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Lead submits ACH entries to the Fed in six processing windows each business day. A transfer goes out in the next window after it passes validation, provided it reaches Lead before that window’s cutoff. Cutoffs are firm: anything received after a cutoff is queued for the next available window, with no exceptions. Two things determine when a transfer settles:
  • How you asked for it to be delivered. For API transfers, the delivery_type you choose at creation: same_business_day or next_business_day. For file submissions, the effective_date fields in the file.
  • Which window your submission lands in, based on the cutoff times below.
All times are Central Time. Business days are weekdays that are not Federal Reserve holidays; transfers submitted on a weekend or holiday settle on the next business day. Submit as early as you can ahead of a cutoff to avoid slipping into the next window.

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Same Day ACH

Transfers created with delivery_type: same_business_day settle within hours, through the first three windows of the day: Submit before 2:00 p.m. CT on a business day to settle that day. After 2:00 p.m. CT, a same-day transfer is converted to next-day delivery and settles at 7:30 a.m. CT on the next business day. After 10:00 p.m. CT on the evening before a business day, it is instead carried in that business day’s same-day windows and settles at 12:00 p.m. CT. On a weekend or holiday, it settles at 7:30 a.m. CT on the next business day.
Nacha caps Same Day ACH at $1,000,000 per transfer. A same_business_day transfer over that amount is processed as next-day.

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Next Day ACH

Transfers created with delivery_type: next_business_day settle at 7:30 a.m. CT on the next business day, whichever of the six windows they go out in: Submit before 10:00 p.m. CT on a business day to settle at 7:30 a.m. CT the next business day. After 10:00 p.m. CT, the transfer misses the overnight window: it is processed with the next day’s transfers and settles at 7:30 a.m. CT on the business day after that. For example, a transfer submitted Tuesday at 10:30 p.m. CT settles Thursday morning, while a transfer submitted late Friday night still settles Monday.

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ACH Returns

Returns use all six windows and settle same-day through the 3:15 p.m. CT window: Settlement timing is separate from return deadlines. A return must still be submitted within its Nacha return window; see Returns, Reversals, & Exceptions for those rules and Lead’s return cutoffs.

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Try It

Pick a submission time and type to see when a transfer is expected to settle. The estimator applies the cutoff tables above, including weekends and Federal Reserve holidays.
If the estimator doesn’t load, the tables above contain the same rules.