Routing transit number

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A routing transit number (RTN), routing number, or ABA number is a nine digit bank code, used in the United States, which appears on the bottom of negotiable instruments such as checks identifying the financial institution on which it was drawn. This code is also used by Federal Reserve Banks to process Fedwire funds transfers and by the Automated Clearing House to process direct deposits and other automated transfers. The routing number is derived from the bank's transit number originated by the American Bankers Association, which designed it in 1910.

Contents 1 ABA number management 2 Routing number format 2.1 Routing symbol 2.2 Number format and standards 2.3 Internal checksums 3 Canadian transit number 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] ABA number management

Since 1911, the American Bankers Association has assigned transit numbers through a series of registrars, currently Accuity.^[1] The company is responsible for assigning new ABA numbers. Accuity publishes the ABA Number Directory in the American Bankers Association Key to Routing Numbers semi-annually.

There are approximately 28,000 active routing and transit numbers currently in use. Every financial institution in the United States has at least one of these.

The ABA transit number generally appears in the upper right part of a check near the date and serves as a backup in check processing should the MICR routing number at the bottom of the check become illegible. It looks like a fraction, with a numerator and a denominator.

The numerator consists of two parts separated by a dash. The prefix (no longer used in check processing, yet still printed on most checks) is a 1 to 2 digit code indicating the region where the bank is located. The numbers 1 to 49 are cities, assigned by size of the cities in 1910. The numbers 50 to 99 are states, assigned in a rough spatial geographic order, and are used for banks located outside one of the 49 numbered cities. The second part of the numerator (after the dash) is the bank's ABA Institution Identifier, which is also part of the 9 digit routing number. The denominator is also part of the routing number; it's identical to the first four digits of the routing number with any leading zeros removed (i.e. 0212 is written as 212, 0310 written as 310, etc. There might be a fourth element to the ABA number, a branch number to the right of the fraction.

A check from Wachovia Bank in Yardley, PA has a routing number 021200025 and a fraction of 55-2/212. The prefix (55) no longer has any relevance, but from the remainder of the fraction, the first 8 digits of the routing number (0212-0002) can be determined, and the check digit can be calculated by using the check digit formula or omitted and replaced with the separator dash to makeup for the lost character.

The check can be processed without the check digit so long as the dash is included in the routing number on the MICR line. Either 021200025 or 0212-0002 (both are 9 characters) may be printed in the MICR line as the routing number for the check to be processed correctly, but of course the former is preferred to ensure 100% accuracy. The latter is typically used only when the MICR routing number number is destroyed and the fraction must be used to ascertain the routing number.

prefix	location
1	New York, NY
2	Chicago, IL
3	Philadelphia, PA
4	St. Louis, MO
5	Boston, MA
6	Cleveland, OH
7	Baltimore, MD
8	Pittsburgh, PA
9	Detroit, MI
10	Buffalo, NY
11	San Francisco, CA
12	Milwaukee, WI
13	Cincinnati, OH
14	New Orleans, LA
15	Washington D.C.
16	Los Angeles, CA
17	Minneapolis, MN
18	Kansas City, MO
19	Seattle, WA
20	Indianapolis, IN
21	Louisville, KY
22	St. Paul, MN
23	Denver, CO
24	Portland, OR
25	Columbus, OH
26	Memphis, TN
27	Omaha, NE
28	Spokane, WA
29	Albany, NY
30	San Antonio, TX
31	Salt Lake City, UT
32	Dallas, TX
33	Des Moines, IA
34	Tacoma, WA
35	Houston, TX
36	St. Joseph, MO
37	Fort Worth, TX
38	Savannah, GA
39	Oklahoma City, OK
40	Wichita, KS
41	Sioux City, IA
42	Pueblo, CO
43	Lincoln, NE
44	Topeka, KS
45	Dubuque, IA
46	Galveston, TX
47	Cedar Rapids, IA
48	Waco, TX
49	Muskogee, OK
50	New York
51	Connecticut
52	Maine
53	Massachusetts
54	New Hampshire
55	New Jersey
56	Ohio
57	Rhode Island
58	Vermont
59	Alaska, American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands
60	Pennsylvania
61	Alabama
62	Delaware
63	Florida
64	Georgia
65	Maryland
66	North Carolina
67	South Carolina
68	Virginia
69	West Virginia
70	Illinois
71	Indiana
72	Iowa
73	Kentucky
74	Michigan
75	Minnesota
76	Nebraska
77	North Dakota
78	South Dakota
79	Wisconsin
80	Missouri
81	Arkansas
82	Colorado
83	Kansas
84	Louisiana
85	Mississippi
86	Oklahoma
87	Tennessee
88	Texas
90	California
91	Arizona
92	Idaho
93	Montana
94	Nevada
95	New Mexico
96	Oregon
97	Utah
98	Washington
99	Wyoming
101	Assigned

