Turkish IBAN Format (TR): Structure, BDDK Bank Code, and SWIFT Requirements

The Turkish IBAN is 26 characters long and encodes a 5-digit BDDK bank code (Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency code), one reserved zero digit, and a 16-digit account number. Turkey adopted the IBAN standard in 2008, and Turkish IBANs are widely used in international trade payments — particularly from Germany, the Netherlands, and Austria, where large Turkish diaspora communities and business ties generate high volumes of TR-bound transfers. Turkey is not a SEPA member, so all international transfers use SWIFT.

Turkish IBAN at a Glance

• Country code: TR
• Total length: 26 characters (always)
• Format: TRkk bbbbb 0 cccccccccccccccc
• BBAN length: 22 digits
• Character types: digits only after the country code

Turkish IBAN Structure Explained

1. Country Code — TR (2 characters)

The ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code for Turkey. Every Turkish IBAN begins with TR.

2. Check Digits — kk (2 digits)

Two decimal digits calculated using the MOD-97 algorithm. Standard across all IBANs.

3. Bank Code — bbbbb (5 digits)

A 5-digit bank code assigned by the BDDK (Bankacılık Düzenleme ve Denetleme Kurumu — Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency). Every Turkish bank has a unique 5-digit BDDK code. Examples:

• 00006 — T.C. Ziraat Bankası
• 00010 — Türkiye İş Bankası (İşbank)
• 00012 — Halkbank
• 00015 — Vakıfbank
• 00046 — Akbank
• 00062 — Garanti BBVA
• 00067 — Yapı ve Kredi Bankası (YKB)

4. Reserved Digit — 0 (1 digit)

The 6th character of the Turkish BBAN is always 0 — a reserved digit defined in the Turkish IBAN specification. This digit has no current informational meaning but was included for potential future use. It is fixed at zero for all Turkish IBANs and never changes.

5. Account Number — cccccccccccccccc (16 digits)

A 16-digit individual account number identifying the specific account at the bank. Turkish account numbers are always exactly 16 digits in the IBAN; shorter legacy account numbers are zero-padded on the left.

Turkish IBAN Example Explained

TR33 0006 1005 1978 6457 8413 26

• Country: TR
• Check digits: 33
• Bank code: 00061 (Garanti BBVA — note the leading zeros in the 5-digit code)
• Reserved digit: 0
• Account number: 0519786457841326

Second Example — İşbank

TR26 0001 0009 8765 4321 0000 01

• Country: TR
• Check digits: 26
• Bank code: 00010 (Türkiye İş Bankası)
• Reserved digit: 0
• Account number: 0987654321000001

How Turkish IBAN Validation Works

1. Country code check: First two characters must be exactly TR.
2. Length check: Total character count (spaces removed) must be exactly 26. Turkish IBANs are between German (22) and Polish (28) in length. A 25- or 27-character string is immediately invalid.
3. Reserved digit check: Position 9 (the 9th character, after TR + 2 check digits + 5 bank digits) must be exactly 0. A non-zero value here indicates the IBAN was constructed incorrectly.
4. Character type check: All positions after TR must be decimal digits.
5. MOD-97 check: Standard modulo 97 computation. Result must equal 1.

The ibanchecker.cash validator validates Turkish IBANs and checks the reserved zero digit automatically, displaying the BDDK bank code and bank name in the result.

Turkey Is Not a SEPA Country

Turkey is not part of SEPA. All international transfers to Turkish accounts use the SWIFT network. This has important practical implications:

• Processing times of 1–5 business days (not same-day or next-day SEPA)
• International wire fees apply, including potential correspondent bank charges
• The bank's BIC/SWIFT code is required alongside the IBAN for every transfer
• Currency is Turkish lira (TRY) — transfers in EUR are converted by the receiving bank

Common Turkish IBAN Mistakes

Omitting the Reserved Zero

The reserved zero at position 9 is the most common source of Turkish IBAN errors. Systems that construct IBANs programmatically from BDDK code + account number, without inserting the reserved zero between them, produce a 25-character IBAN with wrong check digits. The zero must always be present.

Leading Zeros in the Bank Code

The 5-digit BDDK bank code has leading zeros for most banks. For example, Ziraat Bankası is 00006 — not 6 or 006. Dropping leading zeros shifts the BBAN and produces an invalid IBAN.

Missing the BIC for SWIFT Transfers

Unlike SEPA transfers, Turkish IBANs must always be accompanied by the bank's BIC code for international SWIFT transfers. Sending only the IBAN without a BIC will result in the payment being held or returned.

Spaces in Electronic Transmission

Remove all spaces: TR330006100519786457841326.

Turkish IBAN and International Payments

For international payments to Turkey, you need the recipient's 26-character IBAN and the bank's BIC/SWIFT code. You can look up the BIC for any Turkish bank using the ibanchecker.cash SWIFT directory. All major Turkish banks (Ziraat, İşbank, Akbank, Garanti BBVA, Yapı Kredi, Halkbank, Vakıfbank) are listed with their complete BIC codes.

Validating Turkish IBANs in Bulk

Finance teams with Turkish supplier or contractor payment lists can validate multiple IBANs at once using the ibanchecker.cash bulk checker. Upload a CSV with up to 100 IBANs and receive per-row results including the BDDK bank code, bank name, and any structural errors — including reserved digit violations.

Last updated: June 2026