Check mode: the bank account
Before you transfer: what that IBAN does and doesn't tell you.
The account number is the last thing you see before your money is gone, and it carries more information than most people realise. A Dutch IBAN has a fixed shape and a built-in checksum, so a fake one usually fails arithmetic. The account's country decides, in practice, whether you have any route to getting the money back. What an IBAN cannot do — ever, for anyone — is tell you whose account it is. Here is how to read the parts you can check, and what to do about the part you cannot.
Last updated: 24 July 2026
- A Dutch IBAN is exactly 18 characters: NL, two check digits, a four-letter bank code, and a ten-digit account number.
- Those two check digits are a mod-97 checksum. A mistyped or invented IBAN almost always fails it.
- A non-Dutch account for a Dutch rental deposit is one of the most consistent fraud markers we see. It is not illegal — it removes your practical recovery route.
- No public service tells you who owns an IBAN. Since 9 October 2025 your own bank checks the name for you at the moment of payment.
Checked in your browser. The number is never sent to us, never saved, and gone when you close this page.
How is a Dutch IBAN built?
Every Dutch IBAN is 18 characters long and always the same shape, which is why a wrong one is usually obvious once you know where to look.
- Anything that is not 18 characters is not a Dutch IBAN.
- The bank code is letters, not digits — INGB, ABNA, RABO, SNSB, TRIO and so on.
- Spaces are cosmetic. NL91 ABNA 0417 1643 00 and NL91ABNA0417164300 are the same account.
| Position | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | Country code — always NL for a Dutch account | NL |
| 3–4 | Check digits, calculated with the mod-97 method (ISO 13616) | 91 |
| 5–8 | Bank code — four letters, matching the start of the bank's BIC | ABNA |
| 9–18 | The account number itself, ten digits | 0417164300 |
What does the check digit test actually prove?
The two digits after the country code are a checksum over the rest of the account number. Rearrange the IBAN, convert the letters to numbers and take the remainder modulo 97: a valid IBAN gives exactly 1. Our checker runs this automatically on any account number it finds in what you paste.
It proves the number is well-formed — that it was not typed wrong and was not invented on the spot. It does not prove the account exists, is open, or belongs to anyone in particular. Treat a passing checksum as the absence of one specific error, not as reassurance.
Why does the account's country matter so much?
A Dutch landlord, agency or housing provider collects the deposit on a Dutch account, because that is where their business banks. When a deposit for a Dutch address is routed to an account in another country, the money leaves the reach of the people who could realistically help you get it back — your bank's recall process, the Dutch police, the Fraudehelpdesk.
A foreign account is not proof of fraud. Real people bank abroad, and some legitimate international operators do collect centrally. But it is a reason to stop and ask the question out loud, in person, before you pay — and every answer that comes back as pressure rather than explanation is itself the signal.
- Ask which entity holds the account and whether the name matches the contract. A genuine landlord answers this in one sentence.
- A transfer to a Dutch account can sometimes be recalled by your bank if you act within hours. Cross-border, that window is shorter and the process weaker.
- Instant payment apps, crypto and gift cards have no recall at all. Those are not payment methods, they are the end of the conversation.
Can I look up who owns an IBAN?
No, and neither can we. There is no public register of account holders in the Netherlands or anywhere in the EU, and any site claiming to offer one is either selling you nothing or selling you someone else's leaked data.
What exists instead is Verification of Payee. Since 9 October 2025, under the EU Instant Payments Regulation, banks in the euro area must check the name you type against the IBAN you type before a euro transfer goes through, and warn you when it does not match. This is the closest thing to an ownership check that any private person gets — and it is free, built into your banking app, and happens at exactly the right moment.
- Type the landlord's full legal name, exactly as it appears on the contract, into the payee field. Do not copy whatever name the advert used.
- If your bank says the name does not match, stop. Do not override it because someone told you their bank account is in a relative's name.
- A close-match warning is still a warning. Ask for an explanation before, not after.
What our check reads, precisely
When you paste a message that contains an account number, the checker extracts it, validates it against the mod-97 rule, and reports the country. That is the whole of it — deterministic, offline, no lookup, no third party.
We deliberately only look for an account number in what you paste, never in a listing page we fetched. A public advert carries no deposit account, but its HTML is full of long numbers that would fail a checksum and produce a false alarm.
Frequently asked questions
The landlord's IBAN is valid. Does that mean it's safe to pay?
No. A valid IBAN only means the number is correctly formed. It says nothing about who holds the account or whether the person asking has any right to rent you the property. Use your bank's payee name check, and verify the owner separately before any money moves.
Is it normal for a Dutch landlord to ask for a deposit to a foreign account?
It is unusual, and it is one of the patterns we see most often in fraudulent listings. It is not automatically fraud — ask which entity holds the account and why, in person, and check that the answer matches the name on the contract.
What is the maximum deposit a Dutch landlord can ask for?
Under the Wet goed verhuurderschap the deposit is capped at two months' basic rent. A request well above that is both a legal problem and a common fraud pattern — our deposit calculator works out the cap for your rent.
Can I get my money back after transferring to a scammer?
Sometimes, if you act immediately. Call your bank the moment you suspect it and ask for a recall, then report to the police and the Fraudehelpdesk. Speed matters more than anything else, and the odds fall sharply once the money has been moved on.
Does checking an IBAN send anything to the bank?
No. Our check is pure arithmetic performed on our own server — the format and the mod-97 checksum. Nothing is sent to any bank, and no account number is stored with your verdict.