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Central African Republic IBAN Check Digits: Calculation & Verification
The check digits of a Central African Republic IBAN are the two digits at positions 3 and 4 (after the country code). In the example CF4220001000010120069700160, they are 42. They detect keying errors using the MOD 97 algorithm.
What Are IBAN Check Digits?
Check digits (positions 3–4 of the IBAN) validate the integrity of the account number. They are computed per ISO 13616 using the modulo 97-10 algorithm. Any single-character error or adjacent-character transposition will be detected.
CF
CC
42
Check
20001000010120069700160
BBAN
MOD 97 Algorithm: Steps
- 1Move the first 4 characters (country code + check digits) to the end of the IBAN.
- 2Replace each letter with its numeric value (A=10, B=11, … Z=35).
- 3Compute the remainder of dividing this large number by 97.
- 4The result must equal 1 for a valid IBAN.
Step-by-Step Example
Example IBAN:
CF4220001000010120069700160Step 1 — Rearrange
Moving "CF42" to the end:
20001000010120069700160CF42Step 2 — Letter substitution
Replacing letters (country code and alphabetic BBAN chars):
20001000010120069700160121542C=12F=15
Step 3 — Modulo 97
Computing the modulo:
20001000010120069700… mod 97 = 1Result
✓ Valid IBAN (remainder = 1)Errors Detected by MOD 97
Detected
- ✓Any single digit/letter error
- ✓Transposition of two adjacent characters
Not detected (generally)
- ~Some twin errors
Why It Matters
The MOD 97 algorithm detects ~99.96% of simple typing errors. For a 27-character Central African Republic IBAN, the probability of incorrectly accepting an invalid IBAN is 1/97 ≈ 1%.