ACH transfers are electronic money transfers that are sent from bank to bank and processed through the Automated Clearing House Network. NACHA, who are responsible for these transfers, refers to the ACH network as a processing system that financial institutions such as banks use to aggregate transactions for processing.
What is an ACH Transfer?
ACH means Automated Clearing House. These transfers are becoming increasingly popular, and more banks taking on ACH means that you might be using these payment types without even realizing it — for example, if you receive your salary paid to your bank through a direct deposit, or if you use your bank account to pay your bills online. ACH transfers can be used to make single or recurring deposits into savings or retirement accounts, for instance, or they may be used by business owners to receive or make payments to vendors, or from customers and clients.
Popularity of ACH Transfers
Automatic payments through the ACH network are becoming more and more popular. In 2021 alone, there were almost thirty billion payments made through ACH, according to NACHA, which was an increase of just over eight percent from 2020.
Why Use ACH Transfers?
ACH transfers have several uses and can be more user-friendly and cost-efficient and in many cases easier compared to writing and sending a paper check or even using a debit or credit card to pay. They are often more secure compared to paper checks for both the consumer and business, with a lower risk of bouncing. They make life easier for both the sender and the recipient, allowing users to send and receive money securely and conveniently from the comfort of their own home or office.
Benefits of ACH Transfers
There are several advantages to using ACH transfers to transfer payments from one person to another or pay bills. The main benefit is convenience. For users, paying bills, making mortgage payments, or any other recurring monthly expense such as rent payments or even putting money into a savings account each month is much easier and takes less time through ACH, especially compared to writing a check. And you can save money as there’s no need to mail a check anywhere.
Along with this, speed and security are two other main benefits. ACH transfers are much more secure compared to some other forms of payment, especially mailing checks as there is no risk of it getting lost in the mail. Transactions are usually settled on the next day, or in some cases even sooner after the payment has been initiated.
Downsides to ACH Transfers
While there are certainly many benefits of using them, nothing is perfect and the same goes for ACH transfers. There are some potential drawbacks to be aware of. These include transaction limits, as many banks have put a limit on how much money you can send as an ACH transfer including daily, monthly, or weekly limits. Along with this, some savings accounts might incur a penalty if you ACH transfer out of them too often.
ACH transfers are a convenient, fast, and secure way to send money or make payments, and they are quickly becoming more and more popular.
