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What is a CUSIP Number?

April 17, 2012 By David Waring 25 Comments Filed Under: Bond Basics, Bond Basics Videos, glossary, News

The CUSIP number is a unique identifier used to identify US bonds. Most US traded securities have a CUSIP number. However, the CUSIP number has primary importance in the bond market, where it is used to process and settle trades.

Where most stocks have a 3 or 4 letter ticker symbol to identify them (ie AAPL for Apple stock or BAC for Bank of America), the bond market uses the 9 Character CUSIP Number.

What does CUSIP Stand For?

CUSIP is an acronym for the Committee on Uniform Security Identification Procedures. The identification system is owned by the American Bankers Association. The system is administered by Standard and Poors and has been used since 1964.

For more information on individual bonds, visit our Free Guide to Investing in Corporate Bonds.

To see a list of high yielding CDs go here.

Why Bonds need CUSIP Numbers

As of 2017, there are less than 4,000 publicly traded companies in the U.S. In 2015 there were over 5000. While some of those companies offer several types of stock (preferred, common) it is very unusual for a company to have more than 3 classes of stock. At most, there are 20,000 unique stock issues of publicly traded companies. There are well over 1,000,000 different bond issues.  Most of these bond issues are municipal bonds issued by  cities, counties, and states. With so many different bond issues, precise identification is critical.

There are three parts to a CUSIP Number

Example: 912828 + NB + 2 would be 912828NB2 CUSIP #

  • The First 6 digits (912828) identify the issuer. In this case, the issuer is the Treasury Department.
  • The next two characters (NB) identifies the specific bond.
  • The last digit (2) of the number has no significance in identifying the bond.

How do you search for or look up a CUSIP number?

Having a CUSIP number in most cases is critical to finding information on a particular bond. If you own a bond, your broker should be able to provide the CUSIP number. If you are looking for information on a bond you do not already own and don’t know the CUSIP number, Fidelity has a nice tool here that will allow you to search for it using other criteria.

Learn More

Buying Bonds – A How to Guide
Financial Bonds have lower default rates and higher yields
What Happens When a Corporate Bond Defaults?
Fidelity’s CUSIP Lookup Tool

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Comments

  1. Ron Houser says

    August 21, 2012 at 4:51 PM

    Where can I go on the web to find information on old stocks that I have the Cusip number for.

    Reply
    • davidwaring says

      August 22, 2012 at 9:05 AM

      Hi Ron,

      Thanks for the comment. This should be what you are looking for: http://activequote.fidelity.com/mmnet/SymLookup.phtml

      Let us know if there are any other questions.

      Thanks
      Dave

      Reply
  2. Blackdragon86 says

    February 9, 2013 at 2:01 PM

    this tells me how to search for the CUSIP# but it does not tell me how to track bonds using the CUSIP# and that is what i need.

    Reply
    • David Waring says

      February 9, 2013 at 5:40 PM

      Hi,

      This should be what you are looking for:

      http://www.learnbonds.com/bond-prices/

      Let us know if there are any other questions. 

      Best Regards,
      Dave

      Reply
    • Jim Walker says

      April 29, 2013 at 6:00 PM

      To track a portfolio of bonds for free, you can use Bondview. This is the gold medal site according to LearnBonds.

      Jim Walker
      Bondview

      Reply
  3. harv says

    June 20, 2013 at 12:03 PM

    is there a bond in place on my birth certificate if so how do i look that up or where do i get the cusip number for that

    Reply
    • David Waring says

      June 20, 2013 at 2:47 PM

      Hi Harv,

      I am not sure what you men by is there a bond in place on your birth certificate. If you can give me a little more info I will be happy to try and help. Best Regards, Dave

      Reply
  4. norm kaufman says

    January 25, 2014 at 9:19 AM

    what iFEDERAL FARM CR BKS CONS BD 4.70000% 10/01/2024s the cusip for

    Reply
  5. Kia says

    April 21, 2015 at 7:01 PM

    I wanted to know if inmates that are incarcerated have cusip numbers that they can obtain in order to pay a bond that could possible get them out of jail/prison?

