IBAN format · SO

Somalia IBAN format: 23 characters.

Somalia IBANs have 23 characters: the country code SO, two check digits and a 19-character BBAN, the national account number, laid out as 4!n3!n12!n.

Somalia IBAN structure

SO211000001001000100141

Country code: SO
Check digits: 21
Bank code: 1000
Branch code: 001
Account: 001000100141

Parts of a Somalia IBAN and their positions
Positions	Part	In the example
1–2	Country code	SO
3–4	Check digits	21
5–8	Bank code	1000
9–11	Branch code	001
12–23	Account	001000100141

The BBAN, segment by segment

The registry writes the BBAN in SWIFT notation: n is a digit, a an upper-case letter, c a letter or digit, and the ! means a fixed length. 4!n3!n12!n reads:

The Somalia BBAN format, segment by segment
Positions	Notation	Holds	Example
5–8	4!n	4 digitsBank code	1000
9–11	3!n	3 digitsBranch code	001
12–23	12!n	12 digits	001000100141

Somalia IBAN example

SO21 1000 0010 0100 0100 141 is the sample the SWIFT IBAN Registry publishes for Somalia: a well-formed IBAN for showing the format, not a real account. Written electronically it has no spaces (SO211000001001000100141); on paper it is printed in groups of four.

Its check digits, worked through with ISO 7064 mod 97-10:

Move the country code and check digits to the end
1000001001000100141SO21
Replace each letter with two digits (A = 10 … Z = 35)
S = 28, O = 24
1000001001000100141282421
Divide that number by 97 and keep the remainder
Remainder 1. A valid IBAN always leaves 1, so the check digits are right.
Where the check digits come from
Put 00 in their place (SO00…), repeat steps 1–3: remainder 77. The check digits are 98 − 77 = 21.

SEPA

Somalia is not in the Single Euro Payments Area, so SEPA credit transfers and direct debits don’t reach SO IBANs.

What the format can and can’t tell you

Valid means the structure and check digits are right — not that the account exists or can receive payments.
National check digits inside the BBAN (e.g. the French RIB key, or the Spanish, Belgian and Italian CIN digits) are not verified.
Bank and branch codes are read from their positions; they are not looked up in a bank directory.

Check SO IBANs from code or an AI agent

REST · GET · no key

curl -s 'https://payopskit.com/api/v1/iban/SO211000001001000100141'

MCP · tools/call · validate_iban

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "validate_iban",
    "arguments": {
      "iban": "SO211000001001000100141"
    }
  }
}

Response (JSON)

{
  "input": "SO211000001001000100141",
  "iban": "SO211000001001000100141",
  "print": "SO21 1000 0010 0100 0100 141",
  "valid": true,
  "country": {
    "code": "SO",
    "name": "Somalia",
    "sepa": false,
    "sepaNote": null
  },
  "checkDigits": "21",
  "expectedCheckDigits": "21",
  "length": {
    "actual": 23,
    "expected": 23
  },
  "bban": "1000001001000100141",
  "bbanFormat": "4!n3!n12!n",
  "bankCode": "1000",
  "branchCode": "001",
  "parts": [
    {
      "label": "Country code",
      "value": "SO",
      "start": 0,
      "end": 2,
      "kind": "country"
    },
    {
      "label": "Check digits",
      "value": "21",
      "start": 2,
      "end": 4,
      "kind": "check"
    },
    {
      "label": "Bank code",
      "value": "1000",
      "start": 4,
      "end": 8,
      "kind": "bank"
    },
    {
      "label": "Branch code",
      "value": "001",
      "start": 8,
      "end": 11,
      "kind": "branch"
    },
    {
      "label": "Account",
      "value": "001000100141",
      "start": 11,
      "end": 23,
      "kind": "account"
    }
  ],
  "checks": {
    "characters": true,
    "country": true,
    "length": true,
    "bbanFormat": true,
    "checksum": true
  },
  "errors": [],
  "notes": [
    "Valid means the structure and check digits are right — not that the account exists or can receive payments.",
    "National check digits inside the BBAN (e.g. the French RIB key, or the Spanish, Belgian and Italian CIN digits) are not verified."
  ]
}

The MCP server is at /mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key); the API and MCP docs show how to connect Claude, Cursor or VS Code.

From a national account number: GET /api/v1/iban/check-digits?country=SO&bban=… or the MCP tool compute_iban_check_digits computes the check digits and the whole IBAN.

Other 23-character IBANs

The same length doesn’t mean the same structure: compare the BBAN formats. All IBAN formats and lengths

Source: the SWIFT IBAN Registry (ISO 13616), transcribed and checked against each country’s registry example; the positions of bank and branch codes are given only where the registry’s are well established. The SWIFT IBAN Registry is the authority. Informational only.