What Happens to a Routing Number When a Bank Closes?

When a bank fails or is acquired, most customers' first concern is whether their deposits are safe — and with FDIC insurance covering up to $250,000 per depositor per institution, they usually are. But there's a secondary concern that's easy to overlook: what happens to the bank's routing number, and how does it affect automatic payments and direct deposits?

Bank Failure and FDIC Assisted Resolution

When a bank fails, the FDIC typically arranges one of two outcomes: an assisted acquisition (where a healthy bank takes over the failed bank's deposits and assets) or a deposit payout (where the FDIC directly pays out insured deposits). In most cases, the FDIC facilitates an assisted acquisition.

In an assisted acquisition, the acquiring bank typically keeps the failed bank's routing number active for a transition period — often 12–24 months — to ensure that automatic payments and direct deposits continue to route correctly. During this window, your direct deposit paycheck and automatic bill payments will still arrive normally, even though the funds now technically sit in an account at the acquiring bank.

Voluntary Bank Mergers

In a voluntary merger or acquisition (far more common than failures), the process is similar but better planned. The acquired bank's routing number usually remains active for a year or more, with advance notice given to customers. The acquiring bank sends letters, emails, and in-app notices explaining the transition timeline and the new routing number you'll eventually need to use.

During the transition period, your existing routing number continues to work. After the retirement date, payments using the old routing number are typically returned or rerouted by the acquiring bank for an additional grace period — but eventually, they'll stop working entirely.

How to Find Out If Your Routing Number Changed

The fastest way is to look up your routing number in our lookup tool. If the number has been retired, it will return no results. If it's been transferred to an acquiring institution, it may return the new bank's name. You can also check:

• Your bank's official communications (mail, email, in-app notifications)
• The FDIC's BankFind database for failed bank information
• The acquiring bank's website, which usually has a dedicated merger FAQ page

What to Update After a Routing Number Change

Once you know your routing number has changed, update it in all the same places you'd update it when switching banks voluntarily: direct deposit with your employer, government benefit agencies, automatic bill payments, and linked payment apps. See our full migration checklist guide for a comprehensive list.

Use our bank directory to find the new routing number for the acquiring institution, filtered by your state. For credit unions, similar merger processes apply — the surviving credit union retains its routing number and the acquired credit union's number is eventually retired.

Visit our guides section for more on routing numbers after mergers and during bank transitions.