What is a virtual account number? How businesses receive and reconcile with them

A virtual account number receives money like any account, then routes it to a balance held elsewhere. Here is how businesses use them and what to check.

Rashidatou K.Payments editor

Published: 7 July 2026
Reading time: 2 min read

"What is a virtual account number" is searched by people who opened a fintech account and found a US routing number and account number they did not expect. Those are virtual account details: real, payable, and sitting on top of an account held elsewhere.

What a virtual account number is

An account number that receives payments like any other but routes them to an underlying account, usually one the provider holds at a partner bank. The provider then credits the right customer's balance. For the payer, nothing is different: they send ACH, a wire or a SEPA transfer, and it arrives.

How it compares

	Full bank account	Virtual account number
Receives payments	Yes	Yes
Payer's experience	Normal transfer	Normal transfer
Where the money sits	Your bank account	The provider's account, credited to your balance
Typical use	Main operating account	Local details in another currency, per-client collection
Called in IBAN countries	IBAN	Virtual IBAN; see virtual IBANs explained

How businesses use them

Per currency. USD details for US clients, EUR for European clients, GBP for UK clients, all landing in one workspace. See receiving international payments.
Per client or project. Each client pays its own details, so payments match themselves.
Per entity. A group gives each company its own details while managing them centrally.
Per platform. Marketplaces give each seller details to receive into.

What to check

Whose name. Details in your company's name are better for B2B: client finance teams see the right payee, and name checks on euro payments match.
Rails. A US virtual account should take ACH and domestic wires; ask about international wires separately.
Sending. Can you pay suppliers from the same balance?
The provider. Its licences and how it holds customer money. See is Wise or Payoneer safe.

On Rivet

Rivet's free Starter plan includes USD details in your company's name for ACH and wires. Growth adds EUR and GBP details. Money from each lands in the matching balance, and you pay suppliers from the same place. See Bank accounts and the USD account details guide.

Questions people ask

What is a virtual account number?

An account number issued by a bank or payment provider that can receive payments but sits on top of another account. Money sent to it is credited to the customer it belongs to inside the provider's systems.

What is a virtual account in banking?

A sub-account or reference account linked to a main account. Banks offer them to large companies to separate collections by client, region or business line without opening many full accounts. Fintechs use the same model to give each customer local account details.

What is a US virtual account?

US account details, a routing number and account number, issued to a person or company that does not hold a full US bank account. Payers send ACH or wires to it, and the money is credited to the holder's balance with the provider.

Is a virtual account safe for receiving business payments?

Yes, when the provider is regulated and the details are issued in your company's name. Ask how customer money is held, and confirm the account name a payer will see matches your invoices.

Sources

Written by

Rashidatou K.

Payments editor

Rashidatou writes Rivet's guides to how money moves between countries: the payment rails, what each one costs, and the account details a company needs to get paid in another currency. Every figure in Rashidatou's articles is traced to the scheme rulebook, the regulator or the provider's published price list, and those sources are listed at the end.