New ACH Micro-Entries Rule For Organizations That Send Challenge Deposits (Micro-Entries) to Customer Accounts to Validate the Account
This Rule will define and standardize practices and formatting of Micro-Entries, which are used by ACH Originators as a method of account validation.
This New Micro-Entries Rule Will:
- Define “Micro-Entries” as ACH credits of less than $1 and any offsetting ACH debits, used for the purpose of verifying a Receiver’s (customer’s) account
- Standardize the company entry description and company name requirements for these entries
- Establish other Micro-Entry origination practices
- Apply risk management requirements to the origination of micro-entries
This New Rule Will Be Implemented in 2 Phases
Phase 1 – September 16, 2022
- The term Micro-Entry will be defined, and Originators will be required to use the standard Company Entry Description and follow other origination practices
Phase 2 – March 17, 2023
- Originators of Micro-Entries will be required to use commercially reasonable fraud detection, including the monitoring of Micro-Entry forward and return volumes
Amount Requirements Established by the Rule
An organization that utilizes Micro-Entries is not required to create Micro-Entry debits, but if it does, the total dollar amount of the Micro-Entry credit transactions must be equal to or greater than the value of the Micro-Entry debits. In other words, the result cannot be a net debit to the customer’s account.
The Rule Will Standardize Formatting for Micro-Entries
One of most important updates is that Micro-Entries must use “ACCTVERIFY” in the company entry description field.
The sender’s name must be readily recognizable to the customer as the organization they are doing business with, and be the same or similar to the name that will be used in future transactions. The senders are permitted to have minor variations to accommodate processing needs.
Questions
If you have any questions, please contact our ACHWorks and VCI support at support@achworks.com or 916-638-8811 Opt. 2.
