What do bank codes mean?

In the United States, you need to fill in a lot of bank account information, including account number, routing number and other code content, whether it's transfer and remittance at ordinary times or family members' remittance abroad from home. What are these codes? Where can I find it?

Explanation of various bank codes

Card number

This string of numbers should be very familiar to everyone. Usually, the number on the card we receive after applying for a credit card or savings card is the bank card number. However, this series of numbers are generally used for online shopping and so on, not for remittance.

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Account number

Account number is your account number as the name suggests. Account number is required for any operation in a bank in the United States. This is a very important string of figures. We must keep them confidential and do not disclose them to others.

How to view account number?

The account number can be seen on the check given to us by the bank and on the mobile app. If it is seen from the check, it is generally in the following positions:

You can also see your own account number on the mobile app.

Routing number

Routing number is a 9-digit (8-digit content +1-digit verification code) number, which is the financial institution identification code proposed by the American Bankers Association under the supervision and assistance of the Federal Reserve. Routing number is mainly used for routing confirmation of inter-bank transactions, transfer, clearing, etc. Routing number is a very important group of numbers to ensure that our transfer can be transferred to the correct bank and account.

How to view routing number?

The way to view the routing number is similar to the way to view the account number, which can be seen on the checks given to us by the bank and on the mobile app. On a cheque, the routing number is usually the digits in front of the account number.

What is a foreign card receipt? The importance of in-depth sorting of receipts for independent stations going to sea

When an enterprise goes to sea, there are many professional terms around payment. For example, the payment scenario of cross-border e-commerce includes three key nodes: receipt, collection, and foreign exchange settlement and sales. For DTC brand independent stations, only by understanding the differences and clarifying the key links in the payment chain can they choose the best payment scheme according to their own specific conditions.

When an enterprise goes to sea, there are many professional terms around payment. For example, the payment scenario of cross-border e-commerce includes three key nodes: receipt, collection, and foreign exchange settlement and sales. For DTC brand independent stations, only by understanding the differences and clarifying the key links in the payment chain can they choose the best payment scheme according to their own specific conditions.

This article combs:

The difference between receipt, collection, settlement and sale of foreign exchange;

Dismantle the payment value chain and adopt the four party mode of foreign card transaction;

What is "local acquiring"? What is "cross border acquiring"? The definition and difference between the two;

Differences among receipt, collection, settlement and sales of foreign exchange

First, sort out the roles of receipt, collection, settlement and sales of foreign exchange in the whole payment chain.

Many cross-border e-commerce sellers start from e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, eBay and Alibaba. For platform sellers, let's first look at the following figure.

Figure: platform e-commerce payment chain

Receipt

The English name is acquiring, which refers to the financial institution that processes the payment from the consumer's bank card / account on behalf of the merchant. In the case of the above figure, because it is the platform e-commerce mode, the merchant is the platform itself. Some people in the market call it pay in, because the bill is really the role of "pocketing money" from consumers.

Bill collection is a new term for many sellers of offshore platforms. Because platform sellers do not collect money directly from consumers, only independent stations have such demand.

Collection

In many cases, the term refers to the transfer and flow of funds between platforms and platform sellers. In the platform e-commerce mode, after the platform receives the money, it needs to distribute the money to "sub merchants" (i.e. platform sellers). Therefore, some people in the market also call it fund distribution or pay out.

Foreign exchange settlement and sales

Help cross-border sellers convert the received foreign currency into RMB for settlement in China.

Let's look at the situation of the independent station (below).

Compared with the platform e-commerce mode, the payment chain of the independent station mode is very simple. Acquirer is the main payment partner of independent station at sea.

What is acquiring?

After understanding the general role of receipts in the payment chain, let's take a closer look at the specific responsibilities and functions of receipts.

There are basically two payment methods for overseas consumers:

The first type: bank card transaction, which is more mainstream in Europe and America

Second: non bank card local payment methods, such as e-wallet, etc

The receipt discussed in this article is for the first bank card transaction mentioned above.

It is worth noting that, unlike Alipay and wechat payment in China, credit card is still the most commonly used payment method in many other markets around the world. If there are a large number of consumers who are accustomed to using credit cards to pay in the target market of independent stations, then acquiring plays an important role in it.

Before understanding what is acquiring, you should first understand the four-way model of bank card transactions:

The four party model refers to:

Consumer cardholder

Issuer of bank card held by consumer

Acquirer

Merchant

Among them, the acquirer is a bank that processes credit card and debit card payments on behalf of merchant enterprises. It sends payment requests to the issuer (issuer) corresponding to consumer bank cards through bank card organizations (such as visa cards and MasterCard cards).

If the entire value chain is disassembled into more segments (see the figure below), the payment request will go through payment gateway, risk control and transaction processing respectively, and then the acquirer will send the payment request to the card organization.

Therefore, the acquirer is the most important direct partner of merchants in bank card transactions.

KPI for acquiring

For acquiring enterprises, authorization rate and chargeback rate are two important indicators.

Payment success rate

Transaction ratio successfully approved / authorized by the issuer. Common methods to optimize the success rate of payment include: local receipt (which will be discussed in detail later), network tokens, dynamic 3DS verification, intelligent payment routing, etc.

Refusal rate

The rate at which consumers refuse to pay bills to issuers. Many overseas merchants do not know enough about chargeback, which is a common right of overseas consumers. In case of controversial order transactions, consumers will ask the bank to cancel the paid transactions. The common reasons are fraudulent transactions, wrong shipment, failure to successfully deliver services, etc.