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The USAA routing number is 314074269. You can also find USAA routing numbers at the bottom of a paper check or by logging into your account.
In addition, your routing number is the nine digit code found on the bottom of your check.
USAA Federal Savings Bank uses this nine digit number for a variety of things, such as domestic wire, sending money, and check routing.
But what if you don’t have a check handy? To help make things easier for you, we will help you understand your USAA routing number and how to find it.
If you have ever had to do any sort of online transaction, you have probably needed your USAA routing number. Thus, knowing this number is extremely important.
You have probably had to use these numbers before. For example, if you want to add your checking account to a credit card account to make payments, you will need your transit routing number.
If you work from home like I do, you might have a lot of people paying you through services like PayPal or Venmo. In order to then transfer that money to your bank, you will need your routing number to link to your bank.
I track all of my online accounts with Personal Capital, but finding my routing number has been more challenging.
You might not know what all these numbers mean, but they are very important. But how and where do we find them? That’s what we’ll cover here.
What is USAA?
USAA is a financial services group based in San Antonio, Texas. They are a fortune 500 company founded in 1922.
USAA Federal Savings Bank provides a variety of banking services, including:
- Property, casualty, and life insurance
- Banking
- Investing and financial planning
If you’re a customer of USAA, you will need your USAA Bank routing number.
The routing number, also known as routing transit number (RTN) or American Bankers Association (ABA) number is used in a variety of online transactions. These include Automated Clearing House or ACH transfers, savings accounts, direct deposit, and electronic funds transfers.
But how do you know what your USAA routing number is? You will find the number below. You will need this number if you get paid via PayPal for surveys or do any job from home that pays by direct deposit.
Who is Eligible for USAA Federal Savings Bank?
Active, retired, and military veterans who were honorably discharged are eligible. This institution is one that focuses on serving the military, so it makes sense that not everyone is eligible.
Family members of the aforementioned groups are also eligible. This includes spouses, widows, and widowers. Children may also be eligible, but the military personnel must have joined USAA while living. If they did not and the parent dies while in active duty or otherwise, the child is not eligible.
Routing Number for USAA Checking Account
Many banks have several different routing numbers throughout the country. However, there is only one routing number for USAA Bank checking. Your local bank or credit union may have many routing numbers, but USAA only has one.
USAA’s routing number for checking accounts is 314074269.
This means that regardless of where you are in the country, this will always be your USAA Bank routing number. That is true even though USAA has customers all over the country. Routing numbers are based on where checks are printed rather than where customers live.
Which USAA Routing Number for Direct Deposit?
The routing number you will need to use for direct deposit is the same the one you use for USAA checking. Remember, USAA Federal Savings Bank’s ABA number is 314074269. Because USAA only has one routing number, you will always use that number for direct deposit.
Larger banks, such as Bank of America, have long lists with dozens of routing numbers. That is not the case for USAA.
What is a Routing Number?
The Purpose of Routing Numbers and Why We Need Them
Routing numbers might seem like just a funky string of numbers that don’t mean anything. But these numbers are actually quite important and serve a valuable purpose.
They help the bank understand where your check came from and prevent confusion between banks. These numbers are necessary to process bank transfers, funds transfers, and bill payments.
Whether you are exercising frugal living or spending extravagantly, you will need your USAA routing number at some point.
Also, the Federal Reserve Banks need these routing numbers to process fedwire funds transfers.
To better understand, let’s dive into how they originated, how they’re formed, and why we need them.
Origin of the Routing Number
Routing numbers have been around for quite a while; in fact, they’ve been around since 1910. The American Bankers Association (ABA) introduced these numbers to help avoid issues sorting, bundling, and shipping paper checks. They also aimed to make the process more secure.
These numbers are not unique to each account (that would be the account number). Instead, routing numbers are only specific to each bank. The ABA felt these numbers could help prevent a check from one bank being cashed at another bank with a similar name by mistake.
Per the routing number policy, banks can have up to five ABA RTNs. RTN stands for routing transit number – just a more technical term for routing number. USAA will need this number for bill payments and other transactions.
However, also note that some banks may have more than five of these numbers due to acquisitions and mergers. This has been an increasing trend in recent decades, so it’s likely we will see a lot of this.
How USAA Routing Numbers Are Formed
These numbers are not just a bunch of random digits. This nine digit code is actually formed in a specific way. Your USAA routing number is no exception.
The first four numbers are the routing symbol from the Federal Reserve. There are 12 Federal Reserve districts; these correspond to where the checks are printed. Where you live in the United States is not relevant in this case.
