Romania’s IBAN is 24 characters with the BBAN pattern ^[A-Z]{4}[A-Z0-9]{16}$: a 4-letter bank code followed by 16 alphanumeric characters. It is one of the few European formats where the entire account portion may be alphabetic, numeric or mixed.
Structure
The official registry example is RO49 AAAA 1B31 0075 9384 0000, a SWIFT registry test value with a deliberately artificial bank code, not a real account:
RO49- country code and IBAN check digitsAAAA- the 4-letter bank identifier (real examples: BTRL, RNCB, BRDE, INGB)1B31007593840000- the 16-character account identifier, letters permitted anywhere
No branch code, bank-defined accounts
Romania modernised its account numbering during the 2000s reform of its payment infrastructure and skipped the branch-code concept entirely: routing is by bank, and each institution structures the 16-character field as it wishes. Many banks embed currency or product markers in it, which is why two accounts of the same customer often share a long common substring. There is no national check digit inside the Romanian BBAN; the IBAN’s MOD-97 check digits are the only arithmetic protection, so single-character typos are caught but a validator cannot apply any deeper domestic rule.
Currency and SEPA context
Romania joined the EU in 2007 and participates in SEPA while keeping the leu (RON). The same RO IBAN identifies an account for domestic RON transfers and for euro SEPA payments; whether an incoming euro payment converts on arrival depends on the account’s currency, so confirming the denomination with the beneficiary avoids unwanted FX spreads. Romanian banks also issue separate IBANs per currency for the same customer, a practice worth remembering when a supplier sends you a list of several similar-looking RO IBANs.
The standard caveat applies: a checksum-valid RO IBAN with a plausible bank code proves formatting, not existence. The account behind it may be closed, or the string may never have been issued. Verification of Payee name matching, mandated across EU payment providers, is the mechanism that confirms the account holder before money moves.