Minimum Required Information for eCheck Transaction

When initiating an eCheck transaction, you need the following information:

• Nine-digit ABA routing number.
• Bank account number.
• Bank account type (checking, business checking, or savings).
• eCheck type.
• The name on the bank account.
• The transaction amount.

When initiating an eCheck refund, you need the following information:

• The valid gateway-assigned Transaction ID of the original transaction.
• Last four digits of the routing number.
• Last four digits of the bank account number.
• Amount.
• Bank account type.
• eCheck type (PPD or CCD).

To avoid transactions from being placed into an "Under Review" state and potentially failing review, we recommend that you supply as much information about the customer and their bank account as possible. This includes the customer's bank account address, which can assist our Underwriting team with validating transactions flagged by the OFAC sanctions list. Doing so will help your transactions transition from "Under Review" to "Approved Review" or "Failed Review" faster.

Processing eCheck Transactions

How to Charge a Bank Account Using eCheck?

To charge a bank account directly, you need to enroll in our eCheck service. If you're not enrolled, please complete and submit the eCheck Application. Once approved, you can start processing transactions via your website or other application, or you can submit eCheck transactions manually using the Virtual Terminal.

To manually charge a bank account:

1. Sign in to the Merchant Interface.
2. Click Virtual Terminal under Tools in the main left side menu.
3. Select Charge a Bank Account.
4. Enter the required fields for a transaction as indicated.
5. Click Submit.

For all eCheck transactions, merchants must:

1. Obtain the proper payment authorization from the customer before submitting a charge transaction against the customer's bank account.
2. Authenticate the customer's identity, i.e., verify that the customer is who they say they are.

A proper payment authorization must include all of the following elements:

• Clear and conspicuous statement of the transaction terms, including the amount.
• Written language displayed to the customer that is readily identifiable as an authorization for the transaction by the customer (i.e., “I authorize Merchant to charge my bank account”), and that is capable of being reproduced.
• Evidence of the customer's identity.
• The date the authorization was granted and the effective date of the transaction (the transaction may not be processed before the effective date).
• The bank account number to be charged.
• The nine-digit ABA routing number of the customer's bank.

For more information on eCheck please see: eCheck Operating Procedures and User Guide.

Is the Advanced Fraud Detection Suite (AFDS) and/or Address Verification Service (AVS) available for eCheck transactions?

No. The Advanced Fraud Detection Suite (AFDS) is only available for credit card transactions and AVS is not available as transactions are not processed in real-time and only the routing number can be validated at the time of submission.

How to refund eCheck transactions?

To issue a refund on an eCheck transaction, the following criteria must be met:

• There must be funds available on your eCheck settlement statement. Please see the Related Items section below this article for more information on reviewing your settlement statement.
• Refunds cannot be issued on transactions that are still in the current batch and have not yet settled. These types of transactions may be voided instead. Please see the Related Items section below this article for more information on voiding transactions.
• The original transaction settled within the last 180 days. (Issuing a linked credit)

A linked credit is a credit or refund transaction that is linked to a charge transaction originally processed through Authorize.net. By default, all Authorize.net accounts require that credit transactions be linked to the original charge transaction.

To issue a refund using the Quick Refund feature:

1. Sign in to the Merchant Interface.
2. Click Search for a Transaction under Transaction Search in the main left side menu.
3. Select the desired dates to view from the drop down menus and/or search by payment method or bank account number, customer first name and last name, or the Transaction ID.
4. Click Search.
5. Click the Transaction ID for the transaction that you wish to refund.
6. On the Transaction Detail screen, click the Refund button. A pop-up window appears.
7. If you would like to issue a partial refund, adjust the Amount field.
8. You can add or update the Invoice # field for this refund and enter any applicable information into the Description field.
9. If you would like your customer to receive an email receipt for the refund, confirm the Customer Email field is present, and check the box labeled Email transaction receipt to customer (if email provided).
10. Click OK to submit the refund request.

Why was my eCheck transaction declined?

eCheck transactions are not processed in real time, hence a decline does not necessarily indicate a lack of funds. However, there are several situations where an eCheck transaction may be declined:

• If an invalid ABA Routing Number is entered, we cannot properly locate the bank that can process the charge, thus resulting in a declined transaction. Please confirm the ABA Routing Number for your customer's bank before re-entering the transaction.
• If a transaction exceeds your eCheck Maximum Transaction Size, it may be declined. For instance, if your eCheck service allows a Maximum Transaction Size of $1,000.00 and a transaction for $1,001.00 is submitted, the transaction would be blocked and marked as declined. When viewing the decline transaction details, a message that says: "Declined (Card declined by issuer – Contact card issuer to determine reason.)" will be displayed.

Your eCheck processing limits help control fraud by allowing transactions that fit your business' normal transaction amounts and level of risk. If the current limits do not suit your business needs, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to the Merchant Interface.
2. Click Contact Us from the upper right corner of any page.
3. Click Support  Center under Contact Support.
4. You will be redirected to the Support Center's authenticated view.
5. Click Support Cases at the top of the Support Center.
6. Then click General support. Enter "eCheck Limit Increase" in the Subject field.
7. Enter a reason for the limit increase request in the Description field.
8. Click Submit.

