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What Is a Trace Number?

Meow Technologies, Inc.

Meow Technologies, Inc.

A trace number is a unique identifier assigned to financial transactions like ACH transfers and wire transfers. It serves an important purpose - trace numbers allow banks, payment processors, and account holders to track payments and investigate any issues that arise. When key details about transfers go missing or payments disappear into the abyss of the financial system, trace numbers can help uncover what happened behind the scenes.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about trace numbers, from what they are to when and how to use them.

What is a Trace Number?

A trace number, sometimes called a tracking ID, reference number or transaction reference number, is a unique 15-digit number assigned to payments processed through the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network. The ACH network facilitates electronic payments and money transfers directly between banks. Any time an ACH transfer occurs — like a direct deposit, supplier payment, or customer payment via bank debit — it receives a trace number.

Trace numbers contain information about the transaction history and specifics of payments. They allow banks and account holders to trace the path of any ACH transfer to determine its status and uncover issues. If a vendor payment goes missing or a customer doesn’t receive your company's debit pull, the trace number provides visibility into the money flow.

Some key facts about ACH trace numbers:

  • Unique 15-digit reference number for every ACH transaction
  • Assigned to both credit and debit ACH transfers
  • Used to research and resolve payment issues
  • Provides transaction details like origin, destination routing numbers, account numbers, amount, date
  • Includes codes indicating payment type and class of transactions

Getting an ACH Trace Number

While trace numbers are automatically generated for ACH payments, accessing them involves some legwork. The process differs slightly depending on whether you originated or received the transaction.

For sent ACH payments like vendor direct deposits and customer debit transactions:

  • Check your online banking platform or business accounting software for details on money transfers. Platforms like QuickBooks link trace numbers to ACH transactions.
  • If the trace number isn’t readily available, contact your bank and provide payment details like date sent and transaction amount.
  • Your bank should be able to pull up the trace number associated with the transfer.

For received ACH payments like customer direct deposits:

  • First check bank account statements for trace numbers included in ACH credit details.
  • If not listed, contact your bank’s wire transfer department or account manager with specifics like expected deposit amount and date.
  • Ask to speak with a bank manager or specialist if frontline staff can’t locate the number.

When You Need an ACH Trace Number

Trace numbers allow account holders and banks to research what went wrong when ACH payments go awry. Here are three common scenarios where ACH trace numbers get put into action:

  • Missing payroll deposits. If employees don’t receive direct deposit payroll as scheduled, HR can use the trace number to uncover if the money left your company bank account and where it went astray.
  • Lost vendor payments. Trace numbers provide visibility into whether bulk ACH payments to suppliers actually left your finance department. Accounting can determine where electronic payments disappeared to by tracking transactions.
  • Unaccounted for customer payments. When customer bank debit payments don’t show up as expected, trace numbers allow you to confirm if the transfer occurred on schedule and reached the correct destination account.

How to Use an ACH Trace Number to Track Payments

With an ACH trace number in hand, you can start tracking down lost or delayed money transfers. Here are four steps to pinpoint the status of missing ACH payments:

Step 1: Identify the Bank Path

Submit the ACH trace number to your originating bank or receiving bank. This allows them to pull up the complete transaction history and audit trail of the transfer's journey between financial institutions.

Step 2: Verify Settlement

Banks can check if and when the ACH payment settled. Confirm when money left the originating bank and arrived at the destination bank account.

Step 3: Research Any Returns

If the payment shows as returned along the trail for insufficient funds or incorrect account details, the trace number trail provides visibility. Returns get initiated when money doesn’t end up in the right bank accounts.

Step 4: Investigate Errors

If there’s no evidence that the bank received the ACH transfer or if it veered off track and dead-ends, banks can investigate if errors occurred during payment processing. Issues on the bank processing side could be at play.

Throughout the tracking process, bank staff may ask for additional details about the associated accounts and entry descriptions to aid their research.

The Takeaway on Trace Numbers

Trace numbers offer visibility into payment problems and solutions for financial hiccups. When payroll doesn't post for employees or long-overdue customer invoices show no sign of arriving, these 15-digit codes provide answers.

While convoluted banking payment systems often present challenges in reconciling transfers behind the scenes, trace numbers shed light along the money trail. They serve as guides helping to smooth out the otherwise mysterious passageways traversed by electronic payments.

