Table of Contents
The customer account code (CCC) is an unrepeatable twenty-digit number that is assigned to savings accounts, current accounts and other financial products, individually. Código Cuenta Cliente (CCC) is a unique account code used by Spanish banks to identify their customers. It is the DNI of the bank account and is used by the rest of the entities in the financial system to quickly identify the account.
What do the numbers in the Customer Account Code mean?
Customer Account Codes in Spain have a standardized structure that corresponds to four groups:
EEEE OOOO DD NNNNNNNNNN
- The first four digits are the Bank Entity Registration Number (NRBE) of Spain and identify the type of institution it is.
- The next four determine the office of the originating entity of the account. Each branch has its own assigned number.
- The next two correspond to a random control code that provides security to the account.
- The last ten numbers are those that identify the current account within the entity.
The IBAN: is it the same as the CCC?
Since 2014, the customer account code (CCC) became the IBAN, since the SEPA zone was established – a financial region in which a citizen can operate financially under certain conditions, such as, for example, making transfers, payments or cash withdrawal-.
How is the Customer Account Code different from the IBAN? In reality, there is only one difference between the two: the IBAN adds, with its prefix, a nomenclature accepted as a standard to internationally identify the bank account number.
Thus, the IBAN contains the CCC, which remains unchanged, to which is added at the beginning a code made up of two letters, which corresponds to the country of origin of the account, and two control digits.
Customer Account Code: EEEE OOOO DD NNNNNNNNNN
IBAN: ESXX EEEE OOOO DD NNNNNNNNNN
Differences between BIC, IBAN and SWIFT
In addition to the CCC and the IBAN, a third code is required for international financial operations: the International Bank Identification Code (BIC) or SWIFT (acronym for the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication).
Thanks to this code, banks can identify that international transfers to the user’s account are made from a secure entity. And in no case will it replace the IBAN. In fact, it is a complement that is demanded jointly in international financial operations.
Unlike the CCC and the IBAN, the SWIFT has between 8 and 11 characters, of which the first four correspond to the identifier of the bank, the next two to the ISO code of the country and the last two to the location of origin of the bill. In those BIC codes that have 11 digits, the last three of the set correspond to the branch of the account.