When you send money between bank accounts—whether it's a paycheck deposit, a bill payment, or a transfer to another bank—the money needs a precise path to reach the right account. Routing and account numbers are the address system that makes this happen. A routing number identifies which bank or credit union holds the account. An account number identifies your specific account within that institution. Together, they tell the payment system exactly where your money should go and where it came from.

The articles here explain what these numbers are, where to find them, and how they work in different payment scenarios. You'll learn why banks need both pieces of information, what happens when a number is wrong, and how these identifiers function differently across wire transfers, ACH payments, and other transaction types.