What's My Navy Federal Routing Number?

From setting up direct deposit to making ACH payments and wire transfers, you’ll need a routing number to complete many kinds of banking transactions. Navy Federal Credit Union has a routing number for ACH transfers, as well as domestic and international wire transfers.

A routing number is a nine-digit number banks and other financial institutions in the U.S. use to identify themselves. You can think of them as addresses that let other banks know where to find your money. The routing number you use depends on with which bank you have opened an account, and sometimes where your bank operates.

Routing numbers are also sometimes known as ABA numbers, routing transit numbers (RTNs) and check routing numbers.

Routing numbers were created in 1910 by the American Bankers Association to help process paper checks and enable banks and credit unions to accurately process transactions between themselves and other financial institutions.

Routing numbers come in handy for various types of financial transactions. You’ll probably need to know your routing number if you want to:

• Set up automatic bill payments and direct deposit
• Pay with a check
• Make a wire transfer or ACH payment to someone in the U.S.
• Have payments like salary and pension deposited into your account

In addition to standard ABA routing numbers, it's common for banks or other financial institutions to use different routing numbers for domestic and international wire transfers.

However, Navy Federal has simplified this. In all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia (D.C.), when it comes to ACH transfers, domestic and international wire transfers, you'll use the same same routing number: 256074974.

Normally, international wire transfers will also require a special type of number called a SWIFT code. This number corresponds to the bank or financial institution receiving the transfer, so you would need to provide it to the sender in order to be able to receive the money into your U.S. bank account.

However, Navy Federal is not part of the SWIFT network (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication), so in order to send or receive international wire transfers, you will likely have to arrange for the money to pass through a corresponding or intermediary bank and know that bank's routing number.

In general, the three types of routing numbers are:

• ABA: The standard routing number used for direct deposit, electronic bill payments and writing checks, among other transactions.
• Domestic Wire Transfer: The number used to send money to or receive money from another U.S. bank account (both accounts are domestic).
• International Wire Transfer (SWIFT code): The number used to send money from a U.S. bank account to a non-U.S. bank account or vice-versa. This is called a SWIFT code.

Since Navy Federal isn't part of the SWIFT network, if someone is sending you an international wire transfer to your Navy Federal account in the U.S., it will be considered a "for further credit" transfer (FFC) and pass through an intermediary bank before being forward to you, the recipient.

If you have a Navy Federal check on hand, you can locate your routing number as the first nine digits on the bottom left.

The number to its right, on the bottom middle of your check, is your bank account number. The number on the bottom right is the number of the check itself. These three numbers will be separated by a symbol that looks like a colon used in punctuation, so it should be pretty easy to spot.

For sending Navy Federal domestic wire transfers, you’ll need to know the following:

• The name of the person to whom you’re wiring funds as it appears on their account (the “payee”)
• The payee’s account number and account type
• The routing number of the payee’s bank
• The name and address of the payees’s bank
• The payee's address
• The third-party status
• The transfer amount
• For amounts over $3,000, also include sender and payee addresses in the remarks

For sending Navy Federal international wire transfers, you’ll need to know:

• The name of the person to whom you’re wiring funds as it appears on their bank account (the “payee”)
• The name and address of the receiving financial institution
• The receiving financial institution's ABA routing number or SWIFT code
• The payee’s account number (IBAN or CLABE) and account type
• The name and address of the payee’s bank
• The payee's address, including city, state/province and country
• The third-party status
• The transfer amount 
• The type and purpose of the transfer

Regular routing numbers are sometimes confused with SWIFT codes and other numbers like BIC codes and IBANs.

SWIFT codes, as you now know, are special routing numbers banks use to make international wire transfers. As it turns out, BIC codes are another name for SWIFT codes, short for “bank identifier” codes. So they’re actually the same thing.

IBANs are international bank account numbers, which identify individual bank accounts and are commonly used in Europe.

Learn More About Routing Numbers:

• What's My Wells Fargo Routing Number?
• What's My Chase Bank Routing Number?
• What's My Bank of America Routing Number?
• Bank Account Routing Numbers on Checks
• How to Verify an ABA Routing Number
• The Differences Between Swift Codes and Routing Numbers
• How to Check That Routing Numbers Work
• How Do I Find an ABA Routing Number?
• How to Read the Check Account Routing Number

Learn More About Wire Transfers:

• Difference Between Wire Transfer & Electronic Transfer
• Cross Border Wire Transfer Requirements
• Bank Wire Transfer Process
• How Soon Can a Wire Transfer Be Available in My Checking Account?
• Can a Wire Transfer Bounce?
• How to Wire Transfer Online
• What Is a Wire Transfer Fee?
• What Is the Difference Between Direct Deposits & Wire Transfers?