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Preparing for the third Same Day ACH window: Top five things to know

This Friday, March 19, the new, third Same Day ACH processing and settlement window will take effect. For those of you with lingering questions, we want to help your financial institution feel prepared for the changes. Here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions we have received.

  1. There are five new Accounting Transaction Codes (5728, 5734, 5735, 5736 and 5737) you may see on your settlement advices if you have Same Day ACH items settling in the third processing window. The Account Management Guide has been updated to reflect these new codes.
  2. There will no longer be an AJ19 file distribution or advice for the 4 p.m. ET returns-only processing window, as that will no longer exist. Instead, a normal output file will be generated to include both Same Day and next day items, if they are available.
  3. In order to monitor large dollar items coming later in the day you can utilize the FedACH Risk® Origination Monitoring Service to identify Same Day entries before they are processed and the FedACH Risk RDFI Alert Service to receive notification of Same Day settled batches. These two services can help you determine any account funding needs.
  4. If you need to research a processed Same Day entry, the ACH Originated Batch Report via the FedPayments® Reporter Service can help you easily determine if a batch contained Same Day entries, analyze why the batch was processed as Same Day and quickly view the credit and debit dollar entry counts, and the Nacha Entry Fees applied.
  5. If you still have questions your Federal Reserve account executive and payments association (Off-site) are great resources to help answer any of your lingering concerns. You can also refer to our FedACH® resources on our Same Day ACH Resource Center.

This third Same Day ACH processing window aligns with our ongoing objective to support improvements in the speed, security and efficiency of payment systems in the United States, as well as public interest in the greater availability of payment services. We value the trust you place in the Fed for your ACH processing and we are prepared to support your financial institution through this change.