Most people with bank accounts know how to withdraw money with an account and routing number. If you are working with the government, company, or any organization, you can bear witness that you must have an account number. It is where your employer can deposit your salary weekly, fortnightly, or monthly depending on the agreements between you and the employer. You must be 18 years old to own an independent bank account.
If you do not know how you can withdraw your money from a bank account using the account and the routing number, then worry not as you will get the right information in this article on how you can go about it. It is secure to have money in a bank account other than keeping it at home. At home, you can easily lose the money to thieves or a natural disaster like a fire.
A bank account will not only help you to access your money any time you need to spend it on something but also send money to others. You can send money from your account to another account of the same bank or a different bank. To transfer funds from a bank to another bank, you must know how to transfer money using the routing number and account number. This, you will learn shortly.
What is a routing number?
You might be wondering what a routing number is. Well, in the US, a routing number is a nine-digit code that is created based on the bank location where you opened your account. The nine sets of numbers are printed on the bottom of bank checks, and the left-hand side.
How can you withdraw money with the account and routing number?
The process is simple, and once you do it once, you will always find it easy any other time you want to withdraw funds. The process is also called ACH transfer and happens typically between two different banks. If you are an employee of a particular company that does not use your bank for payments, you might be forced to transfer the other bank’s funds to your favorite bank for you to withdraw.
When transferring money from another bank to the bank of your choice, you will have to provide the recipient bank’s routing number alongside your account number. The same applies when you want to send money with a checking account number to someone else of a different bank.
Once the funds enter in your bank account, you can then walk to the nearest branch and request withdrawal over the counter. Moreover, you can use your ATM card to withdraw the money at your bank’s ATM points. The good thing with ATM withdrawals is that they are convenient. ATMs work 24/7, and you can even withdraw at night, unlike bank withdrawals, which operate during the day and within specific hours.
In short, you have to;
- Locate your account number and routing numbers.
- Update your bill payment methods to ‘ACH payments’. You should also provide your bank account information.
- Initiate your ACH transfer at least a few days before your payments are due.
- You can establish a one-time payment or set up recurring payments if you expect similar transactions in the future.
Why should you withdraw money with your account and routing numbers?
There are various advantages associated with withdrawing money using the ACH transfer. They include the following.
ACH transfers help you to minimize transaction charges associated with credit and debit cards. Most companies accepting online payments allow free payments when using ACH transfers. If you know how to transfer money from a debit card to another debit card or credit card, then am sure you can testify how there are various deductions during the transfer.
Secondly, using ACH transfers allows you to avoid paper checks. If you are paid using checks, you will always find it tiresome to keep traveling to deposit the cheque now and then. Providing both your account number and routing number to the company that sends you checks to make ACH transfers to your account will be of great help.
Also, ACH transfers can help you automate bill payments so that you do not forget to pay for your water and electricity bills. Every month, your bank will always send the money to the relevant billing accounts.
How do you know your account and routing numbers?
You need first to locate your account number and routing numbers from your checks before setting up an ACH transfer. As I mentioned above, the routing number is the nine-digit code on the far left side of your check. The 10-12 digits set of numbers in the middle is your account number while the last set of digits is the cheque number.
The larger set is always your account number, and the smaller is the cheque number. In case your bank reorders them, you can always tell which is which among them. Alternatively, you can call your bank’s customer care agent and request them to help you with your routing number. You can also log into a bank account online and search for ‘routing number’.
How long does an ACH transfer take to complete?
Unfortunately, it can take between 3-5 business days. That is why I mentioned the importance of setting up the process early enough before the due date. It will help to speed up the transfer process.
Moreover, you can use Zelle. It is a payment platform that works with various US banks, and money can reflect within minutes in the respective accounts. It can be very convenient if the money is for emergency purposes. The bank sends money to the recipient account instantly and later finalizes the normal ACH process with Zelle.
The good thing with Zelle is that you can send and receive money by providing your mobile number or even the email address. PayPal and Venmo also work the same way as Zelle.
What is the meaning of all the digits in a routing number?
A routing number is like an address to a particular bank. That is why the number is called routing transit number (RTN) or check routing number. It is specific to a particular bank.
A routing number in a check is machine-readable. The checks are printed using magnetic ink, which is easily read by special machines. In case the numbers are not printed with magnetic ink, printers usually use MICR font which is easily recognized by computers.
