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Luxembourg IBAN Check Digits: Calculation & Verification

The check digits of a Luxembourg IBAN are the two digits at positions 3 and 4 (after the country code). In the example LU280019400644750000, they are 28. 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.

LU
CC
28
Check
0019400644750000
BBAN

MOD 97 Algorithm: Steps

  1. 1Move the first 4 characters (country code + check digits) to the end of the IBAN.
  2. 2Replace each letter with its numeric value (A=10, B=11, … Z=35).
  3. 3Compute the remainder of dividing this large number by 97.
  4. 4The result must equal 1 for a valid IBAN.

Step-by-Step Example

Example IBAN:LU280019400644750000
Step 1 — Rearrange
Moving "LU28" to the end:
0019400644750000LU28
Step 2 — Letter substitution
Replacing letters (country code and alphabetic BBAN chars):
0019400644750000213028
L=21U=30
Step 3 — Modulo 97
Computing the modulo:
00194006447500002130 mod 97 = 1
Result
✓ 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 20-character Luxembourg IBAN, the probability of incorrectly accepting an invalid IBAN is 1/97 ≈ 1%.

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