What is ACH DIRECTO?
 It's a modern automated service that electronically links financial institutions, merchants and persons that allows payments and collections. ACH DIRECTO is an electronic funds transfer system that provides exactness, security, speed, convenience to all its users and direct and indirect beneficiaries .

Among the services provided are:

  • Payroll payment

  • Funds transfer

  • Dividends payment

  • Insurance policies collections

  • Credit card payments

  • Funds concentration 

  • Payments to suppliers

  • Mortgage payments 

  • Collections between institutions,

  • etc.

How does ACH DIRECTO operate?

The ACH DIRECTO network works in the following manner:

  1. All transactions is are initiated from an originator merchant and affects a receiver's account.

  2. These transactions are grouped in a file, which is transmitted to the originating bank.

  3. To create and transmit these transactions, the originator merchant must follow the procedures stated by its originator bank.

  4. The bank receives the transaction files from its originating merchants and performs a distribution process where two files are created.

The first file contains the on-us transactions, where the transactions are destined to the same originating bank. The second file contains the not on-us transactions, where the transactions are destined to another receiving bank. This file is sent to the network operator of ACH DIRECTO. The network operator receives the transaction files from all the originating banks and distributes the received transactions to the corresponding receiving banks. Additionally, creates a file for funds exchange between the participating banks.
The receiving bank obtains from the network operator the transactions that were sent by the originating banks and proceeds to authorize or reject the received transactions. In case of rejected transactions, they will be sent again to the network and then to the originating bank. The transactions that are sent within the established schedule (until 12:00 noon), will be available for the receivers at the next banking working day.

In Panamá, the Centro de Intercambio Automatizado, S.A. is the company that offers the service of ACH DIRECTO and the one that takes care of the distribution of the electronic payments and collections between financial institutions. It began successfully its operations, with real transactions in August 5, 1998. At the beginning the network were formed by 15 Banks, but it has been growing and nowadays there are a great number of member banks and companies, which originate real transactions that comply with the most strict security procedures, based on our Operating Rules. 

 

What is NACHA and its relation with ACH DIRECTO?

NACHA (National Automated Clearing House Association) was organized in 1974 by a group of banks in the Unites States of America, who observed the potential that had the electronic payments as a rapid and reliable alternative for the great quantity of checks drawn each year. Years later, there are approximately four billion ACH transactions originated each year and the quantity of transferred dollars surpasses the eleven trillion dollars. NACHA is conformed by 36 ACH associations and more than 13,000 financial institutions, who provide the service to approximately 500,000 companies and a great number of customers. NACHA is responsible for the establishment and update of the ACH Operating Rules and the standards that govern the exchange of transactions between financial institutions and ACH networks. This is why ACH DIRECTO - PANAMA maintained, since 1994, direct contact with NACHA and since 1997 is an affiliated member of this organization.  

NACHA – http://www.nacha.org

 

For more information please write to ciasa@sclave.com

 

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