What Is an ABA Routing Number?

A routing number tells a US payment system which bank holds an account. It is used together with the account number, much like an IFSC code and an account number in India. A US client who pays suppliers through their own bank portal often sees fields labelled routing number and account number. Indian bank accounts have no ABA routing number, because India uses IFSC codes domestically and SWIFT codes for international payments. When a US client asks for a routing number, the usual answer is to share the bank's SWIFT code, the account number and the beneficiary details, and to ask the client to send an international wire.

For example, a US client's payment form asks for a nine-digit routing number. A freelancer in Pune with an account at an Indian bank has none, so the freelancer sends the bank's SWIFT code and account number and asks the client to choose an international wire.

• Payment route: The routing number decides whether a payment travels on US domestic rails. An Indian bank account is not reachable through those rails, so an international transfer is needed.
• Bank compliance: Inward payments to India must still be realised through banking channels. Regulation 5 of the FEMA export regulations sets the realisation period, so use a route your AD bank can credit with a proper remittance record.
• Income tax: The routing number has no tax effect. Your income is recorded on the amount credited and the foreign inward remittance advice from your bank.
• GST: The routing number has no GST effect. Zero-rating of export of services depends on the conditions in the IGST Act, not on which payment code is used.

An ABA routing number works as an address for a bank inside US payment systems. The payment system reads the nine digits, finds the bank, and then credits the account number given with it.

1. The payer enters the payee bank's routing number and the account number.
2. The payer's bank sends the instruction through a US network such as ACH or Fedwire.
3. The network uses the routing number to deliver the instruction to the right bank.
4. The receiving bank credits the account number named in the instruction.
5. For a payment to an account in India, no routing number is used. The route runs over SWIFT using the bank's SWIFT code.

You use an ABA routing number only if you hold a US bank account. If your account is in India, you explain that your bank is reached through SWIFT and share the details below instead.

1. Check whether you hold an account with a US bank. If you do not, you have no routing number to share.
2. Share your Indian bank's name, SWIFT code, account number and branch address, with the beneficiary name exactly as on the account.
3. Ask your client to send an international wire, and confirm the currency the client will pay in.
4. Agree who bears the bank charges before payment. See our, sha and ben charges.
5. Give the correct RBI purpose code for the receipt when your AD bank asks for it, using the descriptions in the RBI purpose code list.

• Indian accounts: Indian bank accounts do not have an ABA routing number. The Indian equivalents are the IFSC code for domestic transfers and the SWIFT code for international ones.
• SWIFT code: A routing number is not interchangeable with a SWIFT code. They are used on different networks.
• Fixed per bank: A US bank can have several routing numbers, and the one for ACH can differ from the one for wires. Confirm the number with the bank that issued the account.
• Foreign wires: Routing numbers are for US domestic use. They do not replace the bank details needed for an international transfer.

• SWIFT code: An 8 or 11 character code that identifies a bank on the SWIFT network.
• ACH transfer: A US batch payment network used for domestic credits and debits.
• Wire transfer: A bank-to-bank transfer of funds, domestic or international.
• BIC: The Business Identifier Code, the standard form of a SWIFT code.
• IBAN: An international account number format used mainly in Europe.

Every rule and definition on this page is linked to its official source, checked on the dates below.

1. Federal Reserve Financial Services: FedACH (checked 9 Oct 2026)
2. Federal Reserve Financial Services: Fedwire Funds Service (checked 9 Oct 2026)
3. FEMA (Export and Import of Goods and Services) Regulations, 2026, Regulation 5 on realisation (checked 9 Oct 2026)
4. RBI FETERS purpose code list (A.P. DIR Circular No. 84) (checked 9 Oct 2026)