The Automated Clearing House: the US network for processing high volumes of electronic credit and debit transactions in batches.
Identified by: a nine-digit ABA routing number plus the bank account number.
Used for payroll, direct deposit, utility bills, mortgage payments and government transfers. ACH suits recurring and batch payments rather than urgent ones, since transactions settle in batches rather than instantly.
The Clearing House Interbank Payments System Unique Identifier: a code identifying US banks within CHIPS, a large-value payment system.
Format: 6 to 9 digits.
Example: 000123456 (illustrative).
Used mainly for large US dollar wire transfers between financial institutions.
A nine-digit number identifying a specific bank or branch within the United States banking system. It routes domestic payments (such as ACH transfers and wire payments) to the correct institution.
Format: 9 digits, numeric only.
Example: 021000021 (JPMorgan Chase, New York).
ABA routing numbers are used exclusively inside the US banking system. For payments to or from Switzerland, the IBAN and BIC/SWIFT code play the equivalent routing role.
