An ACH (Automated Clearing House) transfer is an electronic fund transfer made between banks and credit unions across the Automated Clearing House network. It is a way to transfer money between bank accounts, rather than going through card networks or using wire transfers, paper checks, or cash. ACH transfers are used for all kinds of fund transfer transactions, including direct deposit of paychecks and monthly debits for routine payments. Merchants often enable consumers to pay bills via ACH by providing an account number and bank routing number. ACH transfers can be thought of as digital mail sent out in bulk, and each transfer request is packaged as a message within a batch of outgoing mail by the bank making the request. There are two kinds of ACH money transfers: ACH debits and ACH credits. ACH debits are requests for the ACH network to "pull" money from an account that the requestor doesnt control, such as an auto-bill payment. ACH credits are requests to “push” money from the requestor’s account. This is the type of ACH transfer used for payroll or government benefit programs (often referred to as “direct deposits”) .

ACH transfers work by using the ACH network to facilitate the transfer of money from one bank account to another. Transfer requests are sent to the consumers bank to initiate the transfer, and the payment will process in 1-3 days, depending on the type of ACH transfer, risk assessments, and whether an error or return code occurs. While many ACH payments clear quickly, transactions can sometimes take several days to complete because of the way in which an ACH is processed and precautions against fraud and money laundering. ACH transfers are often free, depending on where you bank and the type of transfer involved. For example, your bank may charge you nothing to move money from your checking account to an account at a different bank. And if it does charge a fee, it may be a nominal cost of just a few dollars.