ACH Transaction

The Clearent ACH API enables you to process electronic bank-to-bank payments using your customers' checking or savings account information. This RESTful API provides a secure alternative to credit card processing for businesses that prefer bank transfers.

You can also include additional business details, such as invoice or purchase order numbers, as well as your customer’s billing and shipping information, to support your processes.

Available endpoints

ACH Provider:

• Acheck21 Provider Lookup (Deprecated): GET /rest/v2/ach/provider

• Get PAYA ACH Provider by SEC Code: GET /rest/v2/ach/provider/paya/{secCode}

• List All ACH Providers: GET /rest/v2/ach/providers

ACH Transactions:

• Search ACH Transactions: GET /rest/v2/ach/transactions

• Create ACH Transaction (Any Type): POST /rest/v2/ach/transactions

• Create ACH Credit Transaction: POST /rest/v2/ach/transactions/credit

• Create ACH Debit Transaction: POST /rest/v2/ach/transactions/debit

• Reverse a Transaction (PAYA Only): POST /rest/v2/ach/transactions/reversal

• Validate ACH Account: POST /rest/v2/ach/transactions/validate

• Get Transaction by ID: GET /rest/v2/ach/transactions/{id}

• Void Pending Transaction: DELETE /rest/v2/ach/transactions/{id}

Usage Workflow

Unlike credit cards, ACH approvals are not guaranteed and require the transaction to complete the full banking process to validate funds.

1. Validate Account (Optional)

• You can validate your customer's account using the 'validate-account' feature

Note: This check does not guarantee available funds—it only verifies that the account exists.

1. Submit ACH Transaction

• Use one of the creation endpoints to initiate the payment.

• The API returns a unique transaction ID and an initial status of Pending.

1. Processing

• All Pending transactions enter a processing queue that runs twice daily (at 3 PM and 6 PM local time).

• When the batch job picks up your transaction, its status changes from Pending → Settling, indicating it is being processed.

1. Final Settlement

   • After settlement, a transaction will end in one of two states:

     • Settled: Funds have successfully cleared. You should see the corresponding debit or credit in your bank account.

     • Returned: The transaction failed (e.g., due to insufficient funds or invalid account).

2. Check Transaction Status

• Retrieve the final status by calling GET /transactions/{id} with the ID provided at submission.

• Returned transactions include:

  • trace-number

  • returned-date

  • returned-code

  • returned-message

Example Return Information:

• "trace-number": "104000017630448",

• "returned-date": "2017-07-10",

• "returned-code": "R01",

• "returned-message": "Insufficient Funds"

• Settled transactions include:

  • trace-number

  • settled-date

Example Settled Information:

• "trace-number": "104000017106643",

• "settled-date": "2017-07-27"