The United Bank for Africa (UBA)’s Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) Code is a unique Bank Identifier Code (BIC) that showcases UBA as a bank that receives foreign currency to other financial institutions around the world.
In other words, UBA Swift Code can be refers to as a remittance code that facilitates cross-border transactions and makes sure UBA is seen to other countries banks whenever the transaction is about to be facilitated.
The UBA Swift Code works by letting foreign banks identify country, bank and branch that an account is registered to. In Nigeria, a Swift Code represents what a bank is and where it's located. For example, if your UBA account is registered at Oba Akran Avenue, Lagos, the Swift Code you’ll use will be UNAFNGLA005.
UBA SWIFT/BIC is usually 8-11 character code. The first 4 letters code represent the bank’s abbreviation name, the following 2 letters code representing the country where your UBA branch is located, the next 2 characters represents UBA's headquarter and the last 3 digits specifies a particular branch of UBA.
Another typical example of UBA Swift Code is UNAFNGLA228. As you can see, the Swift/BIC shows UBA branch located at Marina, 57, Uba House, Floor 16, Lagos Nigeria with a branch code of 228.
In a nutshell, UBA Swift/BIC is UNAF-NG-LA-XXX where UNAF represents a shortened version of the bank's name, NG represents the bank’s country, LA represents the bank’s head office location and XXX will be replaced with three digits representing UBA branch.
UBA IBAN and Swift Code
IBAN, which means International Bank Account Number, is a 34-character code that identifies particular bank account in a country in foreign countries. The IBAN is an account number that's denominated in foreign currencies like USD, GBP or EUR.
For example, UBA IBAN is the bank foreign account number. Let’s say UBA has an account with Wells Fargo Bank, the account number given to UBA as a financial institution is known as IBAN.
You can use this account number for domestic and international payments and transfer. However, a SWIFT/BIC code identifies a bank, and an International Bank Account Number (IBAN).
How IBAN works
IBAN was developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and adopted by the European Committee for Banking Standards (ECBS). The system works in a structural manner that consist country code, checks digit, and basic bank account numbers (BBAN), making it up to 34 alphanumeric characters.
Example of an IBAN: GB29 NWBK 6016 1331 9268 19 where the first two letters indicate the country of the bank (e.g., "DE" for Germany, "GB" for the UK), the two digits that follow is called “check digits.” It’s the two digits that helps verify IBAN’s validity. The Basic Bank Account Number (BBAN) varies by country and typically includes the bank code and the account number.
GB29 NWBK 6016 1331 9268 19
Note: Banks use the check digits to verify the IBAN account number before processing the payment. This reduces the risk of errors or incorrect transfers.
UBA IBAN
As we all know that UBA operates primarily in Africa, where many countries do not use IBAN system. For example, in Nigeria, where UBA is headquartered, IBAN is not typically used for local or international transactions. Instead, SWIFT codes and account numbers are more common for identifying accounts in international transfers, while NIBSS code is the sort code facilitating local transactions within Nigeria’s banks.
It’s important to not that IBAN system is especially common in European countries but is used in over 70 countries around the globe. So, UBA branches in countries that are part of the IBAN system will issue IBANs.
Here's an example of what a UBA IBAN might look like for a European branch (note: this is an illustrative example and not a real UBA IBAN):
Example UBA IBAN (London Branch) GB33 UBAF 1234 5678 9012 34:
In summary, IBAN is a payment system that streamlines global banking by providing a uniform method to identify bank accounts, making international transactions more secure and efficient. It’s mostly used in the Europe but if you're trying to perform a transaction with UBA and need details like IBAN or SWIFT, it’s best to check directly with UBA for the exact details. For countries outside the IBAN system, like Nigeria, the UBA SWIFT/BIC code would usually be used for international transfers instead.
