IBAN (International Bank Account Number) is an international bank account number in Belarus. IBAN account Will banks be open the day before and on the day the new accounts and BIC come into effect?
So, scammers may try to take advantage of the following:
Receipts. Don't leave receipts from your payment cards on restaurant tables. Do not leave payment receipts at ATMs, trash cans, gas stations, or other public places. Destroy receipts you don't need. Any information on a receipt could allow criminals to gather information to falsify documents. Keep copies of all receipts! This will help identify fraud if it does happen.
Wallets.Instead of carrying your wallet in your pants pocket or in an easily accessible place in your bag, use a travel purse that you can wear under your shirt. Another option could be a money belt - a great find for a traveler. With it, you don't need to worry about the safety of your money if you fall asleep on the plane or look at a local landmark.
Cell Phones. Always protect your cell phone with passwords consisting ofcomplex combinations of letters, numbers and special characters. Install applications that allow you to use GPS tracking. Be sure to lock your phone in case it is lost or stolen. Add other security measures.
Bank checks. Leave checkbooks in a locked safe at home. As a rule, the illegal use of checks becomes possible as a result of their theft from the owner or fraud. Less common are cases of illegal use of lost checks. RegularChecking your bank account is one of the best ways to detect financial fraud!
Phone cameras. Be careful - a tourist or local with a photo camera may try to take a photo of your payment card, driver's license or other documents and then make a copy of them.Therefore, be careful! Keep important personal information out of sight of others!
Hotels. Lock all valuables in hotel safes,including laptops, passports and other documents that contain personal information. Do not leave these items with the hotel receptionist for transportation or storage—carry them with you.
Aircraft. Do not leave items that contain your card or financial institution checking account numbers in your checked baggage. Never carry your Social Security number, whether local or foreign.
Email. Do not send sensitive information unencrypted via email, and be careful when clicking on links in emails. Be wary of links and Internet addresses sent in unsolicited emails.
Correspondence.Stop mail delivery services when you travel and arrange to resume mail delivery only after visiting the post office upon your return. Do not leave your correspondence in public areas. If possible, take care of the security of your mailbox. Access to your correspondence must be denied!
WiFi. Be aware that many free Wi-Fi networks in cafes, hotels and public places are not secure. Avoid entering private information such as bank account numbers or logins on public computers. Never automatically save information or passwords and clear your search history after use. If possible, open a separate browsing window that will not save passwords, history, or passwords.
Failure to follow these simple tips could allow thieves to gain access to your personal information, which could lead them to use it to open bank accounts, take out loans, and claim benefits in your name. Thieves can also use it to obtain documents in your name, such as a driver's license or passport. Information criminals are looking for information about your name, date of birth, address, social security number, your bank and charge card.
Keep your personal information safe, both online and offline!
Tips for travelers
On the development of financial leasing operations for individuals
The main reason for this situation was the inaccessibility of leasing transactions to the population not for business purposes. Leasing was available only to legal entities and individual entrepreneurs.
Now, with the adoption of Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus No. 99 “On issues of regulation of leasing activities”, from September 1, 2014, leasing agreements can be concluded with individuals. Thus, an alternative source appears for the population to satisfy the demand for long-term financing, in particular for the purchase of housing, transport and other durable goods.
Despite the fact that the nature of the concepts of “loan”, “leasing” and “rent” is similar - obtaining an expensive product without having the required amount on hand - there are differences between them.
So what is leasing and what is its difference from credit and rent?
Most consumers are faced with the problem of purchasing an expensive product with insufficient personal funds. To solve this problem, you can use the following options for purchasing this product:
1. on credit;
2. on lease;
3. for rent.
Let's consider the advantages and disadvantages of the indicated options.
So, the consumer purchases an expensive product at credit.
In this case, a citizen borrows money from a bank and pays it the principal amount and interest for the use of this money over the period specified in the loan agreement. At the same time, an essential point when concluding a loan agreement with a bank is that the goods purchased with the bank’s money become the property of the citizen. Sometimes the terms of the agreement may provide for some restrictions on the disposal of this property until the debt is fully repaid.
Thus, the main advantage of an individual purchasing an expensive product on credit is the transfer of ownership of the purchased product from the moment of its acquisition.
It should be noted that today the population’s demand for loans has decreased significantly. This is due to fairly high interest rates on these resources.
In such conditions, for individuals, a good alternative to purchasing expensive goods on credit is purchasing them on leasing terms.
So, leasing is a transaction for the acquisition of a specific product by a leasing organization for a buyer (citizen, individual entrepreneur, or legal entity) on his behalf.