A reply will be sent when the limit increase is approved or if the risk team needs further documentation to validate the request. Please allow 2-5 business days for us to evaluate your risk before increasing your processing limits. You can confirm your current eCheck processing limits through your Merchant Interface:

1. Sign in to the Merchant Interface.
2. Click Account from the main toolbar.
3. Click Merchant Profile from the main left side menu.
4. Click Risk Reserve.

Your eCheck limits will be listed in the Risk Profile section of this screen.

eCheck Returns and Disputes Processes

Authorize.net's eCheck debit transactions differ from bankcard transactions in terms of chargeback rights and procedures. When a cardholder disputes a transaction on their account, they can request proof of authorization. The Merchant is then required to provide evidence of the cardholder's authorization for the disputed transaction.

In card-present transactions, Merchants can verify the transaction by swiping or manually imprinting the card, and requiring the Customer to sign a slip authorizing the transaction. The signed slip, if it bears a valid signature, substantiates the Merchant's claim of authorization to process the card transaction and usually protects the Merchant from the risk of chargeback loss.

However, in the virtual world, Internet-based card transactions are classified as card-not-present. Protection from chargeback loss is only provided through the same mechanisms used by Merchants in Mail/Telephone Order transactions, such as: proof of a positive Address Verification Service (AVS) response and signed proof of delivery of goods to the address providing a positive AVS match. These tools are not available for eCheck transactions, and there is no opportunity for a Merchant to refute a Customer-initiated ACH chargeback as they might with a bankcard transaction.

Merchants should take additional precautions when using eCheck for two distinct reasons. First, there is no automatic way to verify that an account number provided by a customer is valid, short of personally calling the Customer's bank and verifying that they do indeed have an account in good standing. Second, there is no mediation process to resolve disputes between the Customer and Merchant. If an eCheck transaction is returned as a chargeback, the Merchant will have no recourse but to pursue collection of monies due by direct contact with the Customer or initiation of legal proceedings. When a customer initiates a chargeback, the amount is removed from your eCheck account as soon as the bank informs us. eChec transactions are not guaranteed and can be revoked by the Customer without the protections present with card transactions. Banking and federal regulations provide consumers a 60-day period to dispute debits made to their checking accounts.

For more information on eCheck please see: eCheck Operating Procedures and User Guide.

What are "Under Review" and "Failed Review" eCheck transactions?

Transactions for eCheck undergo several validation phases. When initially submitted to Authorize.net, eCheck transactions are validated for the presence of required data, such as the bank account number and ABA routing number. Once the transaction is submitted to the ACH Network, it undergoes additional validations, for example, whether the bank account exists, whether there are enough funds in the customer's bank account to cover the transaction, etc. At several points during the entire eCheck processing cycle, a transaction may be returned for various reasons. Because there are several phases, it is possible that an eCheck transaction can pass the initial phases of validation and be returned or rejected later in the cycle.

An eCheck transaction may be found in an "Under Review" state if it does not contain complete field values and something within the transaction is a currently sanctioned entity on the OFAC (Office of Foreign Asset Control's) sanctions list. By law, we are required to validate every eCheck transaction against the OFAC sanction list. When merchants do not require and supply complete customer and bank fields with their eCheck transactions, they are far more likely to be placed into an "Under Review" state for manual review, which can take up to several days and will always delay funding. This may result in a "Failed Review" or "Approved Review" based on the manual review of the transaction against current OFAC sanctions. To avoid this, we strongly recommend that merchants include all of the minimum required field data, as completely as they are able to.

The minimum required information to process an eCheck transaction is:

• The customer’s name as it appears on their bank account
• The customer’s bank account number
• The type of bank account (checking, business checking, savings)
• The ABA routing number for the customer’s bank
• The amount of the transaction
• Whether the transaction is a charge or a refund

You will generally see a transaction status of "Failed Review" when there are insufficient funds on the eCheck Settlement Statement to cover an attempted refund for an eCheck transaction.

Transactions will also go "Under Review" and "Failed Review" if you attempt to charge your own bank account. For example, you may not process an eCheck transaction to transfer funds to your merchant bank account from a friend's bank account, or transfer funds to or from your merchant bank account for any reason other than the purchase of, or a refund for, goods or services provided by your business.

To view "Failed Review" or "Under Review" transactions:

1. Log into the Merchant Interface.
2. Click Search for a Transaction in the main menu.
3. Select a range of settlement batch dates from the Settlement Date drop-down boxes.
4. Under Transaction Status select Failed Review or Under Review.
5. Click Search.

Your results will display all "Failed Review" or "Under Review" transactions in the date range you selected. If you have transactions that were rejected, such as "Failed Review," the settlement amount listed in the eCheck Settlement Report will be the submitted amount less the amount of the rejected transactions. For instructions on how to sign up for the eCheck Settlement Report, search for the support article, "How do I sign up to receive the eCheck Settlement Report?"

