Tokenized account numbers (TANs) are temporary bank account numbers issued by some banks instead of real account numbers.
Banks currently known to use TANs include Chase, PNC, and U.S. Bank. Other banks may also use TANs. They will be added here as they are found.
How do TANs work?
↑ Back to topWhen you connect your bank account to WooPayments, your bank may provide a TAN instead of your actual account number. This is because TANs are a security measure designed to safeguard your real banking credentials.
To aid in this protection, banks may periodically refresh your TAN. When this happens, the last four digits of your payout bank account may change, even though your actual underlying bank account has not changed.
This is normal and expected behavior. Your payouts will continue to be routed to the same bank account as they were before the TAN refresh. No action is needed on your part. You do not need to re-add or re-verify your bank account.
TAN deactivation
↑ Back to topSometimes a TAN may be completely deactivated rather than refreshed. (For example, should you revoke our access to your payout bank account.)
A deactivated TAN can cause payout failures. If this happens, you will need to re-add a bank account to WooPayments by following the usual process. This can be the same bank account you had before, or a totally different one.
Chase TAN expiration
↑ Back to topWhen you connect a Chase bank account to WooPayments by logging in to your bank, Chase asks you how long you want to allow access to your account. You can choose 6 months, 1 year, or “Always.”
If you choose 6 months or 1 year, Chase deactivates your TAN when that period ends. Payouts to that account then fail until you re-add your bank account to WooPayments.
To keep your payouts running smoothly, do one of the following:
- Choose “Always” when you connect your Chase bank account.
- Re-add your Chase account before your chosen time period ends. When you re-add it, Chase will ask you to choose a new time period.
Chase accounts connected before August 21, 2026, don’t expire this way unless you’ve reconnected them. Accounts you added by typing in the account and routing numbers don’t use TANs to begin with, so this doesn’t apply to them either.
March 2026 incident
↑ Back to topIn March 2026, some WooPayments merchants affected by a U.S. Bank TAN refresh mistakenly received an email with the subject line: “Someone updated the account that you receive payouts to.” Unfortunately, this caused a great deal of concern, since these merchants had not knowingly changed their payout bank accounts.
We have since updated our systems to differentiate between human-initiated payout bank account changes and automated TAN refreshes. Going forward, we will only send email messages when the bank account change is performed by a person.