[edit] Routing number format

The routing number consists of 9 digits:

XXXXYYYYC

where XXXX is Federal Reserve Routing Symbol, YYYY is ABA Institution Identifier, and C is the Check Digit

[edit] Routing symbol

The symbol that delimits a routing transit number is the MICR E-13B transit character (Unicode value U+2446): ⑆

If your computer cannot display this character, it may be seen here.

[edit] Number format and standards

The first two digits of the nine digit ABA number must be in the ranges 00 through 12, 21 through 32, 61 through 72, or 80.

The digits are assigned as follows:

• 00 is used by the United States Government
• 01 through 12 are the "normal" routing numbers (For example, 0260-0959-3 is the routing number for Bank of America incoming wires in New York)
• 21 through 32 were assigned only to thrift institutions (e.g. credit unions and savings banks) through 1985; currently they are still used by the thrift institutions, or their successors (For example, 2260-7352-3 is the routing number for Grand Adirondack Federal Credit Union in New York)
• 61 through 72 are special purpose routing numbers designated for use by non-bank payment processors and clearinghouses and are termed Electronic Transaction Identifiers (ETIs).
• 80 is used for traveler's cheques

The first two digits correspond to the 12 Federal Reserve Banks as follows:

Primary	Thrift	Electronic	Federal Reserve Bank
01	21	61	Boston
02	22	62	New York
03	23	63	Philadelphia
04	24	64	Cleveland
05	25	65	Richmond
06	26	66	Atlanta
07	27	67	Chicago
08	28	68	St. Louis
09	29	69	Minneapolis
10	30	70	Kansas City
11	31	71	Dallas
12	32	72	San Francisco

[edit] Internal checksums

The number must pass a checksum test using a position-weighted sum of each of the digits.

• The following condition must hold:^{[citation needed]}

(Mod or modulo is the remainder of a division operation.)

As an example, consider 111000025 (which is a valid routing number of Bank of America in Texas). Applying the formula, we get:

The following formula can be used to generate the 9th digit in the checksum:

Following the above example for the Texas Bank of America routing number 111000025,

[edit] Canadian transit number

Canadian transit numbers are regulated by the Canadian Payments Association. A number has the following form:

XXXXX-YYY

where XXXXX is a Branch Number, and YYY is an Institution Number. The dash between the branch number and the institution number is an integral part of the transit number. This format is only valid for paper-type transactions such as cheques. For Electronic Fund Transactions (EFT) the current format is a leading zero, the institution number, then the branch number all with no dashes. For example if a check reads XXXXX-YYY , the corresponding EFT code would be 0YYYXXXXX.

As a general rule, Bank institution numbers start with 0, 2, 3, or 6, Credit Union and Caisse Populaire institution numbers start with 8, and Trust Company institution numbers with 5.