    Reply
    • Kia says

      April 21, 2015 at 7:04 PM

      Possibly*

      Reply
      • Kathy Pager says

        May 14, 2017 at 2:29 PM

        I would like to know if inmates in prison have CUSIP numbers also and how to get the
        number to use the bond to pay to get out of prison .

        Reply
        • Kathy Pager says

          May 14, 2017 at 3:11 PM

          I think I have found out how to get the CUSIP # thank you

          Reply
          • Lewis Pratt says

            June 22, 2017 at 10:47 AM

            How did u obtain the cusip #

  6. Keala says

    May 7, 2015 at 9:37 PM

    I paid to have someone find my cusip numbers for my SS and BC and they also provided the mutual funds that they are in. Now I’m trying to figure out how can I find the account number associated with the funds in order to find out how many shares I have and if I am able to sell or liquidate those shares. Any ideas?

    Reply
  7. J Gomez says

    September 27, 2015 at 8:51 PM

    What service did you use that was successful in acquiring your CuSip number for SS and BC?

    Reply
  8. Mary says

    December 2, 2015 at 11:47 AM

    I have give OID’s to a few corps so how to I find their CUSIP number

    Reply
  9. Rane says

    December 11, 2015 at 10:29 PM

    How do u find cusip numbers?

    Reply
  10. oliver says

    February 1, 2016 at 1:40 PM

    hello sir please can you tell me how or where to find my cusip number…..i have been on the fidelity site and found the company that is trading my birth certificate but i am unable to find my cusip number….please can you help me sir!!!?????

    Reply
    • David Goldstein says

      February 1, 2016 at 3:57 PM

      Having a CUSIP number in most cases is critical to finding information on a particular bond. If you own a bond, your broker should be able to provide the CUSIP number. If you are looking for information on a bond you do not already own and don’t know the CUSIP number, Fidelity has a nice tool here that will allow you to search for it using other criteria.

      Reply
  11. oliver says

    February 1, 2016 at 1:46 PM

    please can you tell me how and where to find my cusip number, i have already found the company that is trading my bc and all but i am unable to locate my cusip number, i have my ss card and birth certificate all in my sight but i can not find the cusip number…that is the other part to the puzzle for me …please can you help me

    Reply
  12. jolie oro says

    January 3, 2017 at 1:01 AM

    The CUSIP number is on the back of your SS card (ie D12345678) change the letter to a number D is 4 – A is 1 – B is 2 ect… The letter indicates a Federal Reserve Bank

    Reply
  13. Jamie says

    June 19, 2017 at 7:54 PM

    Did the reversal work or u know for a fact ?

    Reply
  14. Richard says

    July 26, 2017 at 2:04 AM

    My ss card has no cusip number on the back how can I find out what it is

    Reply
  15. Lulu says

    October 14, 2017 at 12:14 PM

    Hi Richard,

    The red or blue Letter with 8 numbers following is the number you need to track investments. I just did it and it works!

    Reply
  16. NEO says

    November 4, 2017 at 5:21 AM

    Regarding the back of the ss, that’s not a CUSIP. The letter is the fed bank. mine is F which is Atlanta so Technically I could use the Atlanta routing number which is represented by F then the rest of the number on the back is the specific account. Its what the treasury calls a minors account being held by a “custodian” which is a federal reserve Bank primary (one of the big 12) or its agents like capital one. I think every time you open up an account they connect to that bank. Why do you think they wont open account without an ss, and why do you think they beg you to get an account even if you have 2 dollars. Btw if you ever overdraft, don’t consent. FDIC actually insures that and its the bank that is liable, not you. I would go slow with the BC and SS. I’ll give some hints. Security interest in the debtor/US person, Foreign Trust Creditor, and Bankruptcy and reorganization of the registered agent

    Reply

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