ACH, or “Automated Clearing House,” has been in the financial news of late, particularly in a couple of MarketWatch articles about ongoing changes to the system of payments, particularly in this era of instantaneous digits.
ACH was one of the first inter-bank electronic networks, going back to an earlier, even pre-internet era, of computers, though AVPS is happy to note we can make the system more nimble for merchants who want to expand the ways customers can pay them, including accepting payments online.As MarketWatch describes it, “Automated Clearing House (ACH), the national electronic transfer system created in the 1970s to give banks a secure way to transfer funds that was more efficient than the old system of physically mailing checks from one bank to another. ACH is what nearly all U.S. banks use to process direct deposit payments, person-to-person transfers, bill payments, and other transfers.”
“The Federal Reserve last month released a consultation paper calling for a more efficient payment system,” the article goes on to note — something we reported on here. And that paper from the Fed “recommended that banks work together to develop a real-time payment system… Possible improvements included creating a new system for real-time wire transfers, enhancing debit card networks, speeding up the ACH system or creating an entirely new payment system.”
And while these changes continue to be contemplated, slowly rolled out, etc., we at AVPS are happy to report that we can make ACH work for you. As noted on our own website, “AVPS submits the transaction information to the Federal Reserve Bank which allows for the fastest processing available. All transactions are stored in a database, and will be included on your monthly statement.”
And no, we can’t make the entire banking system move instantly on your behalf, but we can turn around ACH payments usually in 2-5 business days. Your customers can give you checks, even online, and we can get you paid.
And of course, we’ll do our part to keep bringing all your payment options — the the system behind it — straight into this 21st century of ours.
For more on ACH, contact your AVPS rep today.
