If your bank or credit union has an item to return, wouldn’t you want it out the door ASAP? It can be done. Returns can go right out using same day processing windows. But that capability is being underutilized, and misconceptions appear to be a major reason why.

A 2024 Nacha Request for Information asked Receiving Depository Financial Institutions (RDFIs) if they use same-day windows for any returns. Only 59% said yes. And of those, 45% use same day for fewer than half of their returns. That’s where the misconceptions come in. 

The recent “Nacha Operations Bulletin #1-2025, Same-Day Processing of ACH Returns by RDFIs” debunked these myths:

• An entry can’t be returned in a same-day window unless it came in by Same Day ACH. Fact: Same-day windows can be used to return any transaction, whether it arrived by Same Day ACH or standard ACH.
• The Same Day Entry Fee has to be paid to return an entry the same day. Fact: The fee doesn’t apply to returns.
• A financial institution must wait until the Settlement Date of the original transaction to transmit a Return Entry. Fact: The Nacha Rules do not require an RDFI to wait until the Settlement Date.

Beyond the misconceptions, some RDFIs told Nacha that their vendor or processor doesn’t support the use of same-day processing windows for returns. If that’s the situation your bank or credit union finds itself in, Nacha encourages asking your processor to enable the capability.

Faster returns are good for both RDFIs and Originating Depository Financial Institutions (ODFIs). As the Bulletin notes, “RDFIs can experience a liquidity benefit and a reduction in operational risk from the faster return of ACH debits, while ODFIs and their Originators can benefit from receiving any ACH return as soon as possible in order to take appropriate actions.”

For more detailed information, please see “ACH Operations Bulletin #1-2025, Same-Day Processing of ACH Returns by RDFIs” on Nacha.org.