Business ACH companies for credit unions

After getting ready for ACH, credit unions can begin creating and managing ACH companies. An ACH company record contains a unique ID that allows the institution to internally match batch originator information to an account at the institution. The unique ID is included in the NACHA ACH file instead of secure account information. ACH company information is also used to identify the organization and organization contact sending payments (debits or credits) in case of questions and/or exceptions.

ACH companies are specific to and generated by each financial institution. However, it is important to note the following:

• A single organization may have multiple ACH companies associated with it.
• A single ACH company may be used for multiple organizations (Symitar account numbers) if a business customer is using different accounts to represent a section or branch of the business.

Create ACH company

Creating an ACH company in Banno People is a necessary step so that it can be associated with an organization. When an admin user creates an ACH company, they complete a form with the following fields:

Company name

The company name has a 16 max character limit and is included in the finalized NACHA file. Once the field is submitted, it cannot be updated.

Company ID

The company ID is included in the finalized NACHA file. Once the field is submitted, it cannot be updated.

The same company ID can be used for more than one ACH company as long as the company name is different for each ACH company. This might be useful in cases where different limits need to be enforced for similar purposes such as payroll.

Company ABC has two branches that need to process payroll. Branch one has 10 people and needs a daily payroll limit of $10,000. Branch two only has five people and needs a daily payroll limit of $5,000. In this example, two ACH companies could be created:

• Company ID 1234567890 with Company Name BR 1 PAYROLL and a $10,000 limit.
• Company ID 1234567890 with Company Name BR 2 PAYROLL and a $5,000 limit.

Daily limit

The maximum total batch amount per effective date that is permitted. This limit is shared by all organizations associated with the ACH company. The Banno Digital Banking Platform uses this field for ACH functionality—it is not included in the finalized NACHA file.

Changing the daily limit affects batches that are initiated post updating the daily limit. Batches that have already been initiated are not affected when updating the daily limit.

Contact name

The contact name is used for the institution’s reference and is not included in the finalized NACHA file.

Email

The email is used for the institution’s reference and is not included in the finalized NACHA file.

Phone

The 10 digit phone number is used for the institution’s reference and is not included in the finalized NACHA file.

View and manage ACH companies

Admin users view and manage ACH companies in the ACH Companies dashboard. Along with the company name, ID, and daily limit that displays, a company displays as Active or Deactivated.

Deactivate

For compliance purposes, ACH companies cannot be deleted. They can only be deactivated and continue displaying in the list of ACH companies.

Deactivating an ACH company prevents a batch with the company ID from being included in a finalized NACHA file. An admin user deactivates the ACH company by clicking the company’s view more icon and then Deactivate. When a company has been deactivated, Deactivated displays in the company list item and company details.

Deactivating an ACH company restricts the following actions for organization users:

• No new batches can be created.
• No ready or initiated batches can be edited.
• No ready batches can be initiated.
• Ready batches can be deleted.

The following are preserved:

• Ready and initiated batches still display.
• Historical batches.
• Permissions related to the ACH company, associated organizations, or organization users. Permissions at lower levels stay the same, but deactivating an ACH company overrides the permissions.

Activate

A batch associated with an Active ACH company can be created, edited, or initiated. To reactivate a deactivated ACH company, an admin user clicks the company’s view more icon and then Activate.

Edit ACH company

An admin user updates an ACH company’s details and can activate or deactivate the company in the company details window. The company name and company ID cannot be edited. The ACH company’s daily limit, contact name, email, and phone can be updated at any time.

Daily limit

The Banno Digital Banking Platform keeps a running total of all batches that have been initiated for a specific effective date. If initiating a batch would cause the running total to exceed the Daily limit for an effective date, an error message displays and the organization user cannot continue.

The daily limit aggregates batches using the ACH company ID regardless of which organization owns the batch. If two companies use the same ACH company ID, the aggregated total from both companies cannot exceed the Daily limit.

Associate ACH company to an organization

Associating an ACH company to an organization allows the ACH company to be used in an organization’s ACH batches. To associate an ACH company to an organization in Banno People, first create the organization and ACH company if they don’t already exist.

1. Scroll down and select an active ACH company.
2. Click Add ACH Company.
3. After adding an ACH company, proceed to enable ACH permissions (optional).