When can we expect an update on IBAN availability?

Hello, I have researched into what has already been written about this topic on here but nothing has been said for over 6 months! When are we finally getting an IBAN on accounts?

I know people can use TransferWise as a handy medium however my techphobic parents in Ireland cannot understand it (I have tried)

This really is the one thing that’s stopping me going full Monzo, I am surprised something that seems so basic with a highstreet bank has not been taken up by Monzo yet…

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I was frustrated by this for a long time since my company payroll required an IBAN but eventually was able to solve that.

For your use case if you created a TransferWise account directly you could obtain Eurozone bank account details including an IBAN they could use to send money to your TW account, and from there you could send on to Monzo.

Not a perfect solution but should be usable for your case.

*updated to remove mention of IBAN for TW GBP accounts - they provide them but they cannot be used for incoming Euro payments

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I think if you get an update, it will say one of the following;

  • We’re working on it
  • It’s something we’ve had to side-line for now

I would say it’s probably not something that I would expect this year. It’s a fairly niche requirement and given how cheque imaging is going, which is a far more popular request, I wouldn’t be surprised if it never comes.

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You can generate an IBAN to receive international payments. I’ve done that and I’ve successfully received payments from multiple different banks.

However, Monzo can’t guarantee it will work. I think if it doesn’t work, it’ll likely just be returned to the sender. To bulletproof it, get the sender to make a small test payment first.

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Yes, it’s not recommended as it isn’t supported, so I wouldn’t do this personally.

In the OP’s position I would probably either use TransferWise’s euro account details (as already suggested) or get a Starling Euro account which can receive payments directly when paid with an IBAN.

Either of these could easily be used alongside Monzo.

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If it’s a SEPA payment then there shouldn’t be any problems. If it’s an international transfer from outside or SEPA then best to stick to transfer wise :+1:t3:

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Hi @Dan5,

I was under the impression that unless the transfer was sent very unusually in this case, then a straightforward transfer from the Republic of Ireland would automatically be sent via SEPA?

Is that right?

That’s my understanding too!

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I have transferred from KBC Ireland to Monzo using a Monzo IBAN and it works fine.

Obviously, it isn’t officially supported so things could go wrong, but it worked fine multiple times for me.

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I assume that’s money being sent from a Euro denominated account to a GBP denominated account (since Monzo doesn’t have Euro accounts).

Out of interest how do these types of transfers work in terms of currency conversion? Is it the sending bank or the receiving bank that does the currency conversion?

Yes, the KBC Ireland basic account I have is Euro denominated.

It leaves KBC in Euros as a SEPA transfer and Monzo converts it on receipt. Here is the image I shared a few months ago from when I originally tested it.

I have not done this post-Brexit end of transition, so I do not know if anything has changed, e.g. fees etc. I probably should check at some point.

(The custom category was when I had Monzo Plus.)

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Just beware that with TransferWise, you can only receive money from certain countries. Mainly UK, EU, US, Turkey, Australia, NZ, Singapore.

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Again, parents cannot get their head around TransferWise so that’s just not an option. I would rather not open another account with another bank to transfer over either. It’s not the end of the world, it just means I am tethered to my legacy bank more than expected.

They don’t have to “get their heads around” it.

What I was suggesting was that you open a TransferWise borderless account yourself. Then:

  1. You provide your parents with the bank details for your new TransferWise borderless account (essentially, a basic IBAN).

  2. They make a transfer, like a normal intra-Irish transfer, to the IBAN you have given them.

  3. That’s it - the money arrives for you to do with what you like.

There is nothing about this which makes TransferWise different from anything else or any other bank on their end - you would do the conversion on your end.

Alternatively, use the unsupported route that @Chapuys has outlined. But, since it is unsupported, I wouldn’t personally want to take the risk of money going missing.

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