The next four digits represent the number the ABA assigns to your financial institution or bank. This is a unique identifier that is not assigned to any other organization.
The ninth and last digit is the check digit. This is determined by what is known as a checksum algorithm.
Routing numbers appear in two forms on checks; the standard form and the magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) form. The two are similar with only slight differences.
The Checksum Algorithm
The checksum algorithm determines the ninth digit of the routing number and is used to validate the eight digits before it.
This algorithm works using a series of multiplication and addition. When the algorithm is complete, the resulting number should be divisible by 10; this is how we know the routing number is valid. USAA Federal Savings Bank will verify this number before issuing your routing number.
How to Find Your USAA Routing Number
In addition to the list above, there are several ways you can find your routing number. Let’s review some of them.
1. USAA Online Banking
While logged into the USAA website, you can easily find your USAA routing number. While logged in, you will be able to see your routing number in your account information.
If you have trouble locating it here, you can always contact support and ask them for assistance. However, it should be easy to find.
Another possible way is to look on the website for the state in which you currently reside. However, if you moved since opening your account, you would need to check the state where you lived at the time of account opening.
2. Paper Check or Negotiable Instrument
If you have paper checks, every one of them will have your routing number printed on the bottom. These are sometimes referred to as negotiable instruments.
But the routing number isn’t the only number shown. The first set of numbers will be your USAA account number. Then the second set of numbers is your routing number.
This number is printed in magnetic ink character recognition (MICR), which helps computers more easily recognize it.
3. From Your Mobile App
Many banking institutions will allow you to see your routing number while logged into the mobile app. If you have one, check to see if your routing number appears under your account information.
The Importance of Your USAA Routing Number
USAA routing number is something you will need to have when doing any kind of money transfer online. When sending or receiving money, it will be necessary to have this number handy.
Without it, you will not be able to conduct your banking online. Here are some basic banking tasks that require the routing number:
- Direct deposit from your employer
- Money transfer via PayPal
- Moving money into and out of online savings
- Wire transfer
- Bank transfers
Remember that your routing number is a number that uniquely identifies your bank. Because you will have multiple banks at play during these transactions, your routing code will help eliminate confusion.
Management of Routing Numbers
Currently, the American Bankers Association (ABA) works with a firm called Accuity in managing the ABA routing number system. Accuity is a division of RELX.
There is what’s known as a key book; this document is a master list of all RTNs. Some banks, especially the larger ones, have many RTNs.
This is separate from BIC/SWIFT code which are managed by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT). Many financial institutions also use an IBAN code for international bank transfers.
USAA Wire Transfer Routing Number
There are a few quirks with wire transfers and how they affect routing numbers. For instance, there will be some differences when doing a wire transfer. Your routing number when transferring money via wire transfer will be different.
In particular, the USAA wire transfer routing number is 314074269.
Note that this is only the number when receiving incoming wires, which is the same as their “regular” routing number. If sending an outgoing wire, you will have to contact the receiving bank for specific instructions on sending wires to them.
USAA SWIFT Code/BIC Code
There is yet another code you might need to know, specifically for international wire transfer.
This is the Society for Interbank Financial Telecommunication or SWIFT code. Another name for it is Bank Identifier (BIC) code.
These codes also allow banks to receive wire transfers. USAA Savings Bank uses the Bank of New York Mellon for accepting international wire transfer. Be sure you have your USAA SWIFT code when doing international wire transfer.
Are All USAA Routing Numbers the Same?
Yes, all USAA routing numbers are the same. To be more exact, there is only one USAA routing number, which is 314074269. Routing numbers are based on where checks are printed, not where the customer does their banking. This suggests checks are printed in a central location for USAA.
It also means that if USAA were ever to add another location for check printing, they would need an additional routing number/numbers. Some banks have different numbers for every state. USAA has chosen to do things differently.
What is a USAA Account Number?
While a routing number helps identify the bank with which your account is held, your USAA account number identifies your account within the bank. That number is unique to your account, unlike the routing number, which many people at one bank will have.
International bank account numbers or IBANs identify particular bank accounts; these are different from a USAA routing number.
If you have multiple accounts at the same bank, the routing number will be the same for all of them. On the other hand, each account will have its own account number.
It is important to know both your account number and your routing number when transferring money.
USAA Federal Savings Bank Contact
Conclusion on USAA Routing Number
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Thanks for taking the time to put this information together. I feel like hardly anybody knows even the basics of how bank routing numbers work.
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