In a routing number, the Federal Reserve Routing System designed the first four digits to represent the bank’s physical location. Unfortunately, this is not the case today. It is due to acquisitions and mergers, and thus these numbers frequently do not correlate with the bank’s location.
The fifth and sixth digits indicate which Federal Reserve Bank the institution’s ACH transfers will route through while the seventh digit indicates which Federal Reserve check processing center was initially assigned to the bank.
The eighth digit shows which Federal Reserve district the concerned bank is in since there are various districts. Lastly, the ninth digit offers a checksum. The other eight digits must equal the ninth number of which if they do not sum to it, then the transaction is flagged and rerouted for manual processing.
Can someone use my account and routing number to steal money from my account?
Someone can use technology to steal money from your account if they have both the account number and the routing number. It would help if you always kept checking your bank balances now and then. If anything, you can include a two-way verification process using your phone number to minimize theft.
However, a thief cannot steal money from your bank with just the routing number. Debit cards and credit cards also provide avenues of fraud. If you lose your card, you should call your bank immediately to disable it. Someone can easily make payments with your credit or debit card without your permission once they have access to it.
Which are the best banks in the US to open an account?
If you are planning to open an account with a bank in the US, then worry not as I will help you with that. There are many banks in the US, and most of them allow online account opening. You can have one today for your payments and withdrawals. The following are some of the best banks in the US.
1) Chase Total Checking
The bank is available countrywide and thus easy to come by. Once you open a bank account with them, you can get up to a $200 bonus after making a direct deposit. The bank charges a $12 maintenance fee per month which you can avoid by keeping a minimum daily balance of $1,500 or more in your account, maintain an average daily balance of $5,000 across qualifying Chase Total Checking accounts or make monthly direct deposits totaling $500.
2) Axos Rewards Checking account
Axos Bank does not require any minimum balance and has no monthly fees. Also, it does not charge overdraft or insufficient fund fees. Interestingly, the bank offers unlimited domestic ATM reimbursements.
Moreover, you do not need a good credit history to get approved. The Axos bank also earns you interest of about 1.25% on your saved money.
3) Wealthfront Cash Account account
The bank has a high interest in your saved money. It is also suitable for early paychecks up to two days earlier. The bank can allow you to get started with just $1. The Wealthfront bank is mobile-friendly. It has 19,000 fee-free ATMs and allows mobile check deposits, as well as BillPay.
4) Chime Free Checking account
Chime is purely online as they do not have a physical location. It is an excellent bank for mobile banking. It offers free mobile banking and the minimum opening balance is $0, the monthly fee is $0, and the minimum balance requirement is also $0. The Chime bank earns interest and offers a 1.00% APY. It is available with over 30,000 ATMs nationwide.
5) Bank of America Checking account
The Bank of America Advantage plus Banking account is free to set up. The bank is located nationwide and easy to come by. It has easy requirements to meet, and there are ways to waive the monthly maintenance fee. It has a $12 per month maintenance fee which is easily waived if you maintain a minimum daily balance of $1500, be an eligible student less than 24 years, or have at least one qualifying direct deposit amounting to $250 or more into your account each statement cycle.
How do I open a bank account?
If you want to open a bank account, you need to check the requirement of the concerned bank since different banks may have different application processes. In most cases, you can opt for an online application where you need to upload the necessary documents to the bank’s database.
Non- US citizens or people without Social Security Numbers need to visit a branch to open a bank account. You will then undergo some paperwork and maybe wait for some days for your ATM card to arrive at your place.
Some banks require you to deposit some amount of money as the opening balance while others allow you to open an account without any deposit. It is upon you to check the features of a bank account before opening it. The most common fees associated with bank accounts include ATM fees, monthly maintenance fees, and international transfer fees.
During account opening, banks may ask all or some of the following.
- Your personal and contact details, including full residential address
- Your Social Security Number
- Your driver’s license or state-issued ID document
- Passport or birth certificate
- An opening deposit payment
Furthermore, you need to be 18 years and above. Minors between 14-17 years can also open a bank account but under the supervision of a parent or guardian.
Bottom line
The ability to withdraw money with an account number and a routing number enables millions of people to receive payments from anywhere in the world. It is an alternative to checks and is convenient. Using Zelle in the process can speed up the transfer process that takes up to five days in the regular ACH transfers.
Although it is difficult for someone to steal from your account unless they have a PIN or know how to put your signature, it is advisable to have a two-way verification process for your account.
