ACH Return Codes Reference

There weren’t enough available funds in the account for the transaction

Try the transaction again by entering it as a new transaction up to two times within 30 days of the original authorization.

An account that was previously active has been closed, either by the bank or the customer.

Contact your customer for a different bank account, or for another form of payment.

If you haven’t shipped the goods or provided the services covered by the payment, you may want to wait to do so until you have confirmation of a settled transaction.

The account number structure is valid and it passes the check digit validation, but the account number doesn’t correspond to the individual identified in the entry, or the account number designated isn’t an open account.

Contact your customer and confirm the routing number, bank account number and the exact name on the bank account. You can request a copy of a voided check so that you can verify.

If this information doesn’t exactly match what you initially entered, make changes and submit a new payment.

The account number structure isn’t valid. The entry may fail the check digit validation or may contain an wrong number of digits.

Ask the customer for the correct bank account number. You can request a copy of a voided check so that you can verify. Submit a new payment using the corrected bank account number.

The SEC code expects a corporate or business bank account, and the account given is a personal one.

Contact your customer make sure they used the correct account.

You can ask the customer for a different form of payment, or ask to debit a different bank account.

The ODFI has requested that the RDFI return an Erroneous Entry, or a credit Entry originated without the authorization of the Originator.

The customer has revoked the authorization they gave to debit their account.

Immediately suspend any recurring payment schedules entered for this bank account. This prevents additional transactions from being returned while you address the issue with your customer. Then contact your customer and resolve any issues that caused the transaction to be disputed or the schedule to be cancelled.

You can ask the customer for a different form of payment, or ask to debit a different bank account.

If you need to debit the same bank account, ask your customer to call the bank and remove the block on transactions.

There is no dispute resolution available to you within the ACH Network. If your customer continues to claim the transaction wasn’t authorized, but you have proof that it was properly authorized, you may need to sue your customer in small claims court to collect. Notify Payabli if you sue the customer.

The customer or the customer’s bank issued a stop payment on an entry.

Contact your customer and resolve any issues that caused the transaction to be stopped.

You can re-enter the returned transaction again with proper authorization from your customer. You can also ask your customer for a different form of payment.

The ledger balance is enough to cover the ACH amount, but the total dollar value of transactions that haven’t been collected yet (like uncashed checks), bring the available or cash reserve balance below the dollar amount of the debit entry.

You can try the transaction again (you will need to re-enter it as a new transaction) up to two times within 30 days of the original authorization date.

Customer Advises Originator is Not Known to Receiver and/or Originator is Not Authorized by Receiver to Debit Receiver’s Account

The customer has told their bank that they don’t know you and they did not authorize an ACH transaction with you.

The Receiver may request immediate credit from the RDFI for an unauthorized debit. The request must be made in writing within fifteen (15) days after the RDFI sends or makes available to the Receiver information pertaining to that debit entry.

Customer Advises Entry Not in Accordance with the Terms of the Authorization

In this situation you have a relationship with the customer and they have authorized ACH debits, but the returned entry had some sort of error or other problem. For example, the amount was incorrect, or the payment was debited earlier than authorized.

Correct the underlying error and resubmit the corrected entry as a new entry. For example, fix the amount, the date, and resubmit. No new authorization is needed from the customer. The new corrected entry must be submitted and originated within 60 days of the Settlement Date of the R11 Return Entry.

If a correction and new entry submission isn’t possible, the resolution would be similar to receiving a return with the R10 code.

The account has been sold to another branch and the entry can’t be fulfilled.

Contact the customer and get a new routing number and bank account number, then enter a NEW transaction using the updated account numbers.
If the transaction was part of a recurring payment schedule, be sure to update the schedule to use the new bank account.

Double check that you entered the routing number correctly, or contact your customer to confirm the routing number. Then submit a NEW payment using the correct routing number.

Representative Payee Deceased or Unable to Continue in that Capacity

The representative payee is a person or institution authorized to accept entries on behalf of others, like legally incapacitated adults or minors. In this case, the representative payee is unable to continue in that capacity. The beneficiary isn’t deceased.

Beneficiary or Account Holder (Other Than a Representative Payee) Deceased

(1) The beneficiary is the person entitled to the benefits and is deceased. The beneficiary may or may not be the account holder;or(2) The account holder (acting in a non-representative payee capacity) is an owner of the account and is deceased.

The funds in the account are unavailable due to specific action taken by the RDFI or by legal action.

Ask the customer for a different form of payment. You can’t process transactions using this bank account until it’s unfrozen.

File Record Edit Criteria/Entry with Invalid Account Number Initiated Under Questionable Circumstances/Return of Improperly-Intiated Reversal

This return code typically points to field errors, or it could be due to the original transaction being questionable or anomalous.

The ACH entry destined for a non-transaction account. This would include either an account against which transactions are prohibited or limited.

Contact your customer to obtain authorization to charge a different bank account.

Or

Ask for a different form of payment.

The ID used in the Company Identification Field isn’t valid. This code is typically used on CIE transactions.

In CIE and MTE entries, the Individual ID Number is used by the Receiver to identify the account. The Receiver has indicated to the RDFI that the number with which the Originator was identified isn’t correct.

The Receiver may return a credit entry because one of the following conditions exists: (1) a minimum amount required by the Receiver has not been remitted; (2) the exact amount required has not been remitted; (3) the account is subject to litigation and the Receiver will not accept the transaction; (4) acceptance of the transaction results in an overpayment; (5) the Originator is not known by the Receiver; or (6) the Receiver has not authorized this credit entry to this account.

Contact your customer to work out the problem, or ask them to work the problem out with their bank. Have your customer confirm that the refund will be accepted, then attempt to refund the transaction again.

Alternately, you can send your customer a paper check for the refund amount.

The RDFI has received what appears to be a duplicate entry; i.e., the trace number, date, dollar amount and/or other data matches another transaction. This code should be used with extreme care. The RDFI should be aware that if a file has been duplicated, the Originator may have already generated a reversal transaction to handle the situation.

The RDFI has been notified by the Receiver (non-consumer) that the Originator of a given transaction has not been authorized to debit the Receiver’s account.

Immediately suspend any recurring payment schedules entered for this bank account. This will prevent additional transactions from being returned while you address the issue with your customer. Then contact your customer and resolve any issues that caused the transaction to be disputed or the schedule to be cancelled.

You can ask the customer for a different form of payment, or ask to debit a different bank account.

If you need to debit the same bank account, instruct your customer to call the bank and remove the block on transactions.

Unfortunately, there is no dispute resolution available to you within the ACH Network. If your customer continues to claim the transaction was not authorized, but you have proof that it was properly authorized, you will need to sue your customer in Small Claims Court to collect. Notify Payabli if you sue the customer.

The RDFI has been notified by the Receiver (non-consumer) that the Originator of a given transaction has not been authorized to debit the Receiver’s account.

Immediately suspend any recurring payment schedules entered for this bank account. This will prevent additional transactions from being returned while you address the issue with your customer. Then contact your customer and resolve any issues that caused the transaction to be disputed or the schedule to be cancelled.

You can ask the customer for a different form of payment, or ask to debit a different bank account.

If you need to debit the same bank account, instruct your customer to call the bank and remove the block on transactions.

Unfortunately, there is no dispute resolution available to you within the ACH Network. If your customer continues to claim the transaction was not authorized, but you have proof that it was properly authorized, you will need to sue your customer in Small Claims Court to collect. Notify Payabli if you sue the customer.

The RDFI determines at its sole discretion to return an XCK entry. This return reason code may only be used to return XCK entries. An XCK entry may be returned up to sixty days after its Settlement Date.