You write a check to your buddy Edwuster Weeblewizzle. He deposits it. The money moves out of your account and into his. But how does the bank know where to get your money from?
The routing information.
On every check, there's routing information (including the routing symbol) that shows where the money for the check is supposed to come from.
The routing number identifies the bank. Then there's your bank account number, which shows what account at the bank has the money meant to cover the check. Then there's the check number, which helps track the check.
Edwuster's bank uses this info to pinpoint where the money comes from. Some computers talk to each other, and boom...Eddie gets his money. Excellent. No angry phone calls from Eddie.
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Finance: What is a Routing Number?20 Views
finance a la shmoop what is a routing number of a routing number is so that
wired monies can you know like find their way home yeah think of them like [maze game]
the smell of worm to Canadian geese when you write a check or wire money or do [worms and Canadian geese]
almost anything financial these days the dough is given a kind of custom [card getting swiped]
electronic signature and basically a number a big fat one like this one yeah
and the numbers mean specific things like on a paper check the routing of the
dough you're paying to Lana sim for um you know services rendered comes in two [breakdown of a check]
pieces there's a nine digit routing number aka our TN aka routing transit
number which is here and that number is then mapped to your specific account
number which is here why did you need this number why do you need it at all
well when you suddenly see an item on your bank statement for a payment of [bank statement document]
$350 to Yamaka supply limited and you're about as Jewish as the Pope well you may [Pope Francis in the Vatican]
want your bank to be able to track that sucker down because it was fraud on your
account I'd like to be able to prove that you were not in fact the one who
authorized that payment so your bank can refund you you know your hard-earned
cash all right there we go much better yeah I am
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