From January 22nd, the Central Bank of Costa Rica will start the process of adopting IBAN, a format of bank accounts that will replace the client accounts.
According to the entity, the new format will reduce errors in processing incoming and outgoing payments in financial institutions. Since each customer’s account is unique worldwide, it will incorporate verification codes to guarantee its correct structure .
The new standard will affect the technological infrastructures of financial institutions and the National Electronic Payment System (SINPE).
Thanks to IBAN, each client in Costa Rica will have a universal account, which will have a format used in almost 70 countries, including all European countries, to make payment transactions within the same bank, payments between two national banks and people will able to send money to and from international banks.
This change will be conducted in two major stages .
The first one will start on January 22nd with a 12-hour disconnection of the SINPE service and the technological systems of financial institutions.
During that time, the staff from the Central Bank and other entities will be applying the changes in the platforms, so during these hours it will not be possible to use SINPE. Once that task is completed, digital services for transfers and payments will work as regular.
In this first stage, bank customers will not be affected and they won’t change the way they use the financial services, either physically or in digital applications.
The second stage will be completed at the end of 2018, when all entities are expected to have replaced their own accounts to IBAN.