When purchasing a product in leasing , a citizen applies to a leasing organization with a request to purchase a specific product for his personal use from a specific seller and enters into a leasing agreement with the leasing organization. In this case, an essential condition of the purchase and sale agreement for goods purchased for leasing is an indication that the goods are intended to be transferred under a leasing agreement. From the moment of concluding a leasing agreement, the leasing organization is the lessor, the citizen for whom the goods are purchased is the lessee, and the purchased goods are the subject of leasing. A leasing organization buys a product chosen by the lessee for the lessee either at its own expense or attracts a bank loan (or a loan from legal entities) for this purpose, and then transfers this product for temporary possession and use to the lessee. Depending on the desire of the citizen, a leasing agreement can be concluded with or without the right to purchase (or obligation) the leased asset. At the same time, during the validity of the leasing agreement, ownership of the purchased goods remains with the leasing organization. The lessee, in our case a citizen, pays leasing payments to the leasing organization, and at the end of the leasing period, if he acquires ownership of the goods, the redemption value. Only after payment of all leasing payments and the redemption price of the leased asset does ownership pass to the lessee.
It is in the right of ownership that the main difference between leasing and credit lies, since during leasing, a citizen (lessee) uses the goods throughout the entire leasing period, and ownership passes to him only upon payment of all leasing payments and the redemption value of the leased item.
At the same time, despite the fact that the leased asset is not the property of the lessee, acquiring property on lease has a number of advantages compared to obtaining a loan.
Firstly, the requirements for the lessee during leasing are less stringent (compared to the requirements imposed by banks on potential borrowers).
Secondly, the leasing agreement can provide for more flexible terms for calculating lease payments, and the procedure for making changes to the schedule is simpler.
Thirdly, property acquired under leasing, since it is not the property of the lessee, cannot be subject to seizure or seizure by creditors in the event of various disputes.
In addition, rates on leasing transactions may be lower than rates on bank loans. In particular, a leasing organization can purchase the required goods both for its own funds and through a bank loan. Rates on long-term loans (over 1 year) for legal entities are today lower than for individuals. Thus, in fact, in January - August 2014, the rate on loans for legal entities amounted to 30.6 percent, for the population - 36.8 percent. Accordingly, a leasing organization has more opportunities to attract bank loans on more favorable terms compared to individuals, who are a priori a riskier segment for banks.
The lessor has the opportunity to purchase and subsequently maintain (insure, repair) the leased asset at a lower cost than if the same expenses were borne by the citizen himself when purchasing property through a loan .
However, today there is a significant limiting factor for the widespread demand for leasing. This is the need to pay VAT on the amounts of lease payments paid and the redemption value of the leased asset, while loan payments are exempt from this tax. That is, an individual, purchasing, for example, a car through a bank loan, pays only the amount of VAT included by the seller in the price of the vehicle being sold, while when purchasing it on lease, in addition to the VAT included in the price of the car, it is also necessary to pay and VAT, which is subject to leasing payments. As a result, there is a significant increase in the cost of the leased goods.
In this regard, at the initiative of the National Bank, the Ministry of Finance, together with the Ministry of Taxes and Duties, prepared amendments to the Tax Code, providing for the exemption from VAT of lease payments in terms of remuneration (income) of the lessor and investment expenses of the lessor, with the exception of investment expenses included in the cost of the leased asset .
Exemption from VAT for individuals will contribute to the actual equalization of taxation conditions for leasing and lending transactions, which will allow citizens to purchase housing, real estate, and durable items on lease on more favorable terms.
Another option for purchasing an expensive product in the absence of sufficient funds is rent . So, if the lessor has the goods required by the citizen, a lease agreement is concluded. The exclusive difference between leasing and renting is that during leasing, the item is purchased by the leasing organization for a specific recipient, and when leasing, the item is already in the possession of the lessor, that is, its purchase occurred before the citizen applied and is in no way connected with it. That is, a citizen rents a product that the lessor already has in stock. The owner of this product is also the lessor.
It should also be noted that in the case where the leasing agreement does not provide for the repurchase of the leased asset at its end, the goods (leasing asset) returned to the lessor can be leased. Thus, the main advantage of renting is its cost; it is usually lower than the cost of loans and leasing. However, a significant disadvantage of this type of product acquisition is that the product may not fully meet the consumer’s requirements, and may not be new (just purchased).
Another important difference between leasing and renting is that during leasing, claims regarding the quality, completeness of the leased asset (other requirements arising from the purchase and sale agreement for the leased asset) can be presented to the seller by the lessee himself, whereas in leasing - only by the lessor.
