NACHA

NACHA Operating Rules & ACH Network

ActivePayment SchemeNorth America
🌍
Jurisdiction
United States
📅
Effective Date
1974
Jan 1, 1974
Full Compliance
TBD
🏛️
Regulator
NACHA

Overview

NACHA (National Automated Clearing House Association) is the rule-making body that governs the ACH (Automated Clearing House) network in the United States. The ACH network moves money and data between bank accounts for payroll, bill pay, tax refunds, and B2B payments. NACHA writes and maintains the NACHA Operating Rules, which all ACH participants must follow. The Federal Reserve (FedACH) and The Clearing House (EPN) operate the ACH infrastructure; NACHA does not move funds but sets the standards that enable interoperability.

Scope & Coverage

ACH CreditsACH DebitsSame Day ACHAccount Verification

Key Requirements

1
Compliance with NACHA Operating Rules
2
ODFI/RDFI roles and warranties
3
Same Day ACH eligibility and deadlines
4
Account validation (e.g. WEB debits)

Implementation Timeline

Jan 1, 1974
NACHA formed; ACH network established
Sep 23, 2016
Same Day ACH phase 1 (credits) live
Mar 16, 2017
Same Day ACH phase 2 (debits) live
Mar 19, 2021
Same Day ACH dollar limit raised to $1 million

Official Documents & Resources

Key Notes

NACHA is a non-profit association; the ACH network is operated by the Federal Reserve and The Clearing House. Same Day ACH (2016) allows same-day settlement up to $1 million. Many open banking and pay-by-bank flows in the US use ACH for account-to-account transfers.

Official Resources

Related Regulations

Other open banking frameworks in North America:

Need to comply with NACHA?

Explore API aggregators that support United States compliance.

Want to integrate Accounting & ERP data?

Connect to 30+ accounting platforms and ERPs through a single unified API with Apideck.