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What is Same-Day ACH?
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What is Same-Day ACH?

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Same-Day ACH is an improvement to the ACH network that allows the processing of credit, debit, and return transactions several times a day. The Originating Depository Financial Institutions (ODFIs) can send and settle Same-Day ACH transactions to accounts at any Receiving Depository Financial Institution (RDFI).

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In 2015, as a result of customer demand and lobbying from industry experts, NACHA added more windows to provide faster, same-day processing and settlement for ACH transactions. Until then, ACH transactions traditionally took 2 - 3 days to process. Dive deeper into how ACH works with this guide.

What are the Use Cases for Same-Day ACH?

NACHA outlines 63 potential use cases for Same-Day ACH. Notable use cases include the following:

  • Payroll—faster payroll payments for hourly or temporary workers, and faster options for off-cycle payments such as bonuses or emergency payments
  • Urgent claims payments and refunds—quick payout of insurance claim payments, disaster assistance payments, and other rebates, refunds and reimbursements
  • Bill Payment—faster payment of bills on or after the due date

In 2021, over 600 million transactions and over $900 billion were processed over Same-Day ACH (Source).

What are the Cutoff Times and Transaction Limits?

Financial institutions submit ACH transactions to the clearing house in bulk, multiple times a day. With Same-Day ACH those transactions are submitted and expedited in batch for processing that day. 

Effective March 19, 2021, Same-Day ACH operating hours were extended by 2 hours. Now an ODFI can submit Same-Day files by 4:45 p.m. Eastern Time (1:45 p.m. Pacific Time) for same-day processing. 

Each ODFI can institute additional cut-off times for customers so payments are submitted on time. 

On March 18, the limit for Same-Day ACH was raised from $100,000 to $1,000,000 per transaction to offer flexibility and more use cases. With this expansion the ACH Network now settles payments four times per business day. The increase in dollar amount will contribute to adoption of Same-Day ACH by businesses and consumers as a safe and secure way to move money. 

How does Same-Day ACH Compare to Other Payment Types?

To learn more about ACH, timing, and speed, check out these articles:

  • A Complete Primer to ACH: Understanding The Four Key Players
  • The Fastest Ways to Send a Payment
  • Why do Banks Impose Cutoffs?
Same-Day ACH Payouts Using the Modern Treasury API

Modern Treasury is a payment operations platform built for the entire cycle of money movement. Our APIs and software applications directly integrate with your bank accounts, allowing you to process payments using ACH, RTP, Wires, and multiple other payment methods 2x faster than your existing solution. Modern Treasury automates payment reconciliation and accounting, giving you back time and control over your payment operations.

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Ani Narayan
Written by:
Ani Narayan
Last updated:
Apr 6, 2022
Last updated:
Apr 6, 2022

More 

ACH

 resources

Learn
ACH Payment Returns

A return is a credit or debit entry initiated by the Receiving Depository Financial Institution (RDFI) that returns a previously originated payment to the Originating Depository Financial Institution (ODFI).

What is an ACH Prenote?

A pre note or prenotification is a zero dollar payment to validate the account and routing details of a bank account before debiting or crediting it.

SEC Codes

A Standard Entry Class or SEC code is a three letter code that describes how a payment was authorized by the consumer or business receiving an ACH transaction.

Journal
A Complete Primer to ACH: Understanding The Four Key Players

In the United States, moving money is big business. The ACH Network moves $51 trillion dollars in 23 billion electronic financial transactions per year. That’s almost 70 payments per person.

Add ACH Reversals

Today we’re happy to share that we’ve released a new ACH Reversals feature in our Payments product. ACH Reversals lets you reverse an ACH payment you initiated with the click of a button or an API call.

A Beginner's Guide to ACH

ACH, or Automated Clearing House, is an electronic network used to communicate financial transactions.

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