What are ACH Payments & How do they work?

You have been looking for the term ‘ACH payments.’ over the internet. Your search has come to an end. You have landed in the right place looking for such information. For instance, ACH is a type of electronic bank to bank payment in the US. Rather than, depending on the card networks. An ACH payment gets the fund debited from the account itself.

This kind of payment can be also referred to as an ACH transaction or transfer. Let me explain in simple words, ACH (Automated Clearing House) is an electronic payment system used in moving money from bank accounts in the United States.

Let’s have a look at the complete information on ‘ACH Payments.’ in detail over here.

What is ACH?

ACH (Automated Clearing House) is an electronic payment system used in moving money from bank accounts in the United States. Previously, it was run by an organization called ‘Nacha.’ (National Automated Clearing House Association).

ACH Payments

Since the 1970s, payments were getting processed by the ACH Network. For instance, more than $61.9 trillion payment was processed in 2020. It is generally an 11% increase in terms of payment transfers. This includes all the transactions from government activities, business to business deals, etc.

You will get to explore more about ACH below.

What is an ACH Payment?

ACH (Automated Clearing House) is an electronic payment system. It is an electronic mode of payment used for transferring money from bank accounts. Rather than, depending on the card networks. An ACH payment gets the fund debited from the account itself.

For instance, there are two primary categories of ACH. The categories are;

  • Direct deposits.
  • Direct payments.

Direct Deposits –

From the term ‘Direct Deposits.’ We mean the funds which are directly getting transferred from the government or B2B (Business 2 Business) organizations to the consumer. This includes payroll, employee payments, reimbursement, refunds, interest payments and other benefits.

Direct Payments –

Direct Payments cover the direct payment system. It works by cash flowing to an organization or individual. In simple words, a direct transaction between B2B to the consumer.

You can refer to the ACH transfers for further information.

Types of ACH Transfers 

There are two main types of ACH transfers. You can check them out below.

  1. ACH Credits: ACH Credits help the funds to get pushed into an account.
  2. ACH Debits: ACH Debits help the funds to get pulled from an account.

How do the ACH Payments Work?

We have explained everything above in this article. It generally works by creating an automatic deposit or debit note to the account. This helps in getting funds pushed or pulled from a bank account. (As we have explained in the ACH transfers section above)

how ACH Payments work

Generally, the primary motive of ACH Payments is to transfer the funds from the bank account electronically. There is no need for any physical document or appearance for completing such a transaction. You can now refer to the ‘FAQ.’ section we have added below.

You may also like to read, Why You Should Not Abuse Debt? (Detailed Information)

Frequently Asked Questions

Many questions were asked to us related to this article. Some of them were common. Therefore, we are adding all the commonly asked questions in this section. 

If you do not find your answer over here, consider asking us the unique question in the comments section below.

What are ACH Payments?

ACH (Automated Clearing House) is an electronic payment system. It is an electronic mode of payment used for transferring money from bank accounts.

How long does an ACH (Automated Clearing House) Payment take to process?

ACH is not an instant debit payment system. It can take up to or more than three working days for ACH transfer to process and get credited to the bank account.

Sometimes, the process even fails. This results in a longer processing time than usual. This can be a disadvantage of using ACH transfer.

What are the benefits of ACH (Automated Clearing House)?

Honestly, multiple benefits have been considered to US banks to bank infrastructure payment systems. We even have noticed some benefits to it. Let’s have a look.

  • Low cost: We know ACH transfers are not routing via any card networks. Thus, it costs us cheaper than a usual payment method.
  • High Retention: With the ACH transfer, the bank is the only source of payment. Thus, the risk of involuntary churn eventually gets reduced.
  • Open to anyone: Anyone with a bank account in the United States is open to paying via ACH.

Is ACH right for my business?

There is no specific answer to this question. According to us, you need to look into your business and research it deeply before considering ‘Yes.’ for your organization.

What is the cost of ACH Transfers?

There is a minimal fee of $0.29 for processing internal ACH transfers. However, the total cost may vary, and it depends on many factors.

You can get the calculation upon completing your first ACH transfer.

Wire Transfer Vs ACH Transfer? Which one is better?

If cost is not an issue, Wire Transfer will always be the first preference due to its speed. You can choose ACH transfer if the low-cost transfers are your priority. Both of the payment transfers are best at their places.

Conclusion

We are now at the end of this article. There is no doubt. The United States is generally transferring funds from bank accounts via ACH. It is because of lower costs. ACH (Automated Clearing House) is an electronic payment system used in moving money from bank accounts in the United States.

Since the 1970s, payments were getting processed by the ACH Network. For instance, more than $61.9 trillion payment was processed in 2020. However, this article is all about explaining and writing up in detail about ACH.

We are hoping the information added over here helps. If there is any other doubt or query for us? You can always let us know in the comments section.

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