For more information on eCheck please see: eCheck Operating Procedures and User Guide.

Why can't I submit an eCheck refund?

NACHA, the governing body for ACH transactions, mandates that all refunds or credits for eCheck transactions be submitted as Cash Concentration or Disbursement (CCD) requests for a business checking account, or Prearranged Payment and Deposit Entry (PPD) requests for a personal checking or savings account. If you do not currently have CCD or PPD enabled as an eCheck transaction type, you will not have the option to refund a settled eCheck transaction, regardless of the original transaction type.

You can verify whether you have the CCD and PPD options for your eCheck account by checking your Merchant Profile:

1. Sign in to the Merchant Interface.
2. Click Account from the main toolbar.
3. Click Merchant Profile on the left side.
4. The eCheck transaction types currently allowed will be listed in the Payment Methods section next to eCheck.

If you do not have CCD and/or PPD, but require it for your business needs, please do the following:

1. Sign in to the Merchant Interface.
2. Click Contact Us from the upper right corner of any page.
3. Click Support  Center under Contact Support.
4. You will be redirected to the Support Center's authenticated view.
5. Click Support Cases at the top of the Support Center.
6. Then click General support enter "add eCheck types" in the Subject field.
7. Enter a reason for the adding these new eCheck types in the Description field.
8. Click Submit.

You will receive a reply when the new eCheck types are added or if the risk team needs further documentation to validate the request.

Why was my eCheck refund not processed?

If your eCheck refund was not processed, it is possible that there were insufficient funds in your virtual eCheck account to cover the refund amount. You can check your balance in the eCheck Settlement Statement.

To view your eCheck Settlement Statement:

1. Sign in to the Merchant Interface.
2. Click Account from the main toolbar.
3. Click Statements from the menu on the left.
4. Click eCheck Settlement Statement.

The unfunded eCheck refund transaction will be marked with a transaction status of Failed Review. To search for Failed Review transactions:

1. Sign in to the Merchant Interface.
2. Click Transaction Search from the main toolbar.
3. Select a Settlement Date range. The Search feature requires a date range for this search.
4. In the Transaction section, set the Status as Failed Review.
5. Click Search. The transactions with a status of Failed Review appear.

Why was my eCheck refund transaction not credited to my customer?

The following requirements apply to eCheck credit/refund transactions:

• The original eCheck transaction for which the refund is being issued must have been processed through the Authorize.Net Payment Gateway.
• eCheck refunds must be submitted with the transaction ID of the original eCheck transaction.
• The amount of the refund must be less than or equal to the dollar amount of the original transaction.
• The sum amount of multiple refunds submitted against the same original transaction must be less than or equal to the dollar amount of the original transaction.
• There must be available funds (meaning funds that are no longer in the holding period) in your eCheck Settlement sub-account to cover the refund. If sufficient funds do not exist in your eCheck Settlement sub-account, the refund transaction will be rejected.

Transactions that have been rejected due to the lack of funds in your eCheck Settlement sub-account will show up as Failed Review in your settled batch.

To search for transactions with the status of Failed Review:

1. Sign in to the Merchant Interface.
2. Click Transaction Search from the main toolbar.
3. Select the Settlement Date to search a period of time.
4. Select the Status of the transaction Failed Review.
5. Click Search.

For instructions on how to view your eCheck Settlement Statement, please see: eCheck Settlement Statement

Understanding the eCheck settlement process

eCheck payments, unlike credit card transactions, are made directly from the customer's bank account. This leads to a different settlement process.

For eCheck transactions, "Settlement" happens when the payment gateway initiates an ACH transaction to request the collection of funds for a purchase from the customer's bank account. "Funding" happens when funds collected for eCheck transactions are deposited into your merchant bank account.

Settlement for eCheck transactions occurs every business day, excluding bank holidays. Transactions submitted to Authorize.net before your daily Transaction Cut-Off Time are sent to the bank the following business day. The settlement time for each batch of transactions marks the beginning of the Authorize.net funds holding period. The transfer of eCheck proceeds to your bank account occurs on the business day after the transactions are considered collected by the system.

Note: Since the availability of funds is not verified in real time, it is advisable to wait until the funds holding period is over before shipping or providing access to merchandise purchased using eCheck.

The timeframe for settlement, returns, and funding can vary depending on several variables such as the day of the week the transaction is submitted, the number of holding days established for your eCheck account, whether the transaction is returned for any reason, or if processing occurs over a weekend, etc.

