What is a transaction ID and why keep it?

A transaction ID is the unique reference for one particular transaction. Countless transactions pass through the system every day, and this ID is the most direct way to find yours among them — searching by date, amount or number is slower and less certain.

Which is why it is the first thing asked for when something goes wrong. Money to a wrong number, an amount debited without the service arriving, a double debit — in each case the complaint rests on this ID. You can complain without it, but resolution takes much longer.

Saving them is easy enough. Screenshot the confirmation for anything large or important and keep it in a separate folder, and for admission fees, exam fees or payments for a government service keep it until the process is completely finished.

One caution: a transaction ID is evidence rather than a secret, but posting it publicly is still unwise. Fraudsters use such details to make their approach sound credible — it becomes easy to call and say “there was a problem with your transaction” when they can quote it.