What is a Reference Number?

The reference number is the term used to define a Unique identification number that is applied to different types of financial transactions. All kinds of transactions have a reference number – be it the credit/Debit Card payments or net banking. Each transaction has a unique reference number. This identifier is specially assigned to the debit and credit card transactions, giving the recipients and senders an opportunity to identify the monetary transaction in their records.

You can find the reference number applied to different transactions in your Bank or card statements. This is especially useful for banks and financial institutions that need to deal with thousands of transactions every day.

Breaking Down the Reference Number

The reference number makes it easier for companies and individuals to compile multiple transactions easily. You must have seen a random set of digits and characters assigned to each financial transaction in your bank statements. Well, that is the reference number. It appears as soon as the transaction is over. These numbers can be found right below the bank transaction details, bill payments, wire transfers, and bank withdrawals.

Not only on the printed bank statements, but the reference number is also assigned to the online financial transactions. People could also raise a dispute with the financial company if there is an error in their transaction using the reference number. You can find all your transactions and withdrawals on your card statement.

How Reference Number is Used?

The bank statement cardholder’s statements feature a summary of the transactions that took place for the given month. The government has made it mandatory for the card companies to provide important information related to each transaction in the card statement. They are also supposed to provide clear instructions on how the statements are to be read. If you ever need to talk to the customer service assistant of the bank or the card company, then the first thing you will be asked to share is the reference number of the transaction in question. They use this reference number to search for the transaction.

Reference number makes it easier for the company to investigate their electronic database and financial records to find details of the particular transaction. For instance, the customer can refer to the transaction as “R14663hJU”. All financial companies have to record each transaction along with their reference number in the electronic database. Whether the customer needs to conduct a query or fix the errors in the transaction, they have to use the reference number.

As mentioned above, the reference number works as the identifier that helps the company find the transaction in question easily in the records. In fact, the reference number is all a company needs to track the details of just about any credit/debit card or net banking transaction. If someone has misused the credit/debit card of a person or has used the financial data of an individual for fraudulent purposes, then the bank can use the reference number of the pending transaction to cancel it.