Wells Fargo is an American financial company headquartered in San Francisco, California. However, its operational headquarters are in Manhattan. The company’s managerial offices exist throughout the US and other countries. It has operations in 35 countries with over 70 million consumers globally. The bank is considered a critical financial company by the Financial Stability Board. I will discuss the Wells Fargo ACH routing number later.
The routing number is an essential component when it comes to transferring money through wires or ACH. It helps to identify the financial company receiving finances. Usually, the number goes hand in hand with the recipient’s account number. Since we have many banks in the country, sending money to other banks would be challenging if it were not for the routing number.
Wells Fargo has various products that you can get. We have checking accounts that you can use for your everyday checking activities and savings accounts that you can use to keep the money for your future use as they earn interest, credit cards, and debit cards. You can also get services such as wealth management, mutual funds, equities trading, mutual fund, insurance, business accounts, etc.
Process To Open A Wells Fargo Account
To carry out various transactions at the company, you should open an account with the company. Before opening an account, you should know why you need the account. One should consider a checking account if they want to keep money for their daily usage. However, a savings account will work better if you want an account to earn interest.
Furthermore, you should meet various requirements as per federal law. The following are the things you should have –
- Social Security Number
- Identification docs such as a passport, driver’s license, or State Identity document
- Email address
- Phone number
- Physical address
- Minimum deposit amount
You can open your account at a branch or online with Wells Fargo. When you open your account online, you can save time. Also, the process takes shorter than when you walk to a branch for an account opening.
When opening an account online, you should visit the Wells Fargo website, navigate to the account you want to open, and tap Open Now. For example, when opening the Everyday Checking account, you need to tap the Open Now button and enter your home ZIP code. Next, you should select whether to open an individual or joint account. You will also need to declare if you are an existing Wells Fargo online customer or not. You then select Continue to enter more details.
Wells Fargo ACH Routing Number
As I mentioned earlier, every financial company has a routing number that distinguishes it from other financial institutions. Again, big institutions may have several routing numbers to serve different regions. Usually, a routing number has nine digits.
The routing number for Wells Fargo is 121000248. You can get the number online when you visit the Wells Fargo website. Also, you can see it at the bottom of your Wells Fargo checks. You can use it to receive funds within the United States. There are various kinds of transactions that require you to provide your routing number together with your account number.
They include direct deposit, wire transfer, and ACH transfers. That way, the funds can go straight to the account in Wells Fargo and not to the Bank of America, Citibank, or any other bank in the country.
You will not need a routing number if you receive money from outside the United States. Instead, you need the Wells Fargo SWIFT code, which is WFBIUS6S. Therefore, you need the routing number for domestic transfers from other banks. In contrast, for international ones, you need the SWIFT code.
Steps To Send Money With A Routing Number
When sending money to another bank, the routing number will be important. If sending money online, you should follow the steps below.
- Log into your online account.
- Navigate to the ‘Send Money’ area.
- Enter the routing and account numbers of the recipient.
- Enter the amount to send.
- Input any other necessary detail and send.
As I mentioned, you can use the ACH or wire transfer to send money using a routing number. Also, when writing a check, the routing number is significant for the receiving bank to know where to draw the money. When you send money using ACH, the funds take 3-4 business days to reach the recipient. However, when sending money using a wire transfer, the funds can reach the recipient within 24 hours.
Is It Safe To Send Money With A Routing Number
It is safe to send finances using a routing number. Remember that the number is general to everyone in a bank; thus, no one can use the details to steal money from your account. However, someone may steal money from your account if they get your account and routing numbers. They can impersonate you and use the details to request a checkbook from your bank and thus can use the checks to steal from you.
However, the above case is rare. In most cases, fraudsters will gain access to your online account if they have your username plus your PIN or password. That way, they can send money or carry out other transaction types. Also, thieves can steal from your account if they have your debit card plus your PIN.
Wrap Up
Wells Fargo is an American financial company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Its operational headquarters are in Manhattan, while the managerial offices exist throughout the US and other countries. There are various kinds of products you can get from the company. You can open a savings account, a checking account, etc. Wells Fargo’s routing number allows you to receive money within the United States.