Note: If a merchant runs an eCheck transaction as "Auth only", this will cause a funding delay. eCheck transactions will only begin their funding once a transaction has been captured and settled.

eCheck Processing Cycle (Three-Day Holding Period)

1. Banking Day 1: The merchant receives an eCheck transaction. At the Transaction Cut-Off Time, the transaction is picked up by the payment gateway.
2. Banking Day 2: The payment gateway submits the previous day's batch to the ACH Network. This is the first day of the required funds holding period. The number of holding days varies per merchant, but for this example, we'll use three days.
3. Day 3: The ACH Network collects funds for the transaction from the customer's bank and relays them to Authorize.net. This is the second day of the required funds holding period. One of the purposes of the holding period is to wait for potential returns for transactions included in the batch. Returns can come back on this day.
4. Day 4: Third day of the required funds holding period. Returns can come back on this day.
5. Day 5: The payment gateway transfers available eCheck proceeds to the merchant's bank account. Returns can come back on this day.
6. Day 6: The eCheck proceeds are available in the merchant's bank account. Returns can come back on this day.

Note: The customer typically has 60 days from the day the transaction appears on their bank statement to return or dispute (in the case of a chargeback) a charge to their bank account.

For more information on eCheck please see: eCheck Operating Procedures and User Guide.

When and how often do my eCheck transactions settle?

Settlement of eCheck transactions occurs daily, beginning at 8:30am Pacific. Transactions submitted prior to the batch cut-off time are sent to the bank that same day, and the time at which the batch of transactions settles becomes the time from which the seven-business day funding clock begins.

The eCheck system automatically calculates, down to the second, the time at which funds are considered collected and available for transfer to your merchant account. Transfer of collected funds to your merchant account occurs only on business days according to this calculation. Collected funds that show transferred on any given day will not actually be available at their financial institution until the next business day.

Please note: This calculation does not guarantee that transaction(s) will not see a Return from the customer's bank or the ACH network after funding transfer has occurred.

How long does it take for an eCheck transaction to process and be deposited?

It takes seven (7) business days for an eCheck transaction to process and be deposited after settlement has completed.

How can I tell if I have deposited/transferred funds from a particular eCheck transaction?

There is no way to track particular eCheck transactions in the deposits. You can see which batches are being deposited by clicking on the Funding Calculation Page link in the eCheck Settlement Statement.

How to view eCheck transactions, settled and unsettled?

To view settled eCheck transactions, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to the Merchant Interface.
2. Click Reports.
3. Click Transaction Details by Settlement Date to view transaction details, or click Statistics by Settlement Date to view batch statistics. Choose a date for Transaction Details or a date range for Statistics.
4. Select whether to view successful transactions (default) or declined transactions if viewing transaction details.
5. Click Run Report.
6. Click the number listed under Trans ID to view details of a specific transaction.

To view eCheck transactions only in your current batch, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to the Merchant Interface.
2. Click Unsettled Transactions, located in the top left corner of the main menu (next to Virtual Terminal).
3. Find the Filter by menu under the column headers.
4. Select eCheck in the Filter by drop-down menu.
5. Click the View button.

This will display only eCheck transactions in your current batch.

Understanding the eCheck risk reserve

The Risk Reserve is a pool of eCheck funds held by the payment gateway to cover potential costs from high-risk or chargeback transactions. This reserve is only applicable when eCheck is enabled and does not apply to credit card funding. It is crucial to review both your Risk Reserve profile and your eCheck Reserve Statement (available when funds are currently on hold).

Risk Reserve

To review your Risk Reserve profile, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to the Merchant Interface.
2. Click Merchant Profile under Account in the main menu on the left.
3. Click Risk Reserve on the right.

The Payment Methods section lists the payment methods enabled for your account, including:

• Payment Gateway – The credit card types your payment gateway account can accept.
• eCheck – The type of eCheck transactions enabled for your account: ARC, BOC, CCD, PPD, TEL, and/or WEB.
• Status – The status of each may be one of the following: Not Enabled, Pending, Approved, Not Approved, Enabled, Merchant Declined, Disabled.

The Risk Profile section includes the following:

• Fund Holding Days
• Monthly Volume Limit
• Maximum Transaction Size
• Risk Reserve Method
• Reserve Rate
• Reserve Holding Days
• Reserve Balance

The Risk Reserve profile depends on your risk settings determined during the underwriting process when eCheck was enabled for your account, or during the last review by the eCheck department.

Reserve Statement

To review your eCheck Reserve Statement, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to the Merchant Interface.
2. Click Statements under Account in the main menu on the left.
3. Click eCheck Reserve Statement.

The following information is displayed on the eCheck Reserve Statement:

• Current Outstanding Balance – The amount of funds currently in your Risk Reserve.
• Date – The date of the statement entry.
• Type – The type of action taking place in your Risk Reserve. For example, Transfer.
• Item – The specific item or action taking place. For example, Intra Account Transfer.
• Item Description – Any additional description of the item. For example, eCheck Settlement.
• Amount – The amount being transferred into or out of your Risk Reserve. If this amount appears in parentheses, funds are being transferred out of the reserve and the Account Balance is decreased by the same amount.
• Account Balance – The current dollar amount in your Risk Reserve.

Removing eCheck Funding Hold

If you need further help reviewing your Risk Reserve or requesting funding holding to be removed please contact Authorize.net Client Services

What is intra account transfer?

