2 US ACH Payments Overview

The US ACH Payments overview outlines the ACH network, explains its governance by NACHA, and describes how the solution enables seamless end-to-end processing of both credit transfers and debit collections for financial institutions.

Overview

US ACH Payments are managed and governed by the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA). They include both Credit Transfers and Direct Debit collections. The ACH Network serves as a network for direct consumer, business, and government payments, and facilitates billions of payments annually, including Direct Deposits and Direct Payments (Collections). It is used by more than 10,000 direct and indirect financial institutions and numerous third-party service providers.

The US ACH Payments module in Oracle Banking Payments supports end-to-end processing of both outbound and inbound US ACH payments from receiving files from customers or ACH operators to generating outgoing US ACH files, or posting to beneficiary accounts for inbound payments.

The US ACH Payments solution is designed for depository institutions that directly send and receive ACH files to and from the ACH Operator on behalf of their customers.

Key Features of US ACH Product Processor

The key features of US ACH Product Processor include:
  • Supports US ACH credit and debit originations and receipts.
  • Enables manual initiation and file uploads via channels using REST services for outbound originations.
  • Supports manual input and folder-based uploads of incoming US ACH files.
  • Facilitates uploads of ACH Directory files.
  • Provides configuration of Company IDs.
  • Supports debit authorization mandates.
  • Supports zero-dollar credit and debit transactions
  • Handles pre-notification credit and debit payments
  • Processes outbound and inbound return and reversal messages
  • Offers automatic and manual dispatch with options for same-day and standard-day processing
  • Enables standard pricing configuration at channel, customer, or account level
  • Provides debit and credit advices via mail
  • Provides system support for Standard Entity Class codes.
    The following are the Standard Entity Class codes supported:

    Table 2-1 SEC Code and Description

    SEC Code SEC Coder Description Supported for Debit/Credit Transaction Direction
    ARC Accounts Receivable Entries Debit Incoming and Outgoing
    BOC Back Office Conversion Debit Incoming and Outgoing
    CCD Corporate Credit or Debit Debit and Credit Incoming and Outgoing
    CIE Customer Initiated Entry Credit Incoming and Outgoing
    POP Point of Purchase Debit Incoming and Outgoing
    PPD Prearranged Payment or Deposit Debit and Credit Incoming and Outgoing
    RCK Represented Check Entries Debit Incoming and Outgoing
    TEL Telephone Initiated Entries Debit Incoming and Outgoing
    WEB Internet or Mobile Initiated Debit and Credit Incoming and Outgoing
    CTX Corporate Trade Exchange Debit and Credit Incoming and Outgoing
    XCK Destroyed Check Entries Debit Incoming and Outgoing
    ACK/ ATX Acknowledgement Debit and Credit Incoming and Outgoing
    NOC Notification of Change Debit and Credit Incoming and Outgoing
    MTE Machine Transfer Entry Debit and Credit Incoming
    POS Point of Sale Debit and Credit Incoming
    SHR Shared Network Transaction Entry Debit and Credit Incoming
    TRC Truncated Entry Debit and Credit Incoming
    TRX Truncated Entry Exchange Debit and Credit Incoming

Key Features of Outbound Transaction Processing

The Outbound Transaction Processing supports the following key features:
  • Preferred Settlement derivation (Same-day or Standard)
  • SEC code specific validations
  • Duplicate check
  • Authorization Limit checks
  • Sanctions check
  • Warehousecheck
  • Cutoff checks - Processing /Network
  • External account Balance check and Accounting
  • Advice generation
  • Dispatch accounting and Dispatch processing

Key Features of Inbound Transaction Processing

The Inbound Transaction Processing supports the following key features:
  • SEC code specific validations
  • Beneficiary Name matchvalidations
  • Mandate validations fordebits
  • Duplicatecheck
  • Sanctions check
  • Authorization Limitchecks
  • Warehousecheck
  • External Account validation check andAccounting
  • Advice generation

Key Features of Return & Reversal Processing

The Return & Reversal Processing module supports the following key features:

Outbound return for Inbound Payments
  • Manual initiation of returns from exception queues
  • Return entry posting and return payment dispatch
Inbound return for Outbound Payments
  • Displays all inbound returns in a queue for user actions
  • Matches inbound returns with corresponding outbound payments
  • Provides options to accept returns, reinitiate outbound payments, or dishonor returns
  • Supports return entry posting for accepted or dishonored returns, and dispatches return payments for dishonored returns.
Outbound Reversal
  • Allows manual initiation of reversals for outbound payments
  • Stops the dispatch of outbound payments if they have not already been dispatched
Inbound Reversal
  • Dispalys all inbound reversals in a queue for user actions
  • Matches inbound reversals with corresponding inbound payments
  • Provides options to accept, or dishonor inbound reversals

Key Features of Non-Financial Payments Processing

The key features of Non-Financial Payments Processing include:
  • Outbound Acknowledgement (ATK/ATX) message generation for inbound payments with SEC Codes CCD or CTX.
  • Outbound Notification of change (SEC Code COR) message generation for inbound payments.
  • Inbound Notification of change (SEC Code COR) message processing by linking with outbound payments.
  • US ACH Maintenance
    This topic provides details of various maintenance screens used for configuring US ACH transactions in Oracle Banking Payments. It includes the Function ID, Screen Name, Screen Usage, and other attributes relevant to each maintenance activity.
  • US ACH Credit Transfer
    A US ACH Credit Transfer is an electronic payment method that allows individuals or businesses to send funds from their bank account to another bank account within the United States using the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network.
  • US ACH Direct Debit
    Automated Clearing House (ACH) Direct Debit is a method of electronically transferring funds from a payer’s bank account to a payee’s account with the payer's prior authorization. In the US, ACH transactions are governed by National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA) rules.
  • US ACH Payment Browser
    View and track details of US ACH credit and debit payment transactions.
  • ACH Payments Return
    Refers to a situation where an Automated Clearing House (ACH) payment is rejected or sent back by the receiving bank or financial institution.