Irish exporters are set to benefit from the introduction of new pan-European banking codes, the Irish Exporter's Association (IEA) will announce today. From January 1st, 2007, all Irish business making or receiving cross-border payments in the EU will have to use a Bank Identifier Code (BIC) and an International Bank Account Number (IBAN).

Use of the codes will allow international payments to be made automatically and for receivers' bank account numbers to be checked for accuracy. Welcoming the move, IEA chief executive John Whelan said the new code would reduce transactions costs for exporters. "This measure will eliminate delays in processing payments and reduce the cost of payments to Irish exporters. With Irish companies exporting over €40 billion to European customers annually, this measure can bring significant savings to the industry," Mr Whelan said.

The new code will be binding amongst the 25 member states of the EU, as well as Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. The code will impose a legal obligation on businesses trading in Europe to inform their business partners of their IBAN and BIC account details on all invoices. Banks will be entitled to present charges on any payments without this information.

"We will be working with exporters to ensure both they and their customers are aware of the requirements and have put systems in place to ensure this information is transmitted with all payment transactions," Mr Whelan said.

The announcement from the IEA follows its launch last week of a software package designed to help firms adapt to new guidelines for banks on business lending. The guidelines facilitate bank lending to small and medium-sized enterprises.