ACH

Before you use the ACH functions, it is helpful to understand the following terms:

• ACH – The Automated Clearing House (ACH) is an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) network that processes large volumes of credit and debit transactions formatted into ACH transaction sets.
• ACH Transaction Set – A group of ACH transactions that have the same attributes. For example, a Point of Purchase set contains POP or Point-of-Purchase transactions. You may either create an ACH transaction set from an existing ACH template or individually to send once to your financial institution. If you create ACH sets from a template, you do not need to enter detailed information each time a set is released to your financial institution for processing.
• ACH Template – Stores ACH transactions that may be sent once or repeatedly.  Each template can be added and/or edited for changes in amounts, account numbers, etc.
• Transaction Set Approval – Depending on how your financial institution configures the business online banking system:
  • An ACH transaction set may be released immediately to your financial institution, 
    OR
  • An ACH set may require the approval of one or two business online banking users before it is released.

• NACHA File – A file containing ACH transaction sets and templates formatted for submission to the ACH network.

All ACH types (defining different types of ACH transaction sets and templates) are strictly regulated by the Federal Reserve to identify transactions submitted for specific purposes. Each ACH type is governed by NACHA rules with a specific format and transaction codes associated with the file type. The ACH types provided by the Business Online Banking system correspond to Standard Entry Class (SEC) codes in the NACHA rule book.

Note: The ACH types of ARC, BOC and POP can only be created using the Import NACHA feature.

• Accounts Receivable – This “ARC” type may be selected to convert check(s) received through the mail into electronic transaction(s).
• Back Office Conversion – Identifies an ACH set or template containing a single transaction for a check or share draft provided by the receiver at the point of purchase that is used by the originator as a source document for the receiver’s routing number, account number, check serial number, and dollar amount. BOC files can only be created by reading a customer’s check with an image reading device.
• To/from Corporate Accounts – This basic “CCD” type may be used to create ACH transactions to/from corporate accounts.
• Child Support – May be used to submit garnished child support payments through the ACH network.
• Federal Taxes – ACH transactions created using this “FED” transaction type may be used to pay corporate Federal Taxes using.
• State Taxes – ACH transactions created using this transaction type may be used to pay corporate State Taxes.
• Corporate Trade Exchange – This “CTX” type may be used to import and pass multiple addenda records using one ACH transaction in accordance with ANSI ASC X12.5 and X12.6 syntax.
• Point of Purchase – Applies to transactions initiated at the point of purchase, that is, POP or Point-of-Purchase transactions.
• To/From Personal Accounts – This “PPD” type may be used to create transactions to/from personal accounts (also called Prearranged Payment and Deposit or PPD transactions).
• Re-Presented Checks – This “RCK” type may be used for returned check items.
• Consumer Initiated Telephone – This “TEL” type applies to transactions authorized over the telephone.
• Consumer Initiated Web – Applies to “WEB” type transactions authorized over the Internet.

You may create an ACH transaction file using Microsoft^® Excel^® or another similar spreadsheet program to import detailed transaction records into an ACH set or template. A standard ACH transaction code is included in each record to identify the type of transaction. The valid codes for the indicated account types are listed below:

Note: General Ledger account type access is not available to each business or credit union; it must be assigned by an administrator.

Use Excel or another spreadsheet program to enter the following data into the cells in each row of a spreadsheet in the indicated order. Do not add headings for the cells. The file must be saved in a CSV (comma delimited) format for import into Business Online Banking.

Note: The ACH transaction file format does not support the Payment Type Code (single vs. recurring) for WEB and TEL transaction sets. Each WEB and TEL set must be edited after the transaction file is imported into Business Online Banking to enter a value for the Payment Type Code field.

You may also create an ACH amount file using Microsoft Excel or another similar spreadsheet program to update the transaction amounts in an ACH set or template. Instead of manually changing transaction amounts, you can update the amounts for all transactions in a set or template, or update some of the transactions by importing a file containing the ACH ID number, amount, and optional account number for each transaction.

Enter the following data into the cells in each row of a spreadsheet in the indicated order. Do not add headings for the cells. The file must be saved in a CSV (comma delimited) format for import into Business Online Banking.

The comma-delimited file below illustrates an ACH amount file that may be used to update the amounts in three transactions. Each line in the file contains two or three fields: the ID, amount, and account number (optional).

555333,356.97

32698,103.25,111222

32698,160.03,222666

After an ACH set is created, the business online banking system assigns a different status to the set during each step to approve, release, process it, etc. Each status is described below:

One of the following error messages may be returned when you attempt to approve or release an ACH set (or batch).

The following errors can occur when a NACHA file is imported as described in the Importing a NACHA File section. Each error message identifies the line (n) in the file where the error occurred. Correct any errors using the software that created the file; unless an error indicates the software used to create the file does not prepare a NACHA compliant file. If the file is not compliant, you cannot use Business Online Banking to import the file.

This feature allows you to create ACH sets or templates that reverse the following types of transactions in Cash Concentration or Disbursement (CCD) sets (i.e., To/From Corporate Accounts), CCD templates, Prearranged Payment and Deposit Entry (PPD) sets (i.e., To/From Personal Accounts), or PPD templates.

The following rules apply to this feature:

• It can only be used to reverse transactions in CCD sets, CCD templates, PPD sets, or PPD templates. No other ACH types are supported.
• It can only be used to reverse transactions in the ACH types listed above (CCD & PPD). For example, if an ACH set contains a deposit to a loan account, the loan transaction will not be reversed.
• Addenda are not copied from the original ACH set or template to the reversal set/template.
• A reversal ACH set can be created from an ACH set in an Unapproved, Approved, or Processed status. A reversal set cannot be created from a set that is in the Released, Processing, or Rejected status.

Note: This feature does not provide the ACH reversal capability defined in the ACH Rules (Section III Functional Responsibilities, Chapter IV Reversals, Reclamations, and ODFI Requests for Return). The Reversal feature cannot be used to create an ACH set that will reverse an entry or file of entries introduced into the ACH system, as described in the ACH Rules. The ACH Rules book contains ACH Operating Rules for participating financial institutions and companies.

Export files may be created in the .csv or NACHA format to provide backup copies of data in ACH sets or templates. When an export file is created in either format, the file name includes ID information in the following order:

• Name of the ACH set or template containing data in the file
• Current date and time in YYYYMMDDHHMMSS format
• A “type indicator”: ‘T’ for template or ‘B’ for an ACH transaction set
• File extension (i.e., .csv for CSV format files or .txt for NACHA format files)

For example, an exported CSV file for the Payroll template is named:

Payroll_20110615171342_T.csv

A business or credit union can create an archive of Payroll sets and templates to include the following files:

Payroll_20110615171342_B.csv

Payroll_20110615171342_T.csv

Payroll_20110616091543_B.csv

Payroll_20110616091543_T.csv

Payroll_20110617121947_B.csv

Payroll_20110617121947_T.csv

The naming convention for the exported files automatically sorts the files by name, date, and “type” (ACH transaction set vs. template).

Note: When a .csv file is opened automatically using Microsoft Excel, the leading zeroes are stripped from numbers such as ABA routing numbers, resulting in invalid ABA numbers when the file is saved. If your Excel program opens .csv files automatically, click the Save button and save the file before opening it. In addition, be careful when you use Excel to edit and save a .csv file. In this case, you may need to restore leading zeroes to ABA routing numbers in the file.