Brazil IBAN Format (BR) — Structure, Length & Example

The Brazil IBAN is 29 characters long and follows the ISO 13616 standard adopted by the Banco Central do Brasil. Brazil implemented IBAN as part of its alignment with international payment standards, but IBAN use in Brazil is almost exclusively for international wire transfers — domestic Brazilian payments use the national banking infrastructure (including PIX, TED, and DOC), not IBAN. When sending money to a Brazilian bank account from Europe or another IBAN-using country, you will need the IBAN alongside the BIC/SWIFT code of the receiving bank.

Brazil IBAN at a Glance

• Country code: BR
• Total length: 29 characters (always)
• Format: BRkk bbbbbbbb sssss cccccccccc t n
• BBAN length: 25 characters
• Character types: 8-digit bank code + 5-digit branch + 10-digit account + 1 letter (account type) + 1 digit (owner type)

Brazil IBAN Structure Explained

1. Country Code — BR (2 characters)

The ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code for Brazil. Every Brazilian IBAN begins with BR.

2. Check Digits — kk (2 digits)

Two decimal digits computed using the MOD-97 algorithm defined in ISO 7064. They protect against transposition and transcription errors before any payment instruction is transmitted.

3. Bank Code — bbbbbbbb (8 digits)

An 8-digit numeric bank identifier derived from Brazil's COMPE (Cadastro de Bancos) code, left-padded with zeros to reach 8 digits. Major Brazilian banks and their COMPE codes:

• 00000001 — Banco do Brasil (COMPE 001)
• 00000104 — Caixa Econômica Federal (COMPE 104)
• 00000237 — Banco Bradesco (COMPE 237)
• 00000341 — Itaú Unibanco (COMPE 341)
• 00000033 — Banco Santander Brasil (COMPE 033)
• 00000745 — Citibank Brasil (COMPE 745)

4. Branch Code — sssss (5 digits)

A 5-digit branch number (agência). Brazilian banks have extensive branch networks; the branch code identifies the specific location where the account was opened. Padded with leading zeros to 5 digits.

5. Account Number — cccccccccc (10 digits)

A 10-digit account number (conta), padded with leading zeros. This is the customer's individual account identifier within the branch.

6. Account Type — t (1 letter)

A single uppercase letter identifying the type of account:

• C — Conta Corrente (checking account)
• P — Conta de Poupança (savings account)
• S — Conta de Salário (salary account)

7. Owner Type — n (1 digit)

A single digit indicating the type of account holder:

• 1 — Individual (pessoa física)
• 2 — Legal entity (pessoa jurídica)

Brazil IBAN Example Explained

BR97 0036 0305 0000 1000 9795 493P 1

This is an illustrative example IBAN — do not use for real transactions.

• Country: BR
• Check digits: 97
• Bank code: 00360305 (Banco Bradesco, COMPE 237, padded)
• Branch: 00001 (branch 1)
• Account: 0097954930 (account number)
• Account type: P (Poupança — savings)
• Owner type: 1 (individual)

How Brazilian IBAN Validation Works

1. Country code check: First two characters must be exactly BR.
2. Length check: Total character count (spaces removed) must be exactly 29.
3. Character type check: Positions 5–12 (bank code), 13–17 (branch), 18–27 (account number), and 29 (owner type) must be digits. Position 28 (account type) must be an uppercase letter.
4. MOD-97 check: Move the first four characters to the end, replace each letter with its numeric value (A=10, B=11 … Z=35), then compute the remainder divided by 97. A valid IBAN always produces a remainder of 1.

The ibanchecker.cash validator validates Brazilian IBANs instantly and shows the decoded bank code, branch, account number, account type, and owner category.

Brazil and IBAN: Adoption Context

Brazil officially registered its IBAN format with SWIFT and the ISO 13616 registry, but IBAN is rarely used in everyday Brazilian banking. The Central Bank of Brazil has developed a sophisticated domestic payment infrastructure:

• PIX — instant 24/7 payment system (launched 2020), now the dominant domestic payment method with over 140 million registered users
• TED (Transferência Eletrônica Disponível) — same-day electronic transfer for larger amounts
• DOC (Documento de Crédito) — next-day electronic transfer (being phased out)

For domestic transfers, Brazilians provide their COMPE bank code, branch (agência), account number (conta), account type, and CPF/CNPJ — not an IBAN. The Brazilian IBAN exists primarily to receive international wire transfers from counterparts in IBAN-using countries.

Brazil Is Not a SEPA Country

Brazil is not part of the Single Euro Payments Area. All international transfers to Brazilian accounts travel via the SWIFT network. This means:

• Processing times of 1–5 business days (not same-day)
• Correspondent bank fees apply on top of the sending bank's charges
• The BIC/SWIFT code of the Brazilian bank is required alongside the IBAN
• Currency is Brazilian real (BRL) — foreign currency payments are subject to Banco Central do Brasil foreign exchange regulations

Look up Brazilian bank BIC codes using the ibanchecker.cash SWIFT directory.

Common Brazilian IBAN Mistakes

Wrong Length

Brazilian IBANs are exactly 29 characters. This is the second-longest IBAN in Latin America. Always count to 29 after removing spaces.

Missing Account Type or Owner Type

The final two characters (letter + digit) are often omitted when entering IBANs manually. Both are required — without them the IBAN is only 27 characters and will fail validation.

Providing Local Account Details Instead of IBAN

International senders sometimes receive the Brazilian account's local details (agência + conta) without them being formatted into an IBAN. Use the ibanchecker.cash format checker to verify that the string you've received is a correctly formatted Brazilian IBAN before instructing your bank.

Validating Brazilian IBANs in Bulk

Finance teams processing cross-border payments to Brazil can validate multiple IBANs at once using the ibanchecker.cash bulk checker. Upload a CSV of up to 100 IBANs and receive per-row validation with bank code decoding and error details.

Last updated: June 2026