What Is the Automated Clearing House (ACH), and How Does It Work?

What Is the Automated Clearing House (ACH)?

The Automated Clearing House (ACH) is an electronic funds-transfer system run by Nacha. It serves as a versatile feature for conducting digital transactions by processing large volumes of credit and debit transactions. For this reason, many banks, brokerages, and private retail businesses have made this feature available to their customers. This has allowed its customers the ability to receive direct deposits and pay bills in a timely manner.

The Automated Clearing House traces its roots back to the late 1960s but was officially established in the mid-1970s. The payment system provides many types of ACH transactions, such as payroll deposits. It requires a debit or credit from the originator and a credit or debit on the recipient's end.

How the Automated Clearing House (ACH) Works

The ACH Network is an electronic system that serves financial institutions to facilitate financial transactions in the U.S. It represents more than 10,000 financial institutions. ACH transactions totaled more than $80.1 trillion in 2023 by enabling over 31.5 billion electronic financial transactions.

The network essentially acts as a financial hub and helps people and organizations move money from one bank account to another. ACH transactions consist of deposits and payments, including:

• Business-to-business (B2B) transactions
• Government transactions
• Consumer transactions

Here's how the system works. An originator starts a direct deposit or direct payment transaction using the ACH network via debit and credit. The originator's bank, also known as the originating depository financial institution, takes the ACH transaction and batches it together with other ACH transactions to be sent out at regular times throughout the day.

An ACH operator, either the Federal Reserve or a clearinghouse, receives the batch of ACH transactions from the originating institution with the originator's transaction. The ACH operator sorts the batch and makes transactions available to the bank or financial institution of the intended recipient, also known as the receiving depository financial institution. The recipient's bank account receives the transaction, thus reconciling both accounts and ending the process.

Special Considerations

The ACH payment system is offered by Nacha. Formerly known as the National Automated Clearing House Association, it's a self-regulating institution. The ACH network's history dates back to 1968 but wasn't officially established until 1974.

This network manages, develops, and administers the rules surrounding electronic payments. The organization's operating rules are designed to facilitate growth in the size and scope of electronic payments within the network.

Advantages and Disadvantages of the ACH

Advantages

Because the ACH Network batches financial transactions together and processes them at specific intervals throughout the day, it makes online transactions extremely fast and easy. NACHA rules state that the average ACH debit transaction settles within one business day, and the average ACH credit transaction settles within one to two business days.

The use of the ACH network to facilitate electronic transfers of money has also increased the efficiency and timeliness of government and business transactions. More recently, ACH transfers have made it easier and cheaper for individuals to send money to each other directly from their bank accounts by direct deposit transfer or e-check.

ACH for individual banking services typically took two or three business days for monies to clear. Starting in 2016, NACHA rolled out in three phases for same-day ACH settlement. Phase 3, launched in March 2018, requires receiving depository financial institutions (RDFIs) to make same-day ACH credit and debit transactions available to the receiver for withdrawal no later than 5 p.m. They must be in the RDFI's local time on the settlement date of the transaction and are subject to the right of return under NACHA rules.

Originally, the ACH network only worked between U.S. accounts. This meant you couldn't conduct any transactions meant for international transfers using this payment system. In 2021, Nacha introduced International ACH Transactions (IAT), which allow banks to transact internationally.

Disadvantages

Certain financial institutions may restrict the amount of money you can transfer. If you want to do a large transfer, you may have to do this in multiple steps. For instance, if you're transferring money to your child who's away in college, you may be limited to transfers of $1,000. If they need more for books and rent, you will be required to send more than one transfer.

Some banks charge fees for ACH transactions. And this can be a per-transaction fee. If you're used to doing multiple transactions, this can add up and put a big dent in your bottom line.

The Bottom Line

Sending money to someone else used to be a big hassle. But the advent of electronic technology is making things much easier. The Automated Clearing House (ACH) facilitates transfers between banks. This eliminates the need to withdraw money from one account and deposit it into another.

The network is updated to allow businesses and individuals to execute transactions on the same day. But keep in mind that there are some restrictions. You may be limited in how much you can transfer, and you may incur fees. Check with your bank about how it handles ACH transactions.