So whether ACH transfers originate from or get deposited into your company bank account, trace numbers should sit top of mind. Saving these transaction reference IDs provides immense value as a precautionary measure. And offers recourse when bumps inevitably arise on the road of financial exchanges between businesses.

Meow Technologies is a financial technology company, not a bank or FDIC-depository insured institution. Likewise, Meow Technologies is not an investment adviser and none of the information presented herein should be relied upon as financial advice or a recommendation to make any financial decision nor should it be considered to be tax or legal advice. The information is the opinion of Meow Technologies for educational purposes and may not be suitable for all companies. Products, like the one described herein, are offered through Meow Technologies and are not advisory services which are only offered through Meow Advisory, LLC.** The FDIC’s deposit insurance coverage only protects against the failure of an FDIC-insured bank.**

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*Disclaimer: Meow Advisory LLC is a registered investment adviser. Registration as an investment adviser does not imply any level of skill or training.
For accounts opened through Atomic Brokerage LLC: Meow Advisory LLC has an engagement with Atomic Brokerage LLC (“Atomic Brokerage”), a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC , to bring you the opportunity to open a brokerage account. Brokerage services for customers of Meow Advisory LLC are provided by Atomic Brokerage. For more details about Atomic Brokerage, please see the Form CRS, General Disclosures, and the Privacy Policy. Check the background of Atomic Brokerage on FINRA’s BrokerCheck.
For subadvisory services for accounts opened through Atomic Invest LLC: Meow Advisory LLC has an engagement with Atomic Invest, LLC (“Atomic Invest”), an SEC-registered investment adviser, to bring you the opportunity to open an investment advisory account. Investment advisory services are provided by Atomic Invest. Companies which are engaged by Atomic Invest receive compensation of 0% to 0.85% annualized, payable monthly, based upon assets under management for each referred client who establishes an account with Atomic Invest (i.e., exact payment will differ). Atomic Invest also shares a percentage of compensation received from margin interest and free cash interest earned by customers with Meow Advisory LLC. Meow Advisory LLC is not a client of Atomic Invest, but our engagement with Atomic invest gives us an incentive to refer you to Atomic Invest instead of another investment adviser. This conflict of interest affects our ability to provide you with unbiased, objective information about the services of Atomic Invest. This could mean that the services of another investment adviser with whom we are not engaged could be more appropriate for you than Atomic invest. Advisory services through Atomic Invest are designed to assist clients in achieving a favorable outcome in their investment portfolio. They are not intended to provide tax advice or financial planning with respect to every aspect of a client’s financial situation and do not include investments that clients may hold outside of Atomic Invest. For more details about Atomic Invest, please see the Form CRS, Form ADV Part 2A, the Privacy Policy, and other disclosures. Brokerage services for Atomic Invest are provided by Pershing Advisor Solutions LLC (“PAS”), a registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC.
Neither Atomic Invest nor Atomic Brokerage, nor any of their affiliates, is a bank. Investments in securities are Not FDIC insured, Not Bank Guaranteed, and May Lose Value. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Before investing, consider your investment objectives and the fees and expenses charged by Atomic Brokerage and/or Atomic Invest.
See the Legal Section within the Meow website for additional agreements.

U.K. Gilt pricing quoted net of fees. ~5% U.K. Gilt yield is sourced from Investing.com December 2023 6-month United Kingdom 6-Month Bond Yield. ~5% Treasury Bill yield is sourced from treasurydirect.gov December 2023 12-week U.S. Treasury Bill auction.

**Disclaimer: Meow Technologies is a financial technology company, not a depository, bank or credit union, and your account at Meow is not, itself, an FDIC-insured product.

Meow currently partners with three banking providers. Banking services are provided by Third Coast Bank SSB; Member FDIC, Grasshopper Bank, N.A; Member FDIC, and FirstBank, a Tennessee corporation; Member FDIC.