Intra Account Transfer indicates that funds were transferred to or from the virtual balance (such as the eCheck reserve).

When an eCheck transaction has been submitted to Authorize.Net, we are only able to verify that the routing number is a valid routing number. At that time, it goes into the current batch of Unsettled Transactions in your Authorize.Net account. eCheck transactions are settled on weekday mornings separate from your credit card transactions. Once an eCheck transaction has been "settled," the account information is submitted to the customer's bank as a request for funds, much like depositing a paper check.

There is a 7-10 day waiting period from when you settle an eCheck batch until we provide funding for it. This gives time for the customer's bank to process the request, and let us know if there were sufficient funds and all the account information sent to the bank were correct. After this time frame, we will deposit the funds, minus any fees, into your checking account that we have on file in your Merchant Interface.

eCheck Funding Process

The eCheck funding process includes the following steps:

1. Proceeds for a batch of eCheck transactions are collected and deposited into a settlement “sub-account” to manage your eCheck settlement funds.
2. From these batch settlement funds, Authorize.Net® assesses all applicable fees for your eCheck transactions including: per-transaction fees, discount fees, returned item or chargeback fees. These fees are then placed into your Billing Reserve sub-account.
3. Authorize.Net also assesses risk reserve withholdings, if applicable, from your batch settlement funds and places them in your Reserve sub-account. For more information about the Risk Reserve, see the section in the document titled “Reserves.”
4. After the funds holding period established for your eCheck account, Authorize.Net initiates an ACH transaction to transfer the remaining proceeds from the batch to your merchant bank account.
5. At monthly billing, Authorize.Net looks at your Billing Reserve sub-account balance and transfers the amount needed to cover your billing balance to your Billing sub-account. If your Billing Reserve sub-account balance is less than your billing balance, Authorize.Net initiates an ACH transaction to charge your merchant bank account for the difference.
6. At the appropriate time, Authorize.Net will transfer funds or a portion of funds held in your risk reserve to your merchant bank account.

For more information on eCheck please see: eCheck Operating Procedures and User Guide. Also, there is specific information pertaining to your own Authorize.net Gateway account located on the Merchant Profile. To view all information, log into your account.

Chargeback, Returns & Notice of Change

What is a chargeback and how do I dispute a chargeback?

A chargeback is a request initiated by a customer, or sometimes the customer's banking institution, for a return of funds from the merchant's account. The customer has 60 calendar days, starting from the date their bank statement listing the applicable charge transaction was made available to them, to return any electronic ACH debit item erroneously posted to their bank account. The customer's financial institution can request the return of funds for up to 120 days after posting to the customer account.

While you have legal grounds to require payment from a customer through other means, once an ACH debit transaction (for example, an eCheck transaction) is returned by a bank for reasons classified as a chargeback, you cannot initiate another electronic ACH debit transaction to the customer's bank account for the same eCheck transaction. Your options are limited to requesting payment by some other means from the customer or commencing legal proceedings to force payment.

Do I get a notification of returned items? (NSF, Rejected, etc.)

You are notified of returned items via email on the daily eCheck settlement report. Returned items are also viewable in the Reports section of the Merchant Interface. You are not notified of rejected transactions via email or API. The settlement amount will be less than the submitted amount. You need to view the settlement batch for the date in question and see which transactions were rejected.

What does review failed mean and how do I find transactions that have failed review?

"Review failed" means the transaction was not successfully processed. "Review failed" often happens on refund transactions where there are not enough funds available in your eCheck Settlement Statement to cover the amount requested to be refunded. Transactions will also fail review when they contain customer and/or bank account information sanctioned by OFAC.

If you have transactions that were rejected, you can view your review failed transaction by:

1. Sign in to the Merchant Interface.
2. Click Transaction Search from the main toolbar.
3. Select the date range.
4. Select Failed Review as the Transaction Status.
5. Click Search.

This will show all review failed transactions during the date range you selected.

How do I find returns?

To find returns, please take the following steps:

1. Sign in to the Merchant Interface.
2. Click Returns from the menu on the left.
3. Choose how you want to search (Returns by Settlement Date, Batch Date or Transaction ID).
4. For Returns by Settlement Date, choose Settled or Unsettled. If Settled, choose a date or date range and click Run Report.
5. For Returns by Batch Date, choose a date or date range and click Run Report. You can also enter transaction information that will narrow the search fields.
6. For Returns by Transaction ID, enter the Transaction ID and click Run Report.

There are several eCheck return reports in the Merchant Interface, including the following:

• Returns by Settlement Date – Use this report to look up all returned items and chargebacks that were settled on a certain date or within a date range.
• Returns by Batch Date – Use this report to look up all returned items and chargebacks received for original transactions in a certain batch or for all original transactions included in multiple batches within a date range.
• Returns by Transaction ID – This report lists all returned items and chargebacks associated with a specified transaction.

