How to trace a payment: from traveler card to supplier to advisor payout

To trace a payment, get the reference number for the stage where the money stopped and give it to the institution that issued it. Card refunds have an Acquirer Reference Number (ARN). ACH payments have a 15-digit trace number. Fedwire transfers have an IMAD. SWIFT payments have a UETR. SEPA transfers have an end-to-end ID. Without the right reference, nobody can find the money quickly.

Every hop has a number. Below: each stage of a travel payment, the reference to collect, who can trace it, and what to do when money goes missing.

What does it mean to trace a payment?

Tracing a payment means following one transaction through every bank and processor it touches, using the reference number each one assigns. A travel payment rarely moves in one hop. The traveler's card is charged, your processor pays your bank, you pay the supplier, the supplier pays commission back, and you pay the advisor.

Each of those is a separate transaction with its own reference. Investigators work from those numbers, not from names or amounts.

The stages of a travel payment

If the traveler later gets a refund, that is a new transaction moving the other way, with its own reference: usually the ARN.

Which reference number do you need for a card payment?

For the original charge, the authorization code. Visa defines it as the code an issuer provides to indicate approval of a transaction. It is returned in the authorization response and usually recorded on the receipt as proof of authorization. If you hold first and capture later, the code comes from the hold. (More on that in authorization holds.)

For a refund, the Acquirer Reference Number (ARN). Stripe describes the ARN as a reference number assigned to a card transaction as it moves through the payment flow. The traveler can take it to their bank, which can say when the refund will show up.

Three things to know about card refund references on Stripe:

• They take time. It can take up to 7 business days after the refund to receive the ARN from banking partners.
• Some refunds have no ARN. A refund issued shortly after the charge may go through as a reversal. The original charge drops off the statement and no separate credit appears, so there is no ARN.
• Other networks use other numbers. Where ARNs aren't supported, Stripe tries to provide a System Trace Audit Number (STAN) or Retrieval Reference Number (RRN).

The ARN also matters in disputes. Under Visa's rules, if a credit was processed before a dispute, the issuer must apply it or provide the Transaction Identifier or Acquirer Reference Number of the transaction it went to. Keep the ARN of every refund you issue.

How do you trace an ACH payment?

Use the trace number. In the Nacha file format, the trace number is a 15-character field assigned by the originating bank (ODFI) that uniquely identifies each entry within a batch and the file. The ODFI is the bank that sent the payment.

If an ACH payment doesn't arrive, the sending bank investigates. Through the Federal Reserve, the ODFI can open a Payment Trace Request asking the receiving bank for the payment's status: not received, returned or posted. Its required fields include the trace number, the amount and the account number. If the receiving bank doesn't respond within 10 business days, the Federal Reserve cancels and closes the case.

For how ACH timing and returns work, see ACH transfers.

How do you trace a wire transfer?

For a US domestic wire on Fedwire, ask for the IMAD. Fedwire tags each message with Input Message Accountability Data (IMAD) and Output Message Accountability Data (OMAD). Every successfully processed message contains both, and Fedwire checks the IMAD to reject duplicates. When a wire is returned, the return points back to the IMAD of the original message.

Wires are final once they land. Fedwire participants get finality of payments credited to their Federal Reserve Bank master accounts. That is why a wrong wire is hard to pull back, so have the IMAD ready before you call your bank.

How do you trace a SWIFT payment?

Ask for the UETR, the unique end-to-end transaction reference. The Bank for International Settlements' payments committee (CPMI) recommends it as the unique identification for all cross-border payments. In its words, the UETR will enable easier tracking and simplify investigation and exception handling.

A UETR is a universally unique identifier (UUID) built to the RFC 4122 version 4 standard. No central authority hands them out. Customer payment systems are expected to generate the UETR when the payment starts, and during the transition, the sending bank generates one if they don't.

A SWIFT payment may pass through several correspondent banks, each with its own internal reference. The UETR is the one number that stays the same. More on routes and fees in SWIFT transfers.

How do you trace a SEPA transfer?

Use the end-to-end ID. In the European Payments Council's (EPC) message guidelines, the end-to-end identification is passed on, unchanged, throughout the entire end-to-end chain. It is up to 35 characters, set by whoever starts the payment, and can be used for reconciliation.

The SEPA Credit Transfer Rulebook calls it the originator's reference. It is transmitted from acceptance until the finality of the transaction and must be returned in any exception handling step. If the payer leaves it blank, it defaults to "Not provided", which makes tracing harder. Put your booking number in it.