By opening a Maximum Checking account through Meow and if you choose to receive banking services provided by Grasshopper Bank, N.A, you deposit your funds into a deposit account at Grasshopper Bank, N.A. which sweeps those funds into deposit accounts across a network of Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”)-insured banks, for up to the current standard maximum deposit insurance amount (“SMDIA”) of $250,000 per eligible depositor, per destination institution, for each ownership capacity or category, subject to applicable terms and conditions, including Grasshopper's ICS Deposit Placement Agreement. Grasshopper Bank, N.A. uses a third-party vendor and agent to help administer this sweep process. Visit https://www.intrafi.com/network-banks/ for a list of the banks and savings associations with which we/Grasshopper, N.A. have a business relationship for the placement of deposits at destination institutions, and into which your deposits may be placed (subject to applicable terms with you, and any opt-outs by Grasshopper, N.A. or you). The current maximum deposit insurance amount for your funds is up to $125 million in FDIC insurance through the sweep network of Grasshopper Bank, N.A, subject to change at any time with notice from Meow and/or pursuant to applicable law. Terms and restrictions apply. Subject to applicable rate sheet. Interest rate on checking products quoted in Annual Percentage Yield (APY). Interest rates and yields are effective as per the date on the applicable rate sheet. See applicable terms and restrictions and refer to the applicable rate sheets for additional information.

By opening a Maximum Checking account through Meow and if you choose to receive banking services provided by Third Coast Bank SSB, you deposit your funds into a deposit account at Third Coast Bank SSB. If you also hold funds in a sweep program with Third Coast Bank SSB, Third Coast Bank SSB sweeps those funds into deposit accounts across a network of FDIC-insured banks, for up to the current SMDIA of $250,000 per eligible depositor, per receiving bank, for each ownership capacity or category, including any other balances you may hold at that receiving bank directly or indirectly through other intermediaries, including broker-dealers. Third Coast Bank SSB uses a third-party vendor and agent to help administer this sweep process. Visit Third Coast Bank SSB for a list of the banks and savings associations with which we/Third Coast Bank SSB have a business relationship for the placement of deposits at receiving banks, and into which your deposits may be placed (subject to applicable terms with you, and any opt-outs by Third Coast Bank or you). The current maximum deposit insurance amount for your funds is up to $50 Million in FDIC insurance through the sweep network of Third Coast Bank, subject to change at any time with notice from Meow and/or pursuant to applicable law. Terms and restrictions apply. Subject to applicable rate sheet. Interest rate on checking products quoted in Annual Percentage Yield (APY). Interest rates and yields are effective as per the date on the applicable rate sheet. See applicable terms and conditions and refer to the applicable rate sheet for additional information.

By opening a Maximum Checking account through Meow and if you choose to receive banking services provided by FirstBank, a Tennessee corporation, you deposit your funds into a deposit account at FirstBank, which sweeps those funds into deposit accounts across a network of FDIC-insured banks, for up to the current SMDIA of $250,000 per eligible depositor, per destination institution, for each ownership capacity or category, subject to applicable terms and conditions, including FirstBank's ICS Deposit Placement Agreement. FirstBank uses a third-party vendor and agent to help administer this sweep process. Visit IntraFi for a list of the banks and savings associations with which FirstBank has a business relationship for the placement of deposits at destination institutions, and into which your deposits may be placed (subject to applicable terms with you, and any opt-outs by FirstBank or you). The current maximum deposit insurance amount for your funds is up to $125 million in FDIC insurance through the sweep network of FirstBank, subject to change at any time with notice from Meow and/or pursuant to applicable law. Terms and restrictions apply. Subject to applicable rate sheet. Interest rate on checking products quoted in Annual Percentage Yield (APY). Interest rates and yields are effective as per the date on the applicable rate sheet. See applicable terms and restrictions and refer to the applicable rate sheet for additional information.

***FDIC insurance coverage is only available to protect you against the failure of an FDIC-insured bank that holds your deposits (and does not protect you against the failure of Meow or other third party). Your account with Meow and all services provided to you are subject to the Meow Terms of Service (“Account Agreements”) and other applicable terms and no other representations or warranties, express or implied, are provided to you except as expressly set forth in those written Account Agreements. If you have any questions regarding your account, please contact team@meow.com.

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FirstBank’s general policy is to allow you to withdraw funds deposited in your account on the first business day after the day we receive your deposit. Funds from electronic deposits will be available on the day we receive the deposit. In some cases, we may delay your ability to withdraw funds beyond the first business day. Then, the funds will generally be available by the SECOND business day after the day of deposit.