How long does an ACH transfer take?

Generally, an ACH bank transfer can take three to five business days.

ACH Transfers: Everything You Need To Know

Q: What is an ACH transfer?

An ACH transfer a network organized by the National Automated Clearing House Association. It is essentially just an electronic funds transfer between two banks that use the ACH network to process the transaction. In short, an ACH transfer is a common way to send and receive money digitally.

June 23, 2023

6 min Read

Written by Caitlyn Moorhead

Edited by Melanie Grafil

Karim Abdal baky / Getty Images/iStockphoto

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With so many dollars floating in the ether at the touch of a button, it would make good sense to understand how your money is sent and received in this digital age. Transferring funds can be convenient, but make sure you understand both the benefits and drawbacks of doing so electronically.

What Are ACH Bank Transfers?

An ACH transfer is one that uses an Automated Clearing House — a network organized by the National Automated Clearing House Association. It is essentially just an electronic funds transfer between two banks that use the ACH network to process the transaction. In short, an ACH transfer is a common way to send and receive money digitally.

How Does an ACH Transfer Work?

In an ACH transfer, an originator initiates a direct transaction by submitting the necessary information to a bank, credit union or financial institution. Here are some key takeaways:

The originator can be an individual or a corporation.
That financial institution inputs the ACH credit entry along with all of its other ACH requests as part of a batch entry at a specific time of day.
The ACH network receives the ACH payment information and makes it available to the receiving financial institution.
Typically, the whole process clears in three to five business days for the funds to transfer and the ACH transaction to be complete, but the type of transaction can impact that.

ACH Transfer Steps

As an example, if your employer offers to pay you through direct deposit instead of by check. Here’s how the money moves from your employer into your bank account:

You provide your bank account information to your employer.
Your employer sends an electronic payment file to its bank.
Your employer’s bank sends the payment to what is known as an “ACH Operator.”
The ACH Operator sends your money to your bank
You receive your money in your checking or savings account, or each account can receive a share of the deposit.

What Is Needed for an ACH Transfer?

Here’s what you need to receive money from an ACH transfer:

A checking account, savings account, payroll card or prepaid card to receive ACH deposits
Account information

The originator likely will request a voided check or have you complete a form to collect your account information to continue with such transactions as a bill payment.

Types of ACH Transfers

ACH transfers fall into two primary categories: deposits and receipts.

Deposits

Direct deposit: Used for payroll, expense reimbursement, to pay bills or pension and dividend payments
Cross-border: Used to send payments to Canada, Mexico, Panama and select European countries
Trade: Used to pay suppliers through CCD+ and CTX formats
Taxes: Used to make local, state and federal tax payments

Receipts

Consumer debit: Used for accepting one-time or recurring payments from consumers
eCheck: Used to convert paper checks into ACH debits that can be processed electronically
Corporate collection: Used to collect payments through CCD+ and CTX formats
Concentration: Used to consolidate funds into a single account

Fees for ACH processing vary. All financial institutions that send or receive ACH transfers must pay an annual fee plus nominal fees for each transaction. ACH network fees for 2019 were $0.000185 per entry and $264 for the annual fee.

Pros and Cons of ACH Transfers

The ACH network is used for a large portion of fund transfers in the U.S. This includes items such as direct deposit, tax refunds and payment services such as PayPal or Venmo. Here are some benefits and drawbacks of using ACH transfers:

Pros	Cons
Payments are easier to track, can’t get lost and are delivered sooner than if they were sent by mail	It may be easier to overdraw an account when payments are automatically deducted
You don’t have to remember to make payments and are less likely to get hit with late fees if you make recurring payments	It’s easy to forget when bills are paid, leading to double payments and continued payment for services you don’t want
Your personal information is hidden from someone who might intercept a check	Payments must be received by the transaction cutoff: 10:30 a.m. EST for morning submissions and 2:45 p.m. EST for afternoon submissions
The ACH transfer amount limit is $100,000 per day

Alternatives to an ACH Transfer

The ACH network is not the only method for settling payments electronically. You can opt to use a more traditional wire transfer if you’re interested in getting it there as fast as possible.

Wire Transfer

A wire transfer is a direct transfer of funds from one bank account to another using routing numbers, essentially working like an electronic check.

Wire transfers usually execute faster than ACH transfers. They are also final, whereas an ACH transfer can be reversed, or pulled back, from your account since they take longer to settle.

However, perhaps the most relevant difference is cost. ACH transfers have very low fees associated with them. Most consumers never see these fees.

Wire transfers can be very costly in comparison. Wells Fargo, for instance, charges $30 for outgoing wire transfers. Bank of America charges $30 for domestic transfers and $45 for international wire transfers.

Payment Apps

Some payment apps, such as PayPal and Venmo, use the ACH network for sending and receiving payments through their platforms. Note that these apps are the closest thing there is to an ACH transfer app.

A more recent option, Zelle, is a bank-to-bank platform. Unlike PayPal or Venmo, which rely on the ACH network, a Zelle money transfer between banks that are both in the network uses Zelle’s own system. As a result, it is faster than the ACH transfer time.

Final Take To GO

Whether you’re sending or receiving money, it’s hard to beat the convenience of ACH transfers. It’s faster than mailed payments and cheaper than wire transfers. It is important to note that there are certain limitations on ACH transfers.

Depending on your financial institution, there are cutoff times for when batch transfers can occur. Check with your bank about its ACH rules and how long you should expect a transfer to take to process.

Joel Anderson contributed to the reporting of this article.

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