To access the reports, please take the following steps:

1. Sign in to the Merchant Interface.
2. Click Reports at the top of the page
3. Click the Returns link on the left side of the page
4. Select the report you would like to use to look up returns (described in the list above)
5. Select or enter the necessary report criteria
6. Click Run Report.

You may click any transaction ID in the report results to view the original transaction's details.

What are eCheck return codes?

Below is a list of eCheck return codes, their type, and description:

Code	Return Type	Description
R01	Insufficient Funds (NSF)	The customer's available balance is not sufficient to cover the dollar value of the charge.
R02	Administrative Return	A previously active account has been closed by the customer.
R03	Administrative Return	The account number passes digit validation, but does not correspond to the individual identified in the entry, or the account number designated is not an open account and has not been open in the past.
R04	Administrative Return	The account number is not valid. The transaction may have failed the digit validation or may contain an incorrect number of digits.
R05	Administrative Return	A CCD debit entry was transmitted to a consumer account and was not authorized by the consumer.
R06	Administrative Return	The ODFI has requested that the customer's bank return the eCheck transaction.
R07	Chargeback	The customer has revoked the authorization provided to the merchant for this particular transaction. The customer must provide his or her bank with an executed “Written Statement Under Penalty of Perjury” that the authorization for the charge entry has been revoked by the customer.
R08	Chargeback	The customer stopped payment on the transaction.
R09	Insufficient Funds (NSF)	Sufficient balance exists to satisfy the amount of the transaction, but the value of transactions in the process of collection (in other words, uncollected checks) brings the available balance below the amount of the charge.
R10	Chargeback	For WEB, TEL and PPD entries to consumer accounts, the customer has notified his or her bank that the merchant was not authorized to charge his or her account for a particular transaction. The customer must provide his or her bank with a “Written Statement Under Penalty of Perjury” that the charge was not authorized by the customer. A charge was not authorized by the customer if: 1) The customer did not authorize the merchant to initiate the charge to the customer's bank account; 2) The authorization was not in writing and signed or similarly authenticated by the customer; 3) For TEL and PPD entries the customer was not notified with the authorization that the customer may revoke the authorization by notifying the merchant as specified; 4) The charge was initiated in an amount greater than that authorized by the customer; or, 5) The charge was initiated before than the customer authorization was received. An unauthorized charge does not include a charge initiated with fraudulent intent by the customer or any person acting in concert with the customer. This code applies to entries to personal bank accounts only.
R12	Administrative Return	The customer's account has been sold to another depository financial institution (DFI) and the original bank no longer maintains the account and is unable to post the transaction.
R13	Administrative Return	The customer's bank is not qualified to participate or the routing number provided is not valid. (This return code is not used when Authorize.Net rejects a transaction for invalid routing numbers.)
R14	Administrative Return	The representative payee is a person or institution authorized to accept entries on behalf of one or more other persons, such as legally incapacitated adults or minor children. The representative payee is either deceased or unable to continue in that capacity. The beneficiary is not deceased.
R15	Administrative Return	The beneficiary is deceased. The beneficiary may or may not be the customer; or, The customer (acting in a non-representative payee capacity) is an owner of the account and is deceased.
R16	Administrative Return	The funds in the account are unavailable due to specific action taken by the customer's bank or by legal action.
R17	Administrative Return	The customer's bank cannot process the entry.
R20	Administrative Return	The transaction destined for a non-transaction account, as defined in Federal Regulation D, included either an account against which transactions are prohibited or limited, or a pass-through where the entry is for a credit union or thrift organization and Federal Regulation E descriptive requirements cannot be met.
R23	Administrative Return	A minimum amount required by the customer has not been remitted; The exact amount required has not been remitted; The account is subject to litigation and the customer will not accept the transaction; Acceptance of the transaction results in an overpayment; The merchant is not known by the customer; or, The customer has not authorized this refund entry to this account.
R24	Administrative Return	The customer's bank has received what appears to be a duplicate transaction; for example, the trace number, date, amount and/or other data matches another transaction.
R29	Chargeback	The corporate customer has notified his or her bank that a specific transaction has not been authorized by the customer.
R30	Administrative Return	The customer's bank does not participate in the ACH Network.
R31	Administrative Return	The customer's bank has been notified that the ODFI agrees to accept a CCD return entry.
R32	Administrative Return	The customer's financial institution (the “RDFI”) is not able to settle the entry.
R34	Administrative Return	The customer's bank's participation has been limited by a federal or state supervisor.
R35	Administrative Return	ACH charge entries are not permitted to loan accounts.
R36	Administrative Return	ACH refund entries (with the exception of reversals) are not permitted for use with the WEB code
R01	Insufficient Funds (NSF)	The customer's available balance is not sufficient to cover the dollar value of the charge.
R02	Administrative Return	A previously active account has been closed by the customer.
R03	Administrative Return	The account number passes digit validation, but does not correspond to the individual identified in the entry, or the account number designated is not an open account and has not been open in the past.

