The switch to 18-digit bank account numbers may well hit charitable donations, Dutch charity organisation VFI and the Giro 555 fund raising group say in Thursday’s AD.

People find it hard to remember the longer numbers and that may make them more reluctant to give, the organisations say.

Some 50 Dutch charities currently have very short bank account numbers, like the Giro 999 account operated by refugee charity Stichting Vluchteling. From February it’s account number will be NL48 INGB 0000 0009 99, the AD says.

The new IBAN system stems from European legislation to make bank transfers within Europe easier.

‘Time is running out,’ Gosse Bosma of the VFI told the AD. ‘We want to make arrangements with the banks to minimise the damage.’