Timing helps you spot a problem early. The payer's bank must get the money to the payee's bank within one banking business day of receiving the instruction.

Payment type, reference and who can trace it

Practical guidance: the sender traces. This table and rule summarize the sources above; no network publishes them as one rule. If a supplier says they paid your commission, the supplier's bank holds the reference. Ask the supplier for it.

How do you reconcile bank deposits against bookings?

Match each bank deposit to a processor payout, then match the payout to the bookings inside it. Processors pay out in batches, so one deposit usually covers many travelers, minus fees and refunds.

On Stripe, the payout reconciliation report matches the payouts in your bank account to the batches of payments they relate to. Its itemized download lists every payment, refund, dispute, fee, and other balance transaction included in the payout. You can include custom metadata, such as a booking number, to match each line to your own records.

Three things trip agencies up:

1. The report needs automatic payouts. It's only available with automatic payouts enabled. For instant payouts, Stripe can't identify which transactions are included, so you reconcile those yourself.
2. Dates don't match exactly. The report groups payouts by estimated arrival date, not the date your bank posts the deposit. Widen the date range if a payout seems missing.
3. Refunds come out of the batch. Stripe pays refunds from your available balance, and the itemized report lists refunds inside the payout they reduced.

What this means for agencies: add the booking number as metadata on every payment and as the reference on every outgoing transfer. Then one number links the traveler's charge, the payout, the supplier payment and the commission.

What to do when a payment goes missing

1. Find the stage. Check the processor dashboard first. Was the payment captured, paid out, or refunded? That tells you which reference you need.
2. Get the reference and hand it to the right party. Your processor has the refund ARN, which the traveler takes to their card issuer, and the payout trace ID, which you take to your bank. For a supplier or commission payment, the payer has the trace number, IMAD, UETR or end-to-end ID, and its own bank traces it.
3. Wait the documented window, then escalate. On Stripe, card refunds show up about 5–10 business days after you issue them. If a Stripe payout hasn't arrived after 10 business days, contact your bank with the trace ID.
4. Watch for failed refunds. If the traveler's bank can't process a refund, the money returns to Stripe, which can take up to 30 days. Then you need another way to repay the traveler.
5. For a mistaken SEPA transfer, act fast. A recall for a duplicate or technical error must be sent within 10 banking business days of the execution date, and the payee's bank has 15 banking business days to answer.

On Stripe, trace IDs can take up to 10 days after the payout is marked paid to appear. Some destinations, including Argentina, Japan, the Philippines and UK Instant Payouts, have none.

Example: one cruise booking, end to end

All numbers, names and references below are illustrative, made up for this example. Real references look different.

Now suppose the traveler says the $300 refund never arrived. You open the payment, copy the ARN and send it to them. They give it to their card issuer, which can see when the credit posted. No guessing, no second refund.

How Tripdash traces payments

Tripdash Pay follows each payment from the traveler "to the exact supplier that received the funds, to the bank account paid out to", so the reference trail stays in one place. See how Tripdash Pay works.

Related reading: how travel agencies collect payments, local-account netting and payout ID verification.

Sources

1. Stripe. Refund and cancel payments (sections "Trace a refund" and "Handle failed refunds"), accessed October 21, 2026.
2. Stripe. Payout reconciliation report, accessed October 21, 2026.
3. Stripe. Payout Trace IDs, accessed October 21, 2026.
4. Visa. Visa Core Rules and Visa Product and Service Rules, edition of April 18, 2026. Glossary ("Authorization Code"), section 5.9.2.2, dispute categories 10–13.
5. Nacha. ACH Developer Guide: ACH file details, accessed October 21, 2026.
6. Federal Reserve Financial Services. Payment Trace Request (PTR), Exception Resolution Service reference guide.
7. Federal Reserve Financial Services. Fedwire Funds Service ISO 20022 format frequently asked questions.
8. Federal Reserve Financial Services. Fedwire Funds Service.
9. Bank for International Settlements, Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures. Harmonised ISO 20022 data requirements for enhancing cross-border payments, original report, October 17, 2023. Requirement 5.
10. European Payments Council. SEPA Credit Transfer Scheme Rulebook, EPC125-05, 2025 version 1.0, effective October 5, 2025. Sections 4.2.3, 4.3.2.3 and attribute AT-T014.
11. European Payments Council. SEPA Credit Transfer Customer-to-PSP Implementation Guidelines, EPC132-08, 2025 version 1.0. Element 2.81 (End To End Identification).