When money moves electronically between banks and credit unions, it could be zipping along thanks to a process known as an ACH transfer.
The Automated Clearing House network plays a critical role in the U.S. economy by electronically transferring paychecks, bill payments, tax refunds and much more. In 2024, the ACH network processed over 33.5 billion electronic payments in the U.S. valued at $86.2 trillion, according to Nacha (formerly the National Automated Clearing House Association), which governs the ACH network.
Learn more about ACH transfers, including how long they take, how much they cost and how they compare with wire transfers.
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What Is an ACH Transfer?
An ACH transfer is the electronic movement of money between accounts at banks and credit unions. The ACH network handles these fund transfers without using paper checks, cash, credit card networks or wire transfers. Only checking and savings accounts are eligible for ACH transfers.
ACH transfers were created in the 1970s. Starting in 2001, Americans could make ACH payments on the internet, allowing consumers to pay bills without writing checks.
John Anderson, senior vice president of consumer at PayPal, says ACH transfers have been the “backbone” of business-to-business payments for many years, but more consumers are now embracing the payment option. Many businesses also turned to ACH transfers during the pandemic when in-person interactions were limited.
Generally, an ACH transfer comes in the form of a direct deposit or a direct debit. A direct deposit electronically sends paychecks, Social Security checks and other types of payments from a payer’s bank or credit union account to the recipient’s account at a bank or credit union.
A direct debit — also known as autopay — happens when a bill payer permits another entity, such as a utility or insurance company, to take money out of its account on a certain date or at regular times (such as every other week or every month) to cover a payment that’s due. You might carry out a direct debit transaction through your account’s autopay feature.
An ACH transfer may go by other names, such as electronic funds transfer, electronic bank transfer or e-check.
Consumers and organizations turn to ACH transfers because they’re “convenient, fast, safe and easy to use,” says Irana Wasti, former chief product officer at BILL, a payment processor. “ACH is safer than using paper checks, which can get lost, fall into the wrong hands or be exposed to check fraud.”
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How Long Do ACH Transfers Take?
An ACH transfer might be processed within a few hours on the same business day. However, an ACH transfer typically takes one to three business days to complete.
Before someone can access funds from an ACH transfer, the Federal Reserve must “settle” the transaction. The Fed’s settlement system doesn’t operate on federal holidays or weekends. As a result, electronic paychecks that otherwise would be issued on a weekend or federal holiday are issued on the previous Friday, according to Nacha. Meanwhile, electronic bill payments are collected on the business day following a weekend or federal holiday.
Nacha notes that employees may see direct deposit paychecks show up in their accounts before payday, because payroll direct deposits are common and routine. It is more and more common for banks and credit unions to make direct deposit paychecks available up to two days early.
How Much Do ACH Transfers Cost?
In most cases, consumers aren’t charged fees for ACH transfers. In fact, you may score a discount by paying bills, such as insurance premiums or mortgage payments, through ACH transfers. On the other hand, you might be hit with an ACH service charge by the sender.
The story is different for businesses. A 2022 survey by the Association for Financial Professionals found the median cost for businesses to initiate and receive an ACH payment ranged from 26 cents to 50 cents. By comparison, a business pays a median cost of $2.01 to $4 to issue a paper check and $1.01 to $2 to process a received check.
Though some businesses might interpret ACH fees as an additional expense, they’re actually saving time and money by not dealing with paper checks, Wasti says.
“ACH transfers are an easy, low-cost way for businesses and consumers to move money between their bank account and apps and services they use,” Anderson says. “For example, they’re commonly used as a payment alternative for moving funds into an investment account like Robinhood, or digital wallet like Venmo or to make large purchases, such as buying a car.”
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ACH Transfers vs. Wire Transfers
ACH transfers and wire transfers both move funds electronically, but there are a number of differences between the two.
— Location. ACH transfers generally happen only within the U.S., whereas wire transfers can be global transactions.
— Fees. Both the sender and recipient typically pay a fee for a wire transfer. You might pay anywhere from $15 to $50 for a wire transfer, depending on whether the transfer is incoming or outgoing and whether it’s domestic or international. Although an ACH sender might pay a fee, an ACH recipient generally doesn’t.
— Speed. Wire transfers tend to be faster than ACH transfers. That’s largely because the amount of time needed to confirm a wire transfer is usually less than the amount of time needed to confirm an ACH transfer.
— Money movement. A wire transfer moves in only one direction — from sender to recipient — while an ACH transfer can move in both directions. In other words, a recipient can initiate a transaction to pull money from a sender’s account.
— Amount transferred. A wire transfer tends to be a large one-time transaction, while ACH transfers are often smaller recurring transactions.
External ACH Fund Transfer Restrictions
In 2022, Nacha raised the per-transaction limit for a same-day ACH transfer to $1 million, up from the previous limit of $100,000. This change enabled the movement of large insurance claim payouts and big tax payments, for example.
Keep in mind that banks and credit unions might impose their own per-day, per-month or per-transaction limits for ACH transfers. For instance, a per-day limit might be $5,000, while a per-month limit might be $25,000.
How to Make ACH Transfers Faster
In some cases, you may need to quickly send or receive money. To speed up an ACH transfer, you might try a few strategies:
— Request a same-day transfer, which may require paying a fee.
— Submit your ACH transfer request in the morning rather than late in the day. That way, your submission may go through an earlier clearing window for an afternoon settlement.
— Double-check the accuracy of the information you provided for the transfer, such as account numbers.
— Ensure you have enough money in your account to cover the ACH transfer.
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A Guide to ACH: How Money Moves Around Without Checks originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 07/08/25: This story was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
