).
(C) CSM services are settled (direct or indirect via …?)
(D) Any adherence to one or more EPC SEPA schemes have been arranged (direct participant or indirect participant).

PSPs who meet these requirements are allowed to generate the entire IBAN themselves (see 8: recommendations).

For the formal application to include a PSP in the NL IBAN BIC-list or in case of any changes, please sent the following information to giraal@betaalvereniging.nl, cc r.vlek@betaalvereniging.nl. We recommend to contact us one month to at least two weeks prior to the provision of IBANs to customers:

Name PSP
Public Register of DNB:	Bank/ payment service provider/ or electronic money institution (EMI)
BIC-8/ BIC-11
Identifier (4 letters at position 5-8 of NL-IBAN)
Desired publication date	yyyy/mm/dd
Contact details in case of future enquiry	Name email phone number
SEPA scheme adherence SCT/ SCTinst/ SDD_Core/ SDD_B2B
Direct participant or indirect participant via

The Dutch Payments Association informs other participants in the payment system of any changes to the BIC table in advance by sending a RSS feed (to sign up enter this link in your RSS reader: https://archief.betaalvereniging.nl/actueel/nieuws/rubriek/iban-bic-lijst/feed).

According to BW 7:401 (In Dutch), "the care of a prudent service provider" must be observed when performing work. A PSP must ensure that they know their clients and only provide appropriate financial products or services to client. Therefore, Dutch law requires a PSP to verify whether the individual applicant of an account is under legal guardianship or supervision and therefore is restricted or excluded from opening its own account Central Guardianship and Administration Register. KYC and CDD are therefore obligated, also in case a PSP wants to allocate e-money accounts.

De Rechtspraak offers a web service to make an automatic link between their system and your own software:

Web Service Central guardianship and administration register (Information is only available in Dutch)
Web Service Central Insolvency Register (Information only available in Dutch)

Decide whether or not to issue well-known account numbers

The last 10 positions of the IBAN are self-defined by PSPs. The only established exception is the sequence 099 at position 9-11. Exclude this 099 series as this is reserved for g-accounts. For other options, the PSP decides which sequences are issued. PSPs make their own assessment whether certain (well-known) account numbers are issued in their own IBAN. For example the last 10 digits of the account numbers of the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration, or of charities.

Prevent reissuing of IBANs

Reissuing NL IBANs means that the new IBAN will always be an exact duplicate of the previous NL IBAN. The increase of undue payments is realistic. The choice whether or not to reissue NL IBANs will be made by the PSP. However, the Dutch Payments Association recommends that once NL IBANs have been issued and cancelled, they will not be reissued to another customer, in order to reduce the number of undue payments.

A detailed description of the role of a NASO can be found in the SEPA Payment Scheme Management Internal Rules. The Dutch community has chosen the Dutch Payments Association as NASO for branches in the Netherlands. This role is limited to explanation regarding questions related to the procedure. If necessary we can review draft documents of payment service providers. The sole responsibility for approving the applications of Applicants lies with the EPC. A NASO may facilitate the administrative process, but in so doing, a NASO does not take on any legal obligations
or liabilities.

If payment service providers wish NASO Betaalvereniging to review the documents in advance, please bear in mind that we must have the documents in our digital possession at least 7 days before the EPC deadline.

Members of the Dutch Payments Association are additionally bound by certain procedures. Such as the Procedure for Undue Payments (POB) and the Procedure for Named Beneficiary in Non-Banking Fraud (PNBF).
The first procedure, the POB, largely replaces the SCT/SCTinst Rulebook's Request for Recall by the Originator when Originator and Beneficiary both use a NL-IBAN (unless the PSP customer insists on following this EPC procedure). Advantage of the Dutch procedure, is that it leads to 80% repayment and provides for the possibility of Name and address (NAW) provision if repayment fails; unlike the European RFRO. With the NAW data, the payer can ask for money back through the courts. The latter also applies to the PNBF. Before the PNBF is executed, the Originator must be able to show a police report in respect of the transaction for which the Beneficiaries NAW details are requested.

PSPs that are not members of the Dutch Payments Association can also participate in these procedures. More information.

PSPs active in The Netherlands are eligible to join the Dutch Payments Association (BVN)

The Dutch Payments Association is a membership organization for PSPs of any license type (credit institution, payment institution or EMI), active in the Dutch Market. BVN membership expresses PSPs’ commitment to contribute to a secure, reliable, efficient and accessible payments ecosystem. If these are values that resonate with your organization, you should join! Members get access to regular updates on infrastructure and payments regulation developments, and can participate in working groups on topics like open banking, accessibility and standards. On top of that, membership enables PSPs to meet industry peers in both formal and informal settings and discuss pre-competitive topics and issues. For more information on joining the Dutch Payments Association, check our website and contact us through the membership page.

Betaalvereniging Nederland

Laws and regulations issuing NL IBAN

This page contains more information on the regulations and recommendations surrounding the issuance of NL IBANs.

1. and 3. License and statutory duty Dutch Central Bank

Banking Information Reference Portal

Government order

2. SWIFT registration IBAN identifier (BIC)

4. Register your PSP at DPA

5. IBAN Regulations

6. Record BIC and identifier on NL IBAN BIC-list

7. Establish an audit legal guardianship or supervision clients

8. Recommendations for account number generation NL IBAN

Decide whether or not to issue well-known account numbers

Prevent reissuing of IBANs

9. CONNECT giro notification system

10. NASO

11. Other relevant information

PSPs active in The Netherlands are eligible to join the Dutch Payments Association (BVN)