Payments6 min readUpdated October 15, 2026

What Is an Acquirer Reference Number (ARN)?

ARN meaning: the 23-digit number banks use to trace a card refund. ARN vs RRN vs authorization code, where to find it on Stripe, Adyen, PayPal.

Nick Bonnassies, CMO at Tagada · checked against 6 sources

Article summary

TL;DR

An acquirer reference number (ARN) is a 23-digit code that the merchant's bank puts on a card transaction when it sends it into clearing. Every bank along the way stores the same number, so the cardholder's bank can use it to find a payment or a refund. A refund gets its own ARN, separate from the purchase.

Visa defines the ARN as an identification number included in a clearing record. It exists once a payment or refund is cleared, not at authorization.
A refund gets its own ARN. Give that one to a customer who can't see the money.
Stripe can take up to 7 business days to receive a refund's ARN. A refund that went through as a reversal has none.
The RRN is set at authorization, the ARN at clearing. The authorization code only proves the issuer approved the payment.
Visa's dispute rules name the ARN when a merchant already refunded and when a customer claims they were charged twice.

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On this page

The acquirer reference number is the tracking number of the card world. A merchant can't use it to move money, but it's the one reference that the merchant's bank, the card network and the customer's bank all hold for the same transaction. Most people meet it when a refund doesn't show up.

What an ARN is

Visa's rules define the acquirer reference number as "an identification number included in a Clearing Record".1 The acquirer, the merchant's bank, adds it when it sends the transaction into clearing. The record then travels to the cardholder's bank, which stores the same number.

Three facts follow:

No clearing, no ARN. An authorization that was never captured, or a void, never gets one.
A refund gets its own ARN. It isn't traced with the purchase's number.3
A reversal has none. At Stripe, a refund issued soon after the charge can go through as a reversal: the charge drops off the statement and no separate credit is sent, so there is no ARN.2

ARN vs RRN vs authorization code vs transaction ID

A card payment carries several references. They answer different questions.

Reference	Who sets it	When	Format	What it's for
ARN	Acquirer	Clearing	23 digits	Tracing a payment or refund between banks
RRN (retrieval reference number)	Acquirer or processor	Authorization	12 letters and digits, ISO 8583 field 37	Matching a payment to its approval, retrieval requests
Authorization code	Card issuer (or Visa, when it approves on the issuer's behalf)	Authorization	Short code on the receipt	Proof the issuer approved the payment
Visa Transaction Identifier	Visa	Authorization response	Network value	Linking reversals, adjustments and disputes to the original
Processor payment ID	Your processor	When you create the payment	Processor format (Stripe: pi_, re_)	Your own dashboard, support and refunds

Sources: Visa glossary for the ARN, authorization code and Transaction Identifier;1 Solidgate for the RRN;6 Stripe for the 23 digits.3 If you searched "ARN/RRN": Stripe treats them as alternatives. It shows an ARN for card refunds and falls back to a STAN (system trace audit number) or an RRN for networks that don't use ARNs.2 For terminal IDs and other numbers on a receipt, see what a TID number is.

What's inside the 23 digits

Stripe says an ARN is 23 digits long and that its structure changes with the card network. For Visa, it lists a 6-digit segment for the acquiring bank, a 4-digit Julian date (year and day of the year) and a 6-digit sequence number. Mastercard uses the same length with the segments in a different order.3 Visa's public rules confirm that each acquirer has a 6-digit Acquiring Identifier, but they don't publish the ARN layout.1

Don't decode it, copy it

Online guides disagree on the rest, such as what the first digit means. Treat the ARN as a label: copy all 23 digits as text, without spaces, and keep leading zeros.

Where merchants find the ARN

Stripe
Open the payment, then View Details on the refund in the Timeline. In the API, read destination_details.card.reference, with reference_type: acquirer_reference_number. Allow up to 7 business days.2
Adyen
Customer Area, Transactions > Payments, select the PSP Reference, then Payment events. You need the View payments role.4
PayPal
In the response of the orders, captures and refunds endpoints, a few days after the capture or refund. Available with Expanded Checkout in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and the EU.5

If you run several processors, each one issues its own ARN for the payments it clears. Look up the refund at the processor that took the original payment.

The customer's case: "I don't see my refund"

Stripe says a refund shows as a credit about 5 to 10 business days after it's issued, depending on the bank.2 When it doesn't:

Check whether the charge disappeared. A refund issued soon after the payment may be a reversal: the charge drops off the statement and no credit line appears.2
Get the refund's ARN. The merchant reads it in the processor's dashboard once it's available.
Call the bank with the ARN. Stripe says the customer's bank can use it to tell them when the refund will be available.2 PayPal adds that without an ARN, a bank can struggle to route a refund to a card that was lost, stolen or closed.5
Know the bank's own deadline. Outside the US, Visa requires the issuer to post a credit within 5 calendar days of settlement. In the US: 3 business days for credit cards, 1 business day for Visa debit and prepaid cards.1

If the money still doesn't arrive, the bank can open a "Credit Not Processed" dispute. Waiting times are on our partial refund page.

When Visa rules call for the ARN

The ARN is the reference Visa's dispute rules ask for when a credit or a duplicate is in question:1

The merchant refunded before the dispute (sections 11.2.2 and 11.2.3, Tables 11-1 and 11-2). The issuer must apply the credit, or give the Transaction Identifier or ARN of the credit, its date and why it doesn't resolve the dispute.
Duplicate processing (section 11.9.5.5, Table 11-81, condition 12.6). The issuer must certify the date and ARN of the valid transaction.
Paid by other means (same table). Evidence of the other payment includes its ARN when it was made with a Visa card.

For a merchant, the practical rule is simple: store the ARN of every refund with the order. If a customer disputes a payment you already refunded, that number links your credit to the dispute. See chargeback vs refund for the next steps.

How Tagada helps

Refunds that follow the card network rules

Tagada follows Visa and Mastercard rules and the laws that apply to payments. Payments route across Stripe, Adyen and TagadaPay with one logic, and TagadaPay runs native 3DS2, device intelligence and a rules engine.

Updated on October 15, 2026

Nick Bonnassies

CMO at Tagada

CMO at Tagada. Before Tagada, Nick built direct-to-consumer brands that generated over $115M in sales, raised over $25M in crowdfunding and sold two of them. He also works as a fractional CMO on marketing operations and AI systems.

Frequently asked questions

What is an ARN nummer?

The same thing: ARN-Nummer is the German way of saying ARN number. It's the acquirer reference number, the 23-digit code your bank uses to trace a card payment or refund. German shops and banks use the English name. Ask the shop for the ARN of your refund and give it to your bank.

What is the difference between ARN and RRN?

The RRN (retrieval reference number) is a 12-character code set at authorization, when the bank approves the payment. The ARN is a 23-digit code set later, when the payment or refund is cleared. Stripe gives you an RRN or a STAN only when the card network doesn't use ARNs.

Does a refund have the same ARN as the purchase?

No. A refund is a new transaction, so it gets its own ARN. When a customer asks where their money is, give them the refund's ARN, not the one from the original payment.

How long does it take to get an ARN?

A few days. Stripe says it can take up to 7 business days to receive a refund's ARN from its banking partners, and PayPal says the ARN is available a few days after a capture or refund. Until then, the reference shows as processing.

Does every card payment have an ARN?

No. Adyen generates ARNs only for Mastercard, Visa, JCB and Diners. For other networks, Stripe tries to give a STAN or RRN instead. A refund that went through as a reversal has no ARN, because no new credit was sent.

Sources

Checked October 15, 2026

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