Why is the deposit reference important? – Kraken

For most cash deposit methods, you will see a unique deposit reference included with the deposit instructions. This deposit reference is very important and needs to be included in your bank transfer.

The format of the deposit reference may vary based on the chosen deposit method.

Note: A deposit reference is required for all cash funding methods except Synapse. References are required for other USD funding methods including MVB Bank and Signature Bank.

Why is it important?

The deposit reference tells our systems that a deposit is meant for your specific account on Kraken and lets it automatically assign the deposit to your account. Please read the deposit instructions thoroughly and include a reference if it is listed.

How to add it?

Banks let you add a message or reference to the receiver when initiating a transaction. Usually this is in the form of a field called “Message to receiver”, “Reference”, "Originator to Beneficiary Information (OBI)", "Remittance Information" or similar.

Some banks offer multiple reference fields. When this is the case, one might be a personal internal reference only, so it would not be sent in the transfer to our bank. If you are not certain about how to attach a reference to your bank transfer so that it is sent to the receiving bank, contact your bank for help.

What happens if you forget to include it?

If a deposit reaches us without a deposit reference, it will have to be manually assigned to your account rather than automatically. We may ask you to submit documentation proving the deposit was sent from your bank.

This means your deposit may take longer to process than the normal processing times.

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