Routing Transit Number - RTN

The purpose of a routing number is so that wired monies can find their way home.

Think of them like the smell of worm to Canadian Geese. When you write a check or wire money or do almost anything financial these days, the dough is given a kind of custom electronic signature. Basically…a number. A big fat one. And the numbers mean specific things. Like...on a paper check, the routing of the dough you’re paying to “Lana Sinn” for, um, services rendered…comes in two pieces. There’s a 9-digit routing number, a.k.a. RTN, a.k.a. Routing Transit Number, and that number is then mapped to your specific account number.

Why do you need this number? Well, when you suddenly see an item on your bank statement for a payment of $350 to Yarmulke Supply, Ltd., and you’re about as Jewish as the Pope...you may want your bank to be able to track that sucker. You’d like to be able to prove you were not, in fact, the one who authorized that payment, so your bank can refund your hard-earned cash.

Ah...much better. L’Chaim.