Guatemala IBAN Format (GT) — Structure, Length & Example

The Guatemala IBAN is 28 characters long and follows the ISO 13616 standard. The Banco de Guatemala introduced IBAN to bring the country's international payment infrastructure into alignment with global standards. Guatemala has the largest economy in Central America, and cross-border business payments are significant — particularly for agricultural exports (coffee, sugar, bananas, cardamom) and remittances from the Guatemalan diaspora. Like all Central American IBAN countries, the format is used primarily for international transfers; domestic Guatemalan payments rely on the national clearing infrastructure and do not use IBAN.

Guatemala IBAN at a Glance

• Country code: GT
• Total length: 28 characters (always)
• Format: GTkk bbbb mmcc aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
• BBAN length: 24 characters
• Character types: 4-letter bank code + 2-digit currency code + 2-digit account type + 16-character account number (alphanumeric)

Guatemala IBAN Structure Explained

1. Country Code — GT (2 characters)

The ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code for Guatemala. Every Guatemalan IBAN begins with GT.

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 — bbbb (4 letters)

A 4-letter uppercase bank identifier derived from the institution's BIC/SWIFT prefix. Major Guatemalan banks and their IBAN bank codes:

• TRAJ — Banco de los Trabajadores (Bantrab)
• INDE — Banco Industrial
• BANA — Banrural (Banco de Desarrollo Rural)
• GUAT — Banco de Guatemala (central bank)
• CITI — Citibank Guatemala
• HSSB — HSBC Guatemala

4. Currency Code — mm (2 digits)

A 2-digit numeric code identifying the currency of the account. This field is part of the BBAN and distinguishes accounts held in different currencies at the same bank:

• 01 — Guatemalan quetzal (GTQ)
• 02 — US dollar (USD)
• Other codes may exist for additional currencies held at major banks.

5. Account Type — cc (2 characters)

A 2-character field (digits or alphanumeric depending on the bank) identifying the type of account. Common values:

• 01 — Checking (monetaria)
• 02 — Savings (ahorro)

6. Account Number — aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa (16 characters)

A 16-character alphanumeric account number identifying the specific account within the bank, branch, currency, and account type. This is the longest and most variable field in the Guatemalan IBAN — left-padded with zeros when purely numeric.

Guatemala IBAN Example Explained

GT82 TRAJ 0102 0000 0012 0002 9690

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

• Country: GT
• Check digits: 82
• Bank code: TRAJ (Banco de los Trabajadores — Bantrab)
• Currency code: 01 (Guatemalan quetzal)
• Account type: 02 (savings)
• Account number: 0000001200029690

How Guatemalan IBAN Validation Works

1. Country code check: First two characters must be exactly GT.
2. Length check: Total character count (spaces removed) must be exactly 28.
3. Character type check: Positions 5–8 must be uppercase letters (bank code); remaining positions are alphanumeric (digits in most cases, letters possible in the account number field).
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 Guatemalan IBANs and decodes the bank code, currency, account type, and account number from each IBAN string.

Guatemala and IBAN: Adoption Context

Guatemala has one of the highest remittance-to-GDP ratios in Latin America — over 18% of GDP — driven by the large Guatemalan diaspora in the United States. While money transfer operators handle a significant share of remittance flows, IBAN and SWIFT remain the standard for formal bank-to-bank international payments.

Guatemala's agricultural export sector (coffee, sugar, cardamom — the world's largest exporter) generates substantial B2B payment volumes between European and North American buyers and Guatemalan cooperatives and exporters. These commercial transactions typically use the IBAN format for wire transfers.

Guatemala Is Not a SEPA Country

Guatemala is not part of SEPA. International bank transfers use the SWIFT network:

• Processing times of 1–5 business days
• Correspondent bank fees apply
• The BIC/SWIFT code of the Guatemalan bank is required alongside the IBAN
• Currency is Guatemalan quetzal (GTQ), though many accounts are held in USD; the currency code field in the IBAN identifies which

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

Common Guatemalan IBAN Mistakes

Wrong Length — Not 28 Characters

Guatemalan IBANs are exactly 28 characters — the same total length as El Salvador (SV) and Dominican Republic (DO). Always remove spaces and count to 28 before submitting.

Missing Currency or Account Type Fields

Guatemala's BBAN includes currency and account type fields before the account number. Recipients sometimes provide only the account number portion, omitting currency (mm) and type (cc). An IBAN reconstructed without these fields will fail MOD-97 validation.

Alphanumeric Account Number

Unlike many countries where the account number is purely numeric, Guatemala's 16-character account field can include uppercase letters. Systems that strip non-numeric characters from IBAN fields will corrupt Guatemalan IBANs. Always treat the full 28-character string as the canonical identifier.

Validating Guatemalan IBANs in Bulk

Agricultural buyers and export businesses processing payments to Guatemalan suppliers can validate batches of IBANs using the ibanchecker.cash bulk checker. Use the Smart IBAN Extractor to pull IBANs automatically from invoice documents or email correspondence.

Last updated: June 2026