From the options discussed above, each consumer will choose the most suitable one for him. But, answering the question whether, in principle, the population needs leasing and whether these operations will be in demand, it can certainly be answered that leasing not for business purposes seems promising in meeting the most socially significant needs for individuals who do not carry out entrepreneurial activities. This is, for example, the purchase of housing, cars, expensive household appliances.
On the development of financial operations...
From July 4, Belarus will switch to an international account number (IBAN) and bank identification code (BIC) structure. How will these changes affect individuals and legal entities?
What is IBAN?
IBAN (International Bank Account Number) is the international number of the client’s bank account in a bank or other financial institution, up to 34 characters long, which is assigned in accordance with the international standard (ISO 13 616). IBAN was originally used to simplify and speed up the processing of international payments in EU countries (IBAN is now used in more than 70 countries around the world).
What will the IBAN look like for the Republic of Belarus?
The IBAN account number will have 28 characters (letters and numbers) and will look like this (example):
BY13 NBRB 3600 9000 0000 2Z00 AB00.
The “old” account number has 13 digits.
Why are Belarusians switching to IBAN?
From January 1, 2007, EU banks may not accept payments in which the international account number does not meet IBAN requirements. Such payments are returned back to the sender, and European banks may charge a fee for the return of the payment.
Using an IBAN account number allows you to uniquely identify the payment participant, check the correctness of the account number before sending the payment, speed up the payment processing process while observing the principle of straight through continuous payment processing (STP), reduce operational risks associated with incorrect execution of payments, since Already at the stage of accepting customer payments for processing, the bank will be able to check the correctness of the recipient’s details using check digits. In addition, IBAN allows you to reduce costs when making cross-border payments and implementing integration processes.
Why do individuals need to know their IBAN account number?
The payee's account number in IBAN format must be known to the sender of the payment. Therefore, in order to receive funds via bank transfer, the new account number must be provided to the sender. Individuals with bank accounts need an IBAN account number in order to fill out a payment order when transferring money not only abroad (including to EU countries), but also within the country.
What happens if you don’t open a new account?
A Belarusian citizen will be able to receive funds from abroad either to the IBAN account he opened in the bank or without opening an account. Regardless of whether or not a citizen has provided his counterparty with information about his new account number, funds received from abroad in his favor from July 4 to December 31 of this year will be credited by the bank to the new account. Moreover, if payments are made through a bank card or its details, which remain unchanged, it is not necessary to know the account number.
How can I find out my account number?
New IBAN account numbers can be found in bank departments and in banking remote service systems. Information about new accounts may also be available in remote services provided by banks (Internet banking, mobile banking, online chat). From December 1 last year to June 30 this year, when opening new accounts, banks simultaneously issue new IBAN (28-bit) account numbers to clients. IBAN numbers are also assigned to all accounts that were opened before December 1 of the previous year.
Will there be a transition period?
Transfers in favor of individuals according to lists (salaries, pensions, benefits, etc.), which will be received from July 4 to September 30 inclusive for crediting to old account numbers, will be credited by banks to new IBAN account numbers. There will be a transition period for legal entities as well. Thus, money from international bank transfers that will be received by clients from July 4 to December 31 of this year inclusive for crediting to the old account numbers will be credited to the new IBAN account numbers of the recipients.
Do I need to change cards and provide a new account number to receive a salary?
- No, it won’t be necessary. The servicing bank will independently replace the account. WITH There is also no need to provide a new account number to receive a pension, scholarship or other payments. The employer and other interested structures will receive information about new account numbers centrally.
Do I need to change a standing payment order?
— To preserve the PDPP, individuals should inform banks before July 1 about the new details of recipients of money transfers in IBAN format. If the client does not submit an application to the servicing bank to change the recipient details in standing payment orders, the bank will stop executing such orders starting from July 1, 2017.What will change for legal entities?
Due to the transition of Belarusian banks to IBAN, the structure of correspondent, current (settlement) bank accounts, temporary, charitable, deposit (deposit) accounts will change. The structure of accounts for recording funds in settlements for transactions with banks, accounts for recording funds in settlements for transactions with clients, and other accounts used in making settlements by the National Bank, banks and non-bank financial institutions of Belarus will also change. The National Bank adds that by May 1, all legal entities received notifications about changes in their account numbers and bank identification codes of the banks serving them. “They, in turn, must provide new details to their counterparties both in Belarus and abroad, and take care of submitting applications to banks to change the details of payment documents located in banks’ files, standing payment orders, applications for acceptance of payment requirements in order to ensure the uninterrupted execution of payments,” the National Bank clarifies. At the same time, legal entities upon whose application enforcement proceedings have been initiated must contact the enforcement agency to inform the bailiff about new bank accounts to which, after July 4, funds collected from the debtor as part of enforcement proceedings should be sent.
