ACH

ACH is the US batch network for bank-to-bank payments. Augustus National Bank participates directly through FedACH, the Federal Reserve’s ACH service: when you send an ACH credit, Augustus is the originating bank (ODFI); when someone pays you, Augustus is the receiving bank (RDFI). ACH settles in fixed windows, so the settlement time of a payment is known when it is created.

What Augustus supports

	Today
Direction	Credit transfers (push) only: send money to any US bank account, and receive credits from any sender. Augustus does not originate ACH debits, and ordinary inbound debits to your accounts are blocked and automatically returned.
Entry classes, outgoing	`CCD` for business receivers and `PPD` for individual receivers, derived from the counterparty’s `entity_type` (default `business`). International ACH (IAT) origination is not supported.
Entry classes, incoming	All incoming credits are accepted regardless of entry class; the deposit carries the class in `sec_code`.
Speed	Same-day settlement. Payments instructed after the last cut-off or above the same-day cap settle the next banking day.
Scheduling	Payouts execute immediately; future-dated payments are not supported. The API accepts payouts 24/7: a payment created while ACH is closed (after the last cut-off, on a weekend, or on a federal holiday) queues automatically and is submitted in the next settlement window.
Cancellation	Not possible once a payout is submitted. If a payment has to come back, contact support: an erroneous payment (wrong account, wrong amount, duplicate) can be reversed over the network within five banking days of settlement; beyond that, recovery depends on the receiving bank and is not guaranteed.

Sending ACH credits

Create a payout with currency: "USD", rail: "ach", and an aba counterparty financial address:

2026-05-01

import Augustus from '@augustusbank/typescript-sdk'

const client = new Augustus()
const payout = await client.payouts.create({
  account_id: 'your-usd-account-id',
  amount: '2500.00',
  currency: 'USD',
  rail: 'ach',
  unstructured_remittance_information: 'Invoice 1234',
  counterparty: {
    financial_address: {
      type: 'aba',
      routing_number: '021000021',
      account_number: '123456789',
      account_holder_name: 'Acme Trading LLC',
      entity_type: 'business',
    },
  },
})

POST /v1/payouts in the API Reference →

Field	Behavior
`rail`	Required for USD payouts; set to `"ach"`.
`unstructured_remittance_information`	Reaches the receiver inside the payment (the ACH addenda record, up to 80 characters); the receiving bank can display it alongside the credit.

The aba financial address:

Field	Behavior
`routing_number`	The receiver’s 9-digit ABA routing number.
`account_number`	The receiver’s account number.
`account_holder_name`	Full name of the receiver.
`entity_type`	Optional: `"business"` (default) or `"individual"`. Determines the entry class the payment travels under (business → CCD, individual → PPD); set `"individual"` for payments to personal accounts.

Same-day by default

Every eligible payment settles the same banking day. There is no option to delay settlement or opt out of same-day processing. Two things move settlement to the next banking day: a payment instructed after the last same-day cut-off, or an amount above the same-day cap. Settlement is when the funds move between the banks at the Federal Reserve. When the receiver sees the credit depends on the receiving bank: network rules require credits from the first two windows to be available for withdrawal on the settlement day, and a credit from the last window may not be available until the next morning. Future-dated payments are not supported. A payout is submitted to the next settlement window as soon as it is created; to pay on a specific date, create the payout on that date.

Cut-offs and settlement

Instructed by (US Eastern)	Settles (US Eastern)	Same-day
10:15 AM	1:00 PM	Yes
2:30 PM	5:00 PM	Yes
4:30 PM	6:00 PM	Yes
5:45 PM	8:30 AM next banking day	No
after 5:45 PM	1:00 PM next banking day	No

Weekends and federal holidays are not banking days; payments roll to the next banking day. For example, a payout created on a Tuesday at 1:47 PM Eastern makes the 2:30 PM cut-off and settles at 5:00 PM the same day. The same payout created at 6:10 PM misses the last window and settles at 1:00 PM on Wednesday.

Limits

Same-day ACH is capped at $1,000,000 per payment by network rule; the cap applies at every US bank. A payment above the cap settles the next banking day instead of being rejected. If a larger amount has to arrive the same day, use Fedwire. Account-level limits are agreed per customer at onboarding; there is no fixed platform limit beyond that.

Status and lifecycle

An ACH payout moves through the standard payout statuses:

Created: status initiated, payout.initiated fires.
Submitted in the next settlement window: status submitted, payout.submitted fires.
Settled at the window’s settlement time: status sent, payout.sent fires.
Rejected before submission, for example by validation or screening: status failed, payout.failed fires.

A sent ACH payout can be returned by the receiving bank; see Returned payouts.

Returns and corrections

Returned payouts

The receiving bank can return a settled credit, usually within 2 banking days, for example when the account is closed, the account number is invalid, or the receiver refuses the payment. The payout moves to returned, payout.returned fires, and the funds are credited back to your account.

Corrected account details (NOCs)

Instead of returning a payment sent with outdated details (for example after a bank merger changes routing numbers), the receiving bank can send a notification of change (NOC) carrying the corrected account or routing number. Augustus notifies you of the correction; update the counterparty details before the next payout.

Receiving ACH credits

Senders address your account with its US routing and account number, available on the account’s financial_addresses.

All incoming credits are accepted regardless of entry class.
Incoming credits appear as deposits with rail: "ach".
deposit.settled fires when the funds settle. Credits from the first two same-day windows are available the same banking day; a credit from the last window may be available the next morning. Under your account terms the credit remains provisional until Augustus receives final settlement; if settlement fails, the credit is reversed.
The sender’s bank details are referenced through the deposit’s counterparty_id; the entry class arrives in sec_code, and trace_number carries the network identifier senders quote for reconciliation.
Ordinary inbound debits are blocked and automatically returned. However, an erroneous inbound credit can be reversed by the originator within five banking days of its settlement. The reversal debits your account when the funds are available.

Returning a deposit

To send a received credit back, create a return with the deposit ID. The API accepts returns within 2 banking days of the deposit’s settlement date; after that, contact support.

2026-05-01

import Augustus from '@augustusbank/typescript-sdk'

const client = new Augustus()
const ret = await client.returns.create({
  deposit_id: 'your-deposit-id',
})

POST /v1/returns in the API Reference → The return travels back over ACH with the network reason code R23 (credit entry refused by the receiver); you never select reason codes yourself.

Basics

Accounts

Payments

Conversions

Loans

Legacy (2023-01-01)

What Augustus supports

Sending ACH credits

Same-day by default

Cut-offs and settlement

Limits

Status and lifecycle

Returns and corrections

Returned payouts

Corrected account details (NOCs)

Receiving ACH credits

Returning a deposit

​What Augustus supports

​Sending ACH credits

​Same-day by default

​Cut-offs and settlement

​Limits

​Status and lifecycle

​Returns and corrections

​Returned payouts

​Corrected account details (NOCs)

​Receiving ACH credits

​Returning a deposit

What Augustus supports

Sending ACH credits

Same-day by default

Cut-offs and settlement

Limits

Status and lifecycle

Returns and corrections

Returned payouts

Corrected account details (NOCs)

Receiving ACH credits

Returning a deposit