Examples:

• XXXXX-001 Bank of Montreal
• XXXXX-002 Bank of Nova Scotia
• XXXXX-003 Royal Bank of Canada
• XXXXX-004 Toronto-Dominion Bank (which is the legal name for the bank, although it operates as TD Canada Trust)
• XXXXX-006 National Bank of Canada
• XXXXX-010 Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (includes President's Choice Financial)
• XXXXX-016 HSBC Canada
• XXXXX-030 Canadian Western Bank
• XXXXX-039 Laurentian Bank of Canada
• XXXXX-117 Government of Canada (Not listed as a member of the Canadian Payments Association)
• XXXXX-127 Canada Post (money orders)
• XXXXX-177 Bank of Canada (Canadian central bank)
• XXXXX-219 ATB Financial
• XXXXX-260 Citibank Canada
• XXXXX-290 UBS Bank (Canada)
• XXXXX-308 Bank of China (Canada)
• XXXXX-309 Citizens Bank of Canada (Canada)
• XXXXX-326 President's Choice Financial (no longer assigned)
• XXXXX-338 Canadian Tire Bank
• XXXXX-340 ICICI Bank Canada
• XXXXX-509 Canada Trust (prior to the merger of TD & Canada Trust)
• XXXXX-540 Manulife Bank
• XXXXX-614 ING Direct Canada
• XXXXX-809 Credit Union Central of British Columbia
• XXXXX-815 Caisses Desjardins du Québec
• XXXXX-819 Caisses populaires Desjardins du Manitoba
• XXXXX-828 Credit Union Central of Ontario
• XXXXX-829 Caisses populaires Desjardins de l'Ontario
• XXXXX-837 Meridian Credit Union (formerly Hepco)
• XXXXX-839 Credit Union Heritage (Nova Scotia)
• XXXXX-865 Caisses populaires Desjardins acadiennes
• XXXXX-879 Credit Union Central of Manitoba
• XXXXX-889 Credit Union Central of Saskatchewan
• XXXXX-899 Credit Union Central Alberta

In a Canadian bank transit number, the last digit of the branch number, with few exceptions, indicates the geographical location of the branch.

Branch numbers ending with:

• 0 are located in British Columbia and Yukon
• 1 are located in Western Québec including Montreal and surrounding areas
• 2 are located in Ontario including Toronto and surrounding area
• 3 are located in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland excluding Labrador
• 4 are located in New Brunswick
• 5 are located in Eastern Québec including Labrador
• 6 are located in Eastern Ontario including Ottawa and surrounding area
• 7 are located in Manitoba and North-Western Ontario
• 8 are located in Saskatchewan
• 9 are located in Alberta, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut (?)

For example, the number 58876-004 indicates that the associated account is held at an Eastern Ontario branch of The Toronto-Dominion Bank (58876 is the branch number, and 004 is the institution number).

Please see http://www.cdnpay.ca/rules/pdfs_rules/rule_d4.pdf for a listing of current and historical financial institution ID numbers.

[edit] See also

General Category

• Bank code
• Sort code
• International Bank Account Number
• ISO 9362, the SWIFT/BIC code standard
• Bank State Branch, or BSB code used for Australian banks

Canada has similar but different transaction routing structures

• Large Value Transfer System (Canada)
• Interac

[edit] References

1. ^ Accuity also registers SWIFT codes

[edit] External links

• Official ABA Routing Number Policy (PDF File)
• Federal Reserve Districts
• Find banks' ABA numbers or which bank owns a given ABA number - limited to Fedwire participants.
• American Bankers Association page on ABA routing numbers - information on how to obtain a routing number (assuming you are a bank) and a reference to AccuitySolutions.com for their list of ABA numbers which costs several hundred dollars.
• Bank Routing Numbers Search - a comprehensive routing information search engine. Find routing number from bank name or bank information from routing number.
• MyBankRoute - Find bank routing numbers from by name, includes address and phone numbers. Limited to Fedwire participants.
• Federal Reserve E-Payments Routing Directory - downloadable lists of Fedwire and FedACH participants. They include routing numbers, street addresses and phone numbers.