An ACH return is a transaction that has been rejected by the receiving bank. This can happen for a variety of reasons, such as insufficient funds or invalid account information. When an ACH return occurs, the funds are returned to the sender's account (in 1-3 business days), and there will be a Return Code associated. Below you will find an explanation of the various codes and what the next steps may be.
Key Terms
These terms are used in the context of ACH transactions and refer to the financial institutions involved in the transaction.
- ODFI - Originating Depository Financial Institution
- RDFI - Receiving Depository Financial Institution
Most common ACH return codes
| Code | Description | Detail | Solution |
| R01 | Insufficient Funds | Available balance in account is not enough to cover debit entry value | Retry transaction |
| R02 | Account Closed | Previously active account was closed by customer | Contact customer for payment details from different bank account |
| R03 | No Account/Unable to Locate Account | Account number is valid but does not match individual identified in entry or account is not open | Contact customer to confirm account number, routing number, and exact name. Make changes and submit new payment if information differs from initial entry |
| R04 | Invalid Account Number | Structure of account number is not valid | Reach out to customer for correct account number |
| R05 | Unauthorized Debit to Consumer Account Using Corporate SEC Code | Debit entry was transmitted to a consumer account, but the receiving member has not authorized entry | Contact customer to resolve issues leading to disputed payment |
| R06 | Returned per ODFI's Request | ODFI requested RDFI to return ACH entry | Reach out to ODFI |
| R07 | Authorization Revoked by Customer | Customer who authorized ACH payment has revoked authorization | Suspend any scheduled recurring payments. Contact customer and confirm why payment authorization was revoked. Customer can remove block on transactions or debit a different account |
| R08 | Payment Stopped | Receiver of recurring debit transaction has placed stop payment order | Get in touch with customer to solve issues that may have caused transaction to be stopped |
| R09 | Uncollected Funds | Sufficient ledger balance to satisfy transaction dollar value, but available balance is below this dollar value. Can occur with uncollected checks | Retry transaction up to two times within 30 days of original payment authorization date |
| R10 | Customer Advises Unauthorized, Improper, Ineligible, or Part of an Incomplete Transaction | Receiver notified RDFI that entry is unauthorized, improper, ineligible, or part of an incomplete transaction | Suspend any recurring payments. Contact customer and resolve issues resulting in payment being disputed |
Less common ACH return codes
Most of the ACH return codes that you will come across will fall into the table above. Here are some of the less common ACH return codes that may also occur:
- R11 – Check Truncation Entry Return
- R12 – Branch sold to another DFI
- R13 – Invalid ACH routing number
- R14 – Representative payee deceased or unable to continue in that capacity
- R15 – Beneficiary or account holder deceased
- R16 – Account frozen/entry returned per OFAC instruction
- R17 – File record edit criteria
- R18 – Improper effective entry date
- R19 – Amount field error
- R20 – Non-Transaction account
- R21 – Invalid company identification
- R22 – Invalid individual ID number
- R23 – Credit entry refused by the receiver
- R24 – Duplicate entry
- R25 – Addenda error
- R26 – Mandatory field error
- R27 – Trace number error
- R28 – Routing number check digit error
- R29 – Corporate customer advises not authorized
- R30 – RDFI not a participant in check truncation program
- R31 – Permissible return entry
- R32 – RDFI non-settlement
- R33 – Return of XCK entry
- R34 – Limited participation DFI
- R35 – Return of improper debit entry
- R36 – Return of improper credit entry
- R37 – Source document presented for payment
- R38 – Stop payment on source document
- R39 – Improper source document or source document presented for payment
- R40 – Return of ENR entry by Federal Government Agency
- R41 – Invalid transaction code
- R42 – Routing number or check digit error
- R43 – Invalid DFI account number
- R44 – Invalid individual id number or identification number
- R45 – Invalid individual name or company name
- R46 – Invalid representative payee indicator
- R47 – Duplicate enrollment
- R50 – State law affecting RCK acceptance
- R51 – Item related to RCK entry is ineligible or RCK entry is improper
- R52 – Stop payment on item related to RCK entry
- R53 – Item and RCK entry presented for payment
- R61 – Misrouted return
- R68 – Untimely return
- R69 – Field errors(s)
- R70 – Permissible return entry not accepted or return not requested by ODFI
- R71 – Misrouted dishonored return
- R72 – Untimely dishonored return
- R73 – Timely original return