For more information on eCheck please see: eCheck Operating Procedures and User Guide.

Why was my eCheck transaction returned and not declined?

eCheck transactions are not processed in real time, hence, they will not be declined due to lack of funds. Instead, the transaction is sent to the customer's bank for funding. If the bank returns the transaction without funding, a return code is sent indicating the reason for the return. You can find your returned eCheck transactions, and the reasons for their return, in the Returns report by following these steps:

1. Sign in to the Merchant Interface.
2. Click Reports from the main toolbar.
3. Click Returns from the menu on the left.
4. Select the report you would like to view. The options are:
   • Returns by Settlement Date – Use this report to look up all returned items and chargebacks that were settled on a certain date or within a date range.
   • Returns by Batch Date – Use this report to look up all returned items and chargebacks received for original transactions in a certain batch or for all original transactions included in multiple batches within a date range.
   • Returns by Transaction ID – This report lists all returned items and chargebacks associated with a specified transaction.
5. Select or enter the necessary report criteria. The criteria will depend on which report you select.
6. Click Run Report.

What is a notice of change?

A Notice of Change (NOC) is a transaction returned by the customer's bank notifying you that something on the transaction was corrected. The transaction is processed and the funds are withdrawn from the customer's bank account. Future transactions processed for that customer will need to submit the corrected data.

When eCheck transactions are submitted, the customer's bank processes them and sends the results to Authorize.net. Sometimes, the customer's bank will return a Notice Of Change (NOC) informing Authorize.net about a new account number or name on the account, etc.

While transactions contained in the Notice of Change report are successfully processed and funded, future transactions to the customer accounts that are in the NOC Report must have the updated account information. If the transaction still has the original, outdated account information, the transaction will come back with an error that states: "The given name on the account and/or the account type does not match the actual account."

The NOC Report can be viewed by taking the following steps:

1. Sign in to the Merchant Interface.
2. Click Reports at the top.
3. Click Notice of Change on the left side of the page.
4. Select a start and end date with the drop-down tabs.
5. Click Run Report. The system will display a report with all the transactions of the selected batches that have updated account information.
6. Click Download To File. A pop-up window appears
7. Click Submit.
8. Request and submit PIN for verification.
9. The Download Request Submitted window appears indicating that your request is processing. This window must remain open until your download is completed and the Download File window appears. Closing this window prematurely will cancel the download.
10. Once your file is generated, the Download File window appears prompting you to open or save the file. Click Save to save the file to your computer or click Open to open the file immediately. Note: If you open the file immediately, be sure to save it to the appropriate location on your computer or network when you have finished reviewing it.
11. If you clicked Save, the Save As window appears allowing you to select the location on your computer or network where the file should be saved. Note: The naming convention for all NOC report download files is “NOCYYYYMMDD.out.” For example, a file that is downloaded on April 27, 2006 would be named NOC20060427.out. You may use this name or enter a new name for the file.
12. Click Save. Your file is automatically saved to the location that you specified. You must navigate to that location to open the file.
13. A message window appears informing you that your download is complete. Click Close to close the window or Open to view the file.

The NOC report is downloaded as a comma delimited .out file suitable for opening in a word processor or spreadsheet program.

What is the billing reserve?

The billing reserve is a virtual account where Authorize.net holds your fees until the 1st of the month. At this time, the fees are transferred to the billing statement to cover the fees charged for the previous month's transactions.

What is a risk reserve rate and how is it determined?

The risk reserve is another virtual account where Authorize.net holds the risk reserve rate. The duration of this hold depends on the method your account is set up with.

When an eCheck application is received, it undergoes an underwriting process by our finance team. You may be assessed a risk reserve for a variety of reasons, including:

• The amount of time your company has been in business.
• The length of your business relationship with Authorize.net.
• The condition of the financial information provided.
• The condition of the personal guarantee provided.
• The type of industry your company operates in.
• Your company's transaction history with Authorize.net.

All these factors contribute to determining the risk reserve for the account.

Rolling Reserve

In a rolling reserve, Authorize.net will deduct your risk reserve rate (a specified percentage) and hold it for a specified number of days. After the holding period is over, the funds are released to your eCheck settlement statement. For example, if you ran a $10.00 transaction on 10/01/07 and your reserve rate is 15%, we would transfer $1.50 (15% of $10) into your risk reserve statement. If your holding period is 90 days, we would release the $1.50 into your eCheck settlement statement on 01/01/08. This is an ongoing process on your account.

Fixed Reserve

In a fixed reserve, you are given a reserve rate and a target amount. The reserve rate is held indefinitely until the account is closed or when the target rate is changed.

How to add or remove eCheck transaction types?

Follow these steps to add or remove eCheck Transaction Types:

1. Sign in to the Merchant Interface.
2. Click Contact Us from the upper right corner of any page.
3. Click Support  Center under Contact Support.
4. You will be redirected to the Support Center's authenticated view.
5. Click Support Cases at the top of the Support Center.
6. Then click General support enter "Add or Remove eCheck types" in the Subject field.
7. Specify the eCheck Transaction Type you want to be added or removed and the reason for the change in the description field.
8. Click Submit.

