Building Society Roll Number: Do You Actually Have One?

A building society roll number is the reference your society uses to identify your account. You'll find it on your passbook, your statements, letters from the society, or in its app — and when you're paying money in, it usually goes in the reference field rather than the account number field.

Two things worth knowing before you go looking. If you're with a high-street bank — Barclays, Lloyds, Santander, NatWest, HSBC — you almost certainly don't have one, and the form asking for it will accept a blank box. And at some societies the roll number simply is your account number, written in an unusual format.

At a glance

What it is: The society's reference for your account
Format: Alphanumeric, often 10–18 characters
Where it goes: The payment reference field
Find it on: Passbook, statement, letters, the app
High-street banks: Don't use them
If you can't find it: The society can tell you, you can't look it up

🏦 Paying into a building society · pick your provider

Your bank or building society

To pay into your Yorkshire Building Society account by bank transfer, set it up as a new payee with these details:

Sort code60-92-04

Account numberThe first 8 digits of your 10-digit YBS account number

Payment referenceYour full 10-digit YBS account number (this is your roll number)

Where to find your number: your passbook, any YBS savings or mortgage statement, or the YBS app.

Also covers YBS brands such as Chelsea and Norwich & Peterborough, which run on YBS systems.

Details verified against each provider’s official “paying in” page in 2026. Always double-check the current sort code, account number and reference in your provider’s app, passbook or latest statement before sending money — collecting accounts can change, and the reference must be exact or the payment may be returned.

Where to find your building society roll number

In rough order of how likely you are to succeed:

Your passbook. Usually printed on the first page or on a label inside the front cover, next to your name. If you have a passbook account, this is the fastest place to look.
A statement. Normally in the account details block at the top, in the same area as the sort code and account number.
Letters and emails from the society. Correspondence almost always quotes it, which makes an old annual statement or interest certificate a reliable fallback.
The app or online banking. Under account details or account information. On some apps it's shown as "reference" or "account number" rather than "roll number".
Your welcome pack, if you still have the paperwork from when the account was opened.

If none of those work, ring the society. They can confirm it once they've verified your identity. What you can't do is look it up anywhere yourself — it isn't public information, and no third-party service can retrieve it for you. Anything offering to is worth avoiding.

Is it printed on my card?

Usually no, and this is where a lot of people get stuck.

Debit cards carry a sort code and account number, not a roll number. Plenty of guides claim otherwise, but the societies' own guidance points to passbooks, statements and correspondence instead. Some older building society cash cards did show one, so it's worth turning yours over — just don't expect it to be there, and don't copy the long number off the front of the card, which is the card number and something different again.

The reliable answer is the passbook or a statement.

Roll number, or account number?

Both, sometimes, and that's the confusing part.

At some societies the roll number is a genuinely separate internal reference. At others it is your account number, just presented in a format that doesn't look like one. Nationwide is the clearest example: for a savings account or ISA, the roll number is your full account number written as 1234/123456789 — a four-digit branch-style prefix, a slash, then the account number. For a Nationwide mortgage it's the full mortgage account number, and for a Nationwide credit card it's the 16-digit card number with the spaces removed.

So if you've been hunting for something labelled "roll number" and only finding an account number, you may already have it.

If the form demands one and you don't have one

Leave it blank. A payment form asking for a "building society roll number" is being thorough, not prescriptive — the field exists because some payees need one, and it's almost always optional.

You need a roll number when:

You hold an account with a building society that uses them, and
You're paying money into that account from elsewhere.

You don't need one when you're paying a high-street bank, or paying out of your building society account to someone else. If the form won't submit without something, that's a bug in the form rather than a signal that you're missing a number — ring the payee rather than inventing one.

What actually happens if you get it wrong

Less dramatic than most articles suggest, but still worth avoiding.

Most societies pool incoming payments into a single collecting account and use the reference to allocate each one to the right member. Get the reference wrong and the money isn't usually lost — it sits unallocated until someone works out where it belongs, which typically takes a few working days and a phone call. Some societies return it to sender instead.

Two practical points. Don't add anything to the reference — no spaces, no dashes, no "savings" or your name — because automated allocation matches on an exact string. And if a payment hasn't appeared within about three working days, ring the society with the date and amount rather than sending it again; a duplicate payment is a slower problem to unpick than a misallocated one.

Your provider

The details differ by society, and the sort code you pay into is often not the society's own. We've covered the main ones separately:

Building societies

Banks people are told to find one for

There's also a step-by-step on how to find your roll number if you've drawn a blank everywhere.

Frequently asked questions

What is a building society roll number?

A building society roll number is the reference a building society uses to identify your individual account. Building societies historically pooled member accounts behind a single sort code and account number, so they needed their own internal reference to work out whose money was whose. It's usually alphanumeric and often 10 to 18 characters.

Where do I find my building society roll number?

On your passbook — normally the first page or inside the cover — on a statement, on letters or emails from the society, or in its app under account details. If you can't find it, the society can confirm it once it has verified who you are.

Is my roll number on my debit card?

Usually not. Cards carry a sort code and account number rather than a roll number, and societies point customers to passbooks, statements and correspondence instead. Some older building society cash cards did print one, so it's worth checking the back of yours, but don't rely on it — and don't use the long number on the front, which is the card number.

Do Barclays, Lloyds or Santander have a building society roll number?

No. They're banks, not building societies, and they identify accounts with a sort code and account number alone. If a form asks for a roll number, leave it blank as long as you've filled in the sort code and account number.

What is my Nationwide roll number?

For a savings account or ISA it's your full account number, written in the format 1234/123456789. For a mortgage it's your full mortgage account number, and for a Nationwide credit card it's your 16-digit card number without the spaces.

Is a roll number the same as an account number?

Sometimes. At some societies it's a separate internal reference; at others it is the account number, just written in an unfamiliar format. If you've been looking for something explicitly labelled "roll number" and only finding an account number, check your society's guidance before assuming you're missing something.

Where does the roll number go on a payment form?

Almost always the reference field, alongside the society's own sort code and account number — not in the account number field. Enter it exactly, with no extra spaces, punctuation or words, because payments are allocated by matching the reference string automatically.

What happens if I use the wrong roll number?

The payment usually sits unallocated at the society rather than disappearing, and is sorted out within a few working days once someone traces it. Some societies return it to the sender instead. If a payment hasn't shown up after about three working days, call the society with the date and amount rather than sending it again.

Can I look up someone's roll number?

No. It isn't public information and there's no lookup service — only the account holder can obtain it, and only after passing the society's identity checks. Treat anything claiming to retrieve one as a scam.

General information, not financial advice. Roll number formats and paying-in details are set by each society and do change — confirm in your own app, passbook or statement before sending money. Related reading: is BACS the same as a bank transfer? and is it safe to share your sort code and account number?