IBAN

Published 5 November 2026, 15:07

International Bank Account Number (Número Internacional de Conta Bancária)

The international bank account number; a Portuguese one always starts with PT50 and is 25 characters long. Almost everything here goes through it: salary, rent, Segurança Social payments, tax refunds, direct debits for electricity and water. A card number won't do — you will be asked specifically for the IBAN.

Where you come across it. A tenancy agreement, an employer's form, your Finanças and Segurança Social online accounts, paying invoices for services.

Refusing to accept an IBAN from another EEA country for euro payments is called "IBAN discrimination"; it is banned by the SEPA regulation (EU 260/2012), and Banco de Portugal takes reports of it through a form on its website. In practice many services still want PT50: in July 2025 Revolut began issuing Portuguese PT50 IBANs, but customers are switched to them only with their consent, not all at once. A separate matter is the "IBAN afeto à atividade" at Finanças: only the status confirmado means it works, and pendente or em confirmação is cleared once the bank itself confirms the account holder.

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