How an acquirer reference number is assigned
An authorisation has no acquirer reference number yet. The number is created when the captured transaction is submitted for clearing, and from then on appears in the clearing record, in the issuer's systems and in the acquirer's reports.
The Visa Core Rules of 18 April 2026 define the acquirer reference number as an identification number included in a clearing record. A refund is a clearing record of its own, so a refund gets its own number, separate from the purchase.
Where an acquirer reference number is used
- Refund tracing: the cardholder's bank can look up a refund the customer cannot see yet
- Disputes: a chargeback names the transaction by this number
- Reconciliation: matching the acquirer's settlement reports to the gateway's records
- Support: the one reference that acquirer, scheme and issuer all hold
Why a gateway stores it
A gateway keeps the acquirer reference number next to its own transaction ID, the authorisation code and the scheme's transaction ID. Each identifies the payment to a different party, and a support case or a dispute can arrive quoting any of them.
ARN, RRN or authorisation code?
- Retrieval reference number
- Assigned at authorisation and used to find the authorisation message. The acquirer reference number belongs to clearing.
- Authorisation code
- The issuer's short approval code, returned with an approved authorisation.
- Scheme transaction ID
- Assigned by the card scheme, and used to link an authorisation to its clearing record and to later payments in a series.
Where an acquirer reference number shows up in a platform
Modules that do the work
- Card acquiringCard acceptance on the phone, in store and online, through the acquirer you choose.
- LedgerThe double-entry book of record behind every balance, fee and transfer.
- BackofficeOne console to run the platform: customers, money, risk, content and staff permissions.
Platforms that need it
Where it is written
The laws and standards this page's facts come from.
General information, not legal advice: what applies to you depends on your services and your market.