Will banks be open the day before and on the day the new accounts and BIC come into effect?
It is expected that on June 30, the last banking day before the transition to new IBAN account numbers, all bank branches will operate as normal, taking into account the end of the month and the end of the quarter. As a rule, payments accepted “today” are transferred on the next banking day. Therefore, payments accepted on June 30 will be accepted to the old details, and transferred on July 4 to the new details.
This is the very first and most important stage of verification that we perform.
Verification characters include two characters located in positions 3 and 4 in the IBAN.
The characters are calculated based on the MOD97 algorithm, and allow a first check of the correctness of the IBAN number.
This verification is supported in all 116 countries.
If an error occurs at this stage, we do not carry out further checks because The IBAN is obviously incorrect.
IBAN support in the country
Our system automatically checks whether it is possible to use an IBAN in the country specified in the code.If an error occurs, the user will see a message stating that the IBAN is not used in the country.
This can only happen if you are using low quality software.
IBAN length
Checking the length of the IBAN code is the third step in checking the code you entered.
Each of the 116 countries has its own IBAN code length.
Possible test results:
IBAN length is correct for UK
In the country ***COUNTRY*** IBAN includes **N** characters
If the International Bank Account Number is different, it is considered incorrect.
Account Number Checksum (BBAN)
Any IBAN code includes an internal BBAN (Basic Bank Account Number) account number.
Some countries use additional characters to verify that the BBAN is correct.
Each country uses its own algorithm, and it may differ even for different bank branches.
- Great Britain (UK) uses 3 different algorithms: MOD10, MOD11 and DBLAL with 39 indicators. Thus, we have more than 100 variations
- Holland (NL) uses the MOD11 algorithm with various parameters to verify the account number. France (FR) uses MOD97 with various parameters
- Germany (DE) uses a complex structure based on 143 algorithms and parameters: MOD10, MOD11, MOD7, etc.
- Italy (IT) uses a modified MOD10 algorithm to check domestic bank accounts
- Sweden (SE) uses 5 different algorithms: MOD11 and MOD10 with different parameters
Correct account number checksum- You can use the number as it is correct.
Invalid account number checksum- You cannot use the number. Most likely it contains an error.
Account number does not support verification- Many countries and banks do not support account number verification. In this case, you should use verification characters to evaluate the IBAN.
Currently, 48 countries support BBAN and internal account number verification using verification characters.
IBAN format and structure
In the second step, we check the structure of the International Bank Account Number.
We know all the rules and requirements in each country that govern the use of IBAN.
This check may be useful if the country you select does not use verification characters.
This check may have the following results:
Correct IBAN format and structure!
Incorrect IBAN format and structure!
Formatting
Our algorithm allows you to determine IBAN formats in all 116 countries.
When checking the number format we take into account:
- Bank code position- allows you to determine the correct location of the bank identifier
- Branch code position- The branch code is not used in all countries. We check for 58 countries
- Position of test characters- Not used in all countries. We check for 58 countries
Structure checking involves checking the placement of special characters in different parts of the IBAN.
The framework is tested for 116 countries.
During the structure check we determine:
- The bank code contains only letters, only numbers, letters and numbers
- Branch code contains only letters, only numbers, letters and numbers
- The internal account number contains only letters, only numbers, letters and numbers
By default, the Currency Calculator makes calculations at the current exchange rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (Central Bank of the Russian Federation) between US Dollars and Russian Rubles.
You can change the date of exchange rates by selecting any day you need. To change the date, click on the link on the date, an additional menu will open. The database contains information on all exchange rates officially established by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation since 1993. The date selection menu only shows those days on which exchange rates have been officially set. Fresh exchange rates are downloaded daily from the website of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.
You can change the main currencies using the currency drop-down menu. It is convenient to change the main Currency by clicking on the line with the name of the currency in the lower table.
All calculations (cross-rate and totals) in the table on the "Calculator of all currencies" tab are performed automatically when the values of the main currencies change.
You can not only make calculations for currency conversion, but also view Currency Rates for the selected date on the “Currency Rates” tab of the table.
For ease of use, you can configure the Currency Calculator. Settings allow you to disable currencies you do not need, change the order in which currencies are displayed, and set default currencies for basic calculations. Use the Settings tab.