You will receive a reply when the new eCheck type is added or removed or if further documentation or information is needed.

How to raise your eCheck processing limits?

Once your eCheck account has been activated, you may locate information regarding your eCheck monthly and transaction limits and your risk reserve by following these steps:

1. Sign in to the Merchant Interface.
2. Click Account from the main toolbar.
3. Click Merchant Profile in the main left side menu.
4. Click Risk Reserve next to Payment Methods.

Here you will be able to see your risk reserve, as well as the monthly and transaction limits applied to your account. If you need to have your limits reviewed for an increase, please do the following:

1. Sign in to the Merchant Interface.
2. Click Contact Us from the upper right corner of any page.
3. Click Support  Center under Contact Support.
4. You will be redirected to the Support Center's authenticated view.
5. Click Support Cases at the top of the Support Center.
6. Then click General support enter "eCheck Limit Increase" in the Subject field.
7. Enter the specific limit increase and a reason for the eCheck limit increase in the Description field.
8. Click Submit.

You will receive a reply when the limit is increased or if the risk team needs further documentation to validate the request. The request should include the specific amount and type of increase desired (in other words, Monthly Limit or Per-Transaction Limit). Our Risk Manager will review the request before granting a limit increase. Once the Risk Manager has completed the review of the request, they will have a reply back to you within three (3) business days. If you have not received a response in the time indicated, please create a new support case using the above process to request a status update.

Configuring the Merchant Descriptor for Customer Bank Statements

When setting up eCheck, you will encounter a field on the application form that requests a 10-character abbreviation of your company name. This abbreviation will appear on your customers' bank statements for each eCheck transaction. If you need to update this descriptor, you can contact us with your preferred 10-character descriptor.

If you need to change the descriptor after your eCheck application has been approved, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to the Merchant Interface.
2. Click Contact Us from the upper right corner of any page.
3. Click Support  Center under Contact Support.
4. You will be redirected to the Support Center's authenticated view.
5. Click Support Cases at the top of the Support Center.
6. Then click General support. enter "eCheck descriptor" in the Subject field.
7. Request a new eCheck descriptor in the Description field.
8. Click Submit.

You will receive a reply when the descriptor has been updated or if the risk team needs further documentation to validate the request.

When you receive an eCheck deposit, the descriptor will appear on your bank statement as follows:

eCheck FUNDING XXXXX[last 4 of bank account] [Name on Bank Account]

For example: eCheck FUNDING XXXXX1234 JOES WIDGET STORE

Reviewing and Updating eCheck Deposit Information

To verify or change your bank account information for eCheck deposits, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to the Merchant Interface.
2. Select Account from the main toolbar.
3. Click Billing Information in the main left side menu.
4. Review the bank account information currently on file. If changes are necessary, click 'Edit' above your Bank Account Information.
5. Provide your complete bank account information and click 'Submit'.
6. Click I Authorize.
7. Request and enter PIN for verification to complete the update/change.

Note: If your account's billing method is set to a bank account, all Authorize.net billing and eCheck deposits will use that bank account as well.

eCheck is an online payment method that allows merchants to collect funds from a customer's bank account electronically.

To investigate funding deposits for eCheck transactions, please check your Risk Reserve profile first:

1. Sign in to the Merchant Interface.
2. Select Account from the main toolbar.
3. Click Merchant Profile from the main left side menu.
4. Select Risk Reserve on the right of the Payment Methods section.

Cancelling eCheck Service

To cancel your eCheck service, please follow these steps:

1. Sign in to the Merchant Interface.
2. Click Contact Us from the upper right corner of any page.
3. Click Support  Center under Contact Support.
4. You will be redirected to the Support Center's authenticated view.
5. Click Support Cases at the top of the Support Center.
6. Then click General support enter "Cancel eCheck" in the Subject field.
7. Enter a cancellation request for eCheck in the Description field.
8. Click Submit.

You will receive a reply when eCheck has been cancelled. Closing your eCheck service will not affect any credit card gateway services you might be using through Authorize.net.

Using eCheck FAQs

• Is there a maximum amount that can be held in the eCheck funding account?
  • There is no maximum and will depend on the risk and reserve needed for each account.
• What steps do I need to take to have the funding hold removed?
  • To remove the funding hold for your eCheck account please contact Client Services, who will then have your account reviewed by the eCheck risk department.
• Can I use eCheck without having a merchant account?
  • Yes eCheck can be used without a merchant account. You can sign up for an eCheck only account and later add a merchant account and processor to it if you want to accept Credit Cards.
• Can the holding period be reduced?
  • It is possible the funding hold period can be reduced based on your accounts history. For consideration please contact Client Services, who will then have your account reviewed by the eCheck risk department. 
• Are there any additional fees for declined eCheck transactions?
  • There are no additional fees for declined eCheck transactions, normal transaction fees would apply.