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The unified orchestration layer for wallets and alternative payments
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The secure repository for all your payment methods
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Workflow-driven payments intelligence for smarter routing and higher auth rates
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A flexible fraud and authentication layer. Instantly add advanced fraud tools and 3DS
One integration to sell inside ChatGPT, Gemini, and every agentic platform
Coming soon
The unified orchestration layer for wallets and alternative payments
The secure repository for all your payment methods
Workflow-driven payments intelligence for smarter routing and higher auth rates
A flexible fraud and authentication layer. Instantly add advanced fraud tools and 3DS
One integration to sell inside ChatGPT, Gemini, and every agentic platform
Coming soon
Virtual IBAN (vIBAN)
A Virtual IBAN (vIBAN) is a unique IBAN (International Bank Account Number) that is assigned to a specific customer, transaction flow, or business relationship, but that routes incoming funds to a master (real) bank account held by the vIBAN issuer. Virtual IBANs do not represent separate bank accounts; they are routing identifiers that map to an underlying account.
The practical value of virtual IBANs is in reconciliation and fund segregation without the operational burden of maintaining separate bank accounts. A marketplace, for example, can assign a unique vIBAN to each of its sellers. Buyers making bank transfers pay to the seller's assigned vIBAN; the funds arrive in the platform's master account, and the platform's reconciliation system identifies which seller the payment belongs to based on the vIBAN used. This eliminates the need for buyers to include reference numbers (which are frequently omitted or entered incorrectly) and produces clean, automated reconciliation.
Virtual IBANs are particularly common in European payment infrastructures, where SEPA bank transfers are a dominant payment method. They are issued by licensed financial institutions (banks, Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs), or BaaS providers) under their own banking licenses and IBAN namespace.
For businesses handling complex multi-party payment flows, marketplaces, subscription platforms, B2B invoicing, virtual IBANs are a powerful reconciliation tool. They are typically accessed through Banking as a Service (BaaS) providers or specialized payment infrastructure companies.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a virtual IBAN and a regular IBAN?
A regular IBAN represents a real bank account that holds a balance in the account holder's name. A vIBAN is a routing alias, it is a unique account number that directs incoming transfers to a master account, but does not represent a separate ledger balance in its own right. From the perspective of the person sending a payment, a vIBAN looks and behaves like any other IBAN: they enter it as the payee account number and the transfer routes normally.
Are virtual IBANs available outside Europe?
Virtual IBAN structures exist in other markets under different names and frameworks, but the IBAN standard itself is specific to SEPA-participating countries. In the US, virtual account numbers serve a similar reconciliation purpose in ACH contexts. In the UK, sort codes and account numbers can be virtualized through some banking infrastructure providers.
What compliance requirements apply to vIBAN issuance?
Issuing virtual IBANs requires a regulated banking license or an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license in the relevant jurisdiction. The entity issuing vIBANs is responsible for AML (Anti-Money Laundering) compliance on the funds that flow through them, including KYC (Know Your Customer) and KYB (Know Your Business) checks on the businesses and individuals assigned vIBANs.
