Malta IBAN
A Malta IBAN is 31 characters long and Malta is in SEPA.
MT and two check digits open every Malta IBAN; its remaining 27 form the BBAN (Basic Bank Account Number).
Example Malta IBAN
Electronic format
MT84MALT011000012345MTLCAST001S
Print format
MT84 MALT 0110 0001 2345 MTLC AST0 01S
IBAN structure for Malta
Major banks in Malta
3 banks in Malta that support IBAN-based international transfers:
Format reference: SWIFT IBAN Registry.
Malta IBAN questions
Who regulates payment services in Malta, the MFSA or the central bank?
Both, in different roles. The MFSA licenses banks and other financial institutions, while the Central Bank of Malta acts as payments regulator: Malta's financial arbiter notes that the EU's second Payment Services Directive was adopted through CBM Directive No. 1 on the provision and use of payment services. The CBM is also Malta's competent authority for SEPA under Regulation (EU) 260/2012.
Where can I complain about a Maltese bank or payment provider?
Complain to the provider in writing first and allow it 15 working days to reply, extendable to no more than 35. If unsatisfied, turn to the Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services, set up under Act XVI of 2016, which handles complaints against MFSA-licensed providers free of charge if the provider received your complaint within two years of your learning of the problem.
Who clears cheques in Malta?
The Malta Clearing House, set up in the early 1970s and chaired by the CBM. No specific law governs cheque clearing in Malta: it rests on agreements and rules made by the clearing house, whose members are the CBM, nine credit institutions and two financial institutions. An institution outside it can clear through a member acting as its agent.
Malta: the lira changeover, MTEUROPAY and fewer cheques
Malta adopted the euro on 1 January 2008, after the EU Council approved its application on 10 July 2007, replacing the Maltese lira at an irrevocably fixed rate of 0.429300 lira per euro; lira cash ceased to be usable for payments from 1 February 2008. The Central Bank of Malta (CBM) operates TARGET2-Malta, its part of the Eurosystem's euro settlement platform, and earlier ran MaRIS, Malta's first real-time gross settlement system.
- SEPA credit transfers and direct debits from Maltese institutions can clear through MTEUROPAY, a retail payment system the CBM operates over the Euro Banking Association's STEP2 platform. It serves credit and financial institutions, payment processing institutions and central securities depositories licensed by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), and communicates only by SWIFT.
- The CBM says cheques remain a dominant means of payment locally, though a study found their number fell from about 9 million in 2019 to 2 million in 2024. Its Directive No. 19 has governed them since 2022; an updated text published on 26 March 2026 raises the minimum cheque value, shortens validity and requires deposit into a payment account from 1 January 2027.
- Wages for third-country nationals whose employment in Malta began on or after 1 October 2025 may not be paid in cash. Act No. XXXI of 2025, amending the Employment and Industrial Relations Act, requires a bank transfer to an account in the employee's name or an electronic transfer through an accredited, licensed financial institution, the CBM notes.
Sources: ECB: euro cash changeover in Malta; Central Bank of Malta: MTEUROPAY; CBM: consultation on alternatives to cheques (Oct 2025); CBM: updated Directive No. 19 on cheques (26 Mar 2026).
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