ABA routing transit number
Newer electronic payment methods continue to rely on ABA RTNs to identify the paying bank or other financial institution.
The Federal Reserve Bank uses ABA RTNs in processing Fedwire funds transfers.
The ACH Network also uses ABA RTNs in processing direct deposits, bill payments, and other automated money transfers.
Since 1911, the American Bankers Association has partnered with a series of registrars, currently Accuity, to manage the ABA routing number system.
Accuity publishes the American Bankers Association Key to Routing Numbers semi-annually.
The IBAN was originally developed to facilitate payments within the European Union but the format is flexible enough to be applied globally.
It consists of an ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code, followed by two check digits that are calculated using a mod-97 technique, and Basic Bank Account Number (BBAN) with up to thirty alphanumeric characters.
The BBAN includes the domestic bank account number and potentially routing information.
The national banking communities decide individually on a fixed length for all BBAN in their country.
The bank numbers in the United States were originated by the American Bankers Association (ABA) in 1911.
[11] Also in Skokie is a company called Accuity, which from its history has been the official registrar of ABA bank numbers since 1911.
The fraction form was used for manual processing before the invention of the MICR line, and still serves as a backup in check processing should the MICR line become illegible or torn; it generally appears in the upper right part of a check near the date.
Further, the Federal Reserve Routing Symbol and ABA Institution Identifier may have fewer than 4 digits in the fraction form.
The essential data, shared by both forms, is the Federal Reserve Routing Symbol (XXXX), and the ABA Institution Identifier (YYYY), and these are usually the same in both the fraction form and the MICR, with only the order and format switched (and left-padded with 0s to ensure that they are 4 digits long).
Typically, a repair strip or sleeve is attached to the check, then a new MICR line is imprinted.
The ABA RTNs were originally assigned in the systematic way outlined below, reflecting a financial institution's geographical location and internal handling by the Federal Reserve.
[15] The fifth through eighth digits constitute the bank's unique ABA identity within the given Federal Reserve district.
High-speed check-sorting equipment will typically verify the checksum and if it fails, route the item to a reject pocket for manual examination, repair, and re-sorting.
It would only be used internally by the bank, e.g. to show where the signature card is located, where to contact the responsible officer in case of an overdraft, etc.
