ACH
This is the official reference documentation for the SVB ACH API. Please see the authentication documentation for access information.
ACH API follows the same conventions as SVB’s other APIs. Please see documentation on API conventions for more information.
ACH is an electronic payments network that transfers more than $40 trillion per year and has been in operation for more than 40 years. It’s a great way to transfer money between bank accounts at a very low cost. SVB’s ACH API is designed to be the easiest way to transact over the ACH network.
Frequently Asked Questions

Table of Contents

  • ACH Transfer Workflow
  • Authorization

    • ACH Transfer Workflow

    Typically ACH transfers take 1-2 business days to complete after specified effective date. API processing timelines page can be referenced for further details on estimating payment delivery.

     

    ACH status lifecycle

     

    STATUS DESCRIPTION
          pending

     Initial status after creation. Pending ACH transfers are queued for processing and settlement. An ACH transfer   can be canceled as long as it remains in the pending state. Depending on when the API request is made, a           transfer may be in pending status for anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours.
          canceled

     ACH transfer was canceled prior to being picked up for processing. See Update an ACH transfer below for       more information on how to cancel a transfer.
         processing

     ACH transfer has been sent for processing. The transfer is in transit to the clearinghouse and may no longer be   canceled.
    hold

     ACH transfer has been paused for human review. This may happen infrequently for anti-fraud or compliance  reasons.
    succeeded

     ACH transfer was successfully completed. An idiosyncrasy of the ACH network protocol is that the originator of a   successful transfer never receives an affirmative confirmation. As a result, the API will mark a transfer   as succeeded after an appropriate period of time (3 days), according to SVB’s own best practices.
    failed

     ACH transfer failed. Failures can be for a variety of reasons, including incorrect account numbers or insufficient   funds.
    corrected

     ACH transfer succeeded, but the recipient bank has sent corrected transfer information for future transfers.   Pursuant to NACHA rules, you are required to send any future transactions with the updated information.

     

    Payment Tracking

    ACH API provides a unique trace number, "fed trace number", to track payment status. In most cases, trace number will be assigned within 24 hours of payment submission. Fed trace number is generated by the downstream batching system and can be used for tracking the transfer within SVB payment platform.

    Fed trace number can be retrieved using the retrieve an ACH endpoint.