Welcome » IT Booklets » Retail Payment Systems » Payment Instruments, Clearing, and Settlement » The Automated Clearing House (ACH)
An ACH is an electronic network for the exchange of payment instructions among financial institutions, typically on behalf of customers. ACH transactions are payment instructions to either debit or credit a deposit account. They are batch-processed, value-dated electronic funds transfers between originating and receiving financial institutions. ACH transactions can either be credits, originated by the account holder sending funds (payer), or debits originated by the account holder receiving funds (payee). Financial institutions may contract with third-party service providers to conduct their ACH activities. Unaffiliated independent third parties now generate significant ACH payment activity. NACHA is responsible for the administration, development, and enforcement of the NACHA Operating Rules and sound risk management practices for the ACH Network. See www.nacha.org/ for further information on NACHA.