Routing Number
The nine-digit code identifying a US bank in the payment system, required alongside your account number for ACH and wire payments.
Definition
A routing number is the nine-digit code that identifies a specific US bank or credit union within the payment system. Paired with your account number, it tells an incoming payment exactly where to go. The format, formally an ABA routing transit number, dates back to paper checks and now underpins ACH transfers, direct deposits, and domestic wires.
One bank can have multiple routing numbers: large banks often use different numbers by state or by payment type, with separate routing numbers for ACH and for wires being the classic gotcha. You can find yours in your banking app, on your checks (the first nine digits along the bottom), or on your bank's website. The ninth digit is a checksum, so a mistyped number usually fails validation rather than sending money astray.
Why It Matters
If you want clients to pay you by bank transfer, your routing and account numbers are what you put on the invoice or payment portal. Getting them right, and specifying the ACH routing number versus the wire routing number when your bank uses different ones, prevents the frustrating bounce-and-retry cycle that delays a payment by days.
Sharing them is normal and low-risk in the way sharing a check is: anyone you have ever written a check to has seen both numbers. Still, basic hygiene applies, since knowing them is enough to attempt an ACH debit. Share payment details through your invoice or a secure page rather than scattering them in chat threads, and keep an eye on your account for unfamiliar debits.
Examples
- 1
A freelancer adds her routing and account numbers to her invoice template so corporate clients can pay $5,000+ invoices by ACH instead of card.
- 2
A client's $12,000 wire bounces because the agency provided its ACH routing number; resending with the bank's dedicated wire routing number fixes it the next day.
- 3
A consultant double-checks the nine-digit routing number on a new client's remittance form against his bank's website before the first $7,500 payment.
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