Georgia uses a compact 22-character IBAN with the BBAN pattern ^[A-Z0-9]{2}[0-9]{16}$: a 2-character bank code followed by a 16-digit account number. Georgia mandated IBANs for domestic account numbering in 2010, one of the earlier adopters outside Europe’s payment area.
Structure
The official registry example is GE29 NB00 0000 0101 9049 17, a SWIFT registry test value, not a live account:
GE29- country code and IBAN check digitsNB- the 2-character bank code (NB denotes the National Bank of Georgia in this registry sample; commercial banks use codes like TB or BG)0000000101904917- the 16-digit account number
The two-letter bank code
Most IBAN countries allocate four or more characters to identify the institution; Georgia manages with two. The National Bank of Georgia assigns each licensed bank a short mnemonic pair, which keeps the total length down but limits the namespace - workable in a banking market with a small number of licensed institutions, dominated by two large banks. There is no branch field and no domestic check digit in the Georgian BBAN, so validation rests entirely on length, the character-class pattern and the ISO 7064 MOD-97 checksum.
Sending money to Georgia
Georgia is not in SEPA, and the lari is not a SEPA currency, so a European transfer to a GE IBAN travels over SWIFT. Practical implications: the sender usually needs the beneficiary bank’s BIC alongside the IBAN, fees are higher than SEPA rates, and intermediary banks may deduct charges en route. Georgia’s banking sector is heavily dollar- and euro-ised, so multi-currency accounts are the norm; sending euros to a lari-only account triggers conversion at the receiving bank’s rate.
A GE IBAN that validates is well formed and nothing more. With no national check digit and no SEPA-style Verification of Payee on this corridor, a wrong but structurally valid number is a real risk: verify Georgian beneficiary details through a second channel before transferring significant amounts.