This page describes the nature of an ACH transaction and how to know the status of an ACH transaction.
The ACH network is characterized by the use of a batch processing, storage and forwarding system. Therefore, transactions received by the financial institution during the day are stored and sorted by destination for subsequent transmission in a batch over a predetermined period of time. These characteristics mean that confirmation that the ACH transaction was successful or not, is not obtained automatically, but rather it is necessary to poll at specific times to know the status of the transaction.
Workflow for ACH transactions
A merchant can use Matic to receive ACH transaction in several ways:
- Using Speed Matic.
- Making a request to Matic REST API by:
- Using Quick Payment feature from Admin Portal.
When an ACH transaction is created it has the initial status of pending, after the time stipulated by the ACH network and the banks it can change to succeeded or declined depending on the result of the transaction.
ACH transactions have the following statuses:
| Status | Description |
|---|---|
pending | This is the initial status of each ACH transaction submitted for processing. Matic assigns this status while waiting for a success or rejection response. This means that the transaction is being processed and awaiting settlement to the receiver's account, if all requirements have been met. This status will change after the processing time to succeeded or declined. |
succeeded | The transaction was successfully processed and the required amount was settled in the recipient's account. |
declined | An unsuccessful ACH transaction, in which the recipient does not receive the funds in his or her account. This means that the transaction was returned for any reason, these reasons include insufficient funds, closed account, over limit, suspected fraud, among other |
A transaction in pending status can be polled using the Get transaction details request, in which response you will get among other things the status of the transaction with the status succeeded if it was completed successfully and declined if it was returned for any particular reason.
Processing time for ACH transactions can take around 4 days or more depending on the bank's reply, during which time the transaction status will change to succeeded or declined.
After a transaction is created and placed in pending status it is suggested that 2 polling be conducted, the first polling to find out the status of the transaction should be done after 10:00 PM EST and a second polling to find out the reason for declined transactions the next day after 10:00 AM EST. You require to store the transaction ID that we send you back in order to make this polling. Finally, you may consider that transactions close to 10:00 PM EST are unlikely to be transmitted the same day.
For more information on how ACH transactions work, you can consult the NACHA website.