Routing number vs account number

What the nine digits mean

• Digits 1–4, the Federal Reserve routing symbol. The first two digits show which of the 12 Federal Reserve districts the bank is in: 01 (Boston) to 12 (San Francisco). Numbers starting 21–32 are thrift institutions, such as savings banks and credit unions. Numbers starting 61–72 are used for electronic payments.
• Digits 5–8, the institution. These tell the bank apart from others in the same district.
• Digit 9, the check digit. It's worked out from the first eight digits, so most typing mistakes produce a number that fails the check.

Our ABA routing number checker shows the full district table and runs the check-digit test on any number, with the working shown.

Who issues routing numbers?

The routing number was devised by the American Bankers Association (ABA) in 1910 and adopted by the banking industry in 1911, originally to sort paper cheques. The ABA's rules are managed by its Routing Number Administrative Board. The day-to-day issuing is done by an Official Registrar, currently LexisNexis Risk Solutions.

Under the ABA's policy:

• A regular routing number can go only to an institution that is eligible to hold an account at a Federal Reserve Bank, or to a unit of the US federal or a state government.
• Each institution gets a main routing number and can have up to nine more. More than that needs the Board's approval.
• The number belongs to the system, not the bank. A bank can't sell or transfer it.

This is why payment apps and fintech companies that aren't banks usually show you the routing number of a partner bank that holds your money.

Where to find your routing number

On a cheque: the line of special characters along the bottom. The first group, on the left, is the routing number:

The order of the account number and cheque number varies by bank. The routing number always sits between the two ⑆ symbols.

• In your banking app or online banking: usually under account details, often labelled "routing number" or "direct deposit details".
• On your bank's website: many banks list their numbers, including a separate number for wires.
• From the Federal Reserve or the ABA: the Federal Reserve Banks publish a routing number directory with separate FedACH and Fedwire data, and the ABA runs an official lookup.

Why your bank may have several routing numbers

• Payment type: the number for ACH and direct deposit can differ from the one for wire transfers. The Federal Reserve even publishes routing data for FedACH and Fedwire separately.
• Where you opened the account: some large banks use different numbers for different states or regions, often left over from banks they bought.
• Mergers: after a merger, the combined bank may still use numbers from the banks it absorbed, at least for a while.

So "the routing number for Bank X" may not exist as one number. Use the one shown on your account for your type of payment.

When a routing number changes

Your routing number can change even though you did nothing, usually because your bank merged with or was bought by another bank. Under the ABA's policy:

• The surviving bank becomes responsible for all the routing numbers of the banks involved and must choose one main number.
• Within a year of the merger, it should tell the Registrar which numbers it will combine or retire.
• Once a number is retired, a cheque or electronic payment that uses it can be rejected or returned, and the number can later be given to a different bank.

What to do: if your bank tells you your routing number is changing, update it wherever money is paid in or taken out: your employer's direct deposit, benefits, tax refunds, bill payments and payment apps. Keep an eye on the first payments after the change.

Is it safe to share your routing number?

The routing number on its own isn't secret: it's printed on every cheque and listed in public directories. The risk comes from the routing number and account number together, which is enough to send money to you and, with your authorisation, to set up debits from your account.

• Do share them with an employer, a government agency, or a company you've agreed to pay by direct debit.
• Be careful with anyone who contacts you out of the blue asking for them, or who "overpays" you and asks for money back.
• Check your statements. If a company takes money you didn't authorise, your bank can usually return it. Under Nacha's rules, consumers have up to 60 days. See ACH explained.
• Check requests to change bank details. If a supplier or colleague emails new routing details, phone them on a number you already know before paying.

Which details each payment needs

Check the format before you submit: our ACH routing number checker also shows ACH settlement times, and the Fedwire routing code checker shows whether Fedwire is open now.

A pass means the number is correctly formed, not that it belongs to the bank you expect. About 1 in 10 random nine-digit numbers passes by chance.

From outside the US, and for Nigerian users

• Banks outside the US don't have ABA routing numbers. A Nigerian account is identified by a 10-digit NUBAN, and money from abroad reaches it using the bank's SWIFT code. See bank code vs SWIFT code.
• Receiving US dollars into a Nigerian bank: some banks give customers dollar-receiving instructions that name a US correspondent bank, sometimes with that bank's routing number or SWIFT code, plus your bank's account at the correspondent. Use exactly the instructions your bank gives you. Our correspondent bank checker explains how this works.
• A platform or client asks for a "routing number": they want to pay a US bank account by ACH or wire. A Nigerian account can't take that directly. You need a US account, or a service that provides US account details, and then an international transfer home.
• Never make up or "borrow" a routing number to get past a form. The payment will fail or go to someone else's bank.

For the full list of details needed in any country, use What Bank Details Do I Need?

Common mistakes

• Using the ACH number for a wire, or the other way round.
• Using a routing number from another state or region of the same bank.
• Keeping an old routing number after a bank merger on direct deposits and bill payments.
• Mixing up the routing and account numbers from a cheque.
• Giving a routing number for an international payment when the sender needs the SWIFT code.
• Trusting a passing check digit as proof. It only proves the number is correctly formed.

Sources

• American Bankers Association, Routing Number Policy & Procedures (revised September 2020; published by the Official Registrar, LexisNexis Risk Solutions): history, eligibility, additional numbers, mergers and retirement.
• Federal Reserve, Regulation CC, Appendix A (routing symbol and Federal Reserve districts).
• Federal Reserve Financial Services, routing number directory (separate FedACH and Fedwire data).
• Nacha Operating Rules: return time frame for unauthorised consumer debits, as covered in our ACH guide.

Last reviewed 24 September 2026. Spot an error? Tell us through our corrections page.