Nacha operating rules answered in three cited sentences, with the R10 return deadline dated on the Federal Reserve calendar
Cited answers in seconds, and the actual deadline on a calendar, before a return is late.
See one case, screen by screen ↓Nacha & Payment Rules Search answers questions about the Nacha operating rules, Fedwire, FedNow, SWIFT and your own payments procedures in two or three plain sentences, each claim footnoted to the passage it rests on. Agents ask the one or two facts that change the answer, read them from the core banking system and the ACH processing platform, and date the deadline on a calendar that skips weekends and Federal Reserve holidays. When sources disagree, they refuse and route the question to your Payments Compliance Officer.
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A question about the Nacha operating rules rarely stays inside the Nacha rulebook. A member says a debit that settled seven weeks ago was never authorized: can the credit union still return it, and by when? The answer sits in the current Nacha edition, which changes every year and again mid-year, beside Regulation J, UCC Article 4A, the Fedwire and FedNow operating circulars, SWIFT's guidelines and the credit union's own payments procedures, each on its own edition. Staff ask a colleague or a payments association helpline, and count days on a desk calendar that may not show Federal Reserve holidays.
The cost shows up later. A day counted wrong becomes a late return the originating bank may refuse, and the loss stays with the credit union. A procedure that fell behind the rules becomes a late recall: a wire procedure still names a service message Fedwire retired when it moved to ISO 20022 in July 2025. And when the annual ACH rules compliance audit or the NCUA examiner asks what was answered, from which source, there is no record.
Estimated split for one question an ACH specialist is unsure of, by hand and with the solution. Waiting for a colleague or a helpline to call back is left out; by hand it often adds hours.
Seven agents answer, cite and count the deadline; a checking agent refuses when sources disagree, and the Payments Compliance Officer approves every edition and change.
Norrell Federal Credit Union, $6.8 billion and 520,000 members, on Thursday, October 22, 2026. About 120 payments and member services staff ask around 900 questions about the Nacha rules, Fedwire, FedNow, SWIFT and Norrell's procedures a month. At 10:41 AM, Keoni Brannigan in ACH operations has a member's dispute and a question he is not sure of.
A member at the Fenmore branch told Sunniva Ochoa that a $386.40 PPD debit from Kestrel Vale Home Plans, which settled Monday, August 31, was never authorized. Sunniva handed it to ACH operations. Keoni types: "A member says a debit that settled August 31 was unauthorized. Can we still return it?" The question box shows the rulebooks in force before he asks.
The question agent finds nothing personal to remove and classifies it Nacha, ACH returns, receiving bank. The answer agent searches the Nacha Operating Rules 2026 edition, Regulation E and Norrell's procedure ACH-RT-03. The checking agent matches all four claims to their passages, confirms every edition is in force on August 31, and scores 0.94.
"Yes. A consumer can still have it returned as R10 (originator not known or not authorized) once she signs a Written Statement of Unauthorized Debit."
Each claim carries a chip: Nacha 3.8, Nacha 3.12, App. 4, ACH-RT-03 §2.4. Keoni opens Nacha 3.8, timing of extended return entries. The words the answer rests on are highlighted, with the edition, the note that it is in force on the date asked, and who approved it for the agents: Imogen Thackeray, on January 9, 2026.
"Approved Jan 9, 2026 by Imogen Thackeray · a summary of the licensed rule text"
The agent asks only what changes the deadline, and pre-fills both: a consumer share draft account from the core banking system, and the August 31 settlement from the ACH processing platform. Day 60 is Friday, October 30, so the return must reach the originating bank by opening of business Monday, November 2. Today is day 52: 8 calendar days, 6 banking days left. If Keoni reviews the statement today, the statement clock ends at the opening of Friday, October 30.
"Holidays in the window: Labor Day (Mon Sep 7), Columbus Day (Mon Oct 12)."
To be sure, Keoni marks the account as business. The answer changes to R29, whose two-banking-day window closed on Wednesday, September 2. A late return by agreement, R31, is only for CCD and CTX entries, and this one is PPD. The core banking system says consumer, so the R10 answer stands.
Keoni clicks Hand the R10 return to ACH operations. Case CM-26-04418 opens in case management with the statement sent to the member's digital banking for e-signature and the return entry drafted from the ACH processing platform. The member signs at 10:52 AM; Keoni reviews the statement, which starts the statement clock, and prepares the return.
Keoni cannot release a return he prepared. Ondine Petrakis releases it into the 4:00 PM ET return file, ahead of both limits. The member's Regulation E claim goes on to deposit operations.
The agents drafted the entry. They never release a return, send a wire message or recredit a member.
Dariela Yusupova in the wire room asked how to recall a $48,500 wire sent to the wrong account. Norrell's WIR-04 §6, version 9, reviewed March 2024, says to send a legacy-format service message; Fedwire's ISO 20022 formats, in force since July 14, 2025, use a camt.056 request, a camt.029 answer and a pacs.004 return. The checking agent refused the message step, showed both passages and what both agree on, and routed the question as RQ-0175 on a 30-minute wire clock.
What is safe to do now: call the receiving bank's wire room and log it. Do not send a legacy-format message.
Imogen's queue holds 6 questions, RQ-0175 first with 11 minutes left. Each says why it came to her: sources disagree, an edition out of date, the agents below the 0.85 confidence threshold, or a routing rule such as an unauthorized wire over $100,000, which escalated at 75% of its clock. A question touching a report to FinCEN shows only that it is restricted to the BSA Officer.
Lachlan Wexley drafted CHG-26-014 on October 21: WIR-04 §6, version 10, with the camt.056, camt.029 and pacs.004 steps. The edition agent found what depends on it. Imogen reads the old version beside the new and approves; the 4 questions refused on §6 since October 19 are answered again, their askers told, and lesson L-42 for new wire staff is unblocked.
The same morning, seen by the four people it passes through: what their day looked like, and what it looks like now.
Seven agents answer, cite and count the deadline; a checking agent refuses when sources disagree, and the Payments Compliance Officer approves every edition and change.
Reads the question, removes member names, account, card and phone numbers before it is saved, classifies the rail (ACH, Fedwire, FedNow, SWIFT or procedure), the credit union's role and the topic, and spots restricted topics.
Searches the editions in force on the date that matters and the credit union's procedures, and writes two or three sentences in plain words, every claim footnoted to its passage.
Asks the one or two facts that change the deadline, pre-fills them from the core banking system and the ACH processing platform, counts calendar and banking days on the approved Federal Reserve holiday calendar, and layers the credit union's 4:00 PM ET file cutoff on top.
Matches every claim to its passage, checks each edition is in force on the date, compares procedure with rule and scores its confidence.
Opens the case in case management with the member's statement for e-signature, the return entry drafted in the ACH processing platform, and the deadline.
Watches the issuers for new editions and amendments, loads them with their effective dates, compares old and new, and finds the answers, procedures and lessons that depend on a change.
Groups repeated questions, especially from staff in their first 90 days, and drafts four-minute lessons and quizzes from the questions they actually asked.
Approves every edition, procedure change and reusable answer; never their own. The agents propose; a named person decides.
Ask in plain words, or say what to prepare. Every answer cites its passage, and the assistant opens the screen it is talking about.
Why R10 and not R11 for Keoni's member?
Because she says she never authorized Kestrel Vale Home Plans at all. R10 is for an originator the member does not know or never authorized; R11 is for a debit from a company she did authorize, but not as agreed, such as the wrong amount or date. Both need her signed statement, and both use the extended timeframe: by the opening of Monday, November 2, and within six banking days of reviewing her statement.
What changes when the wire recall procedure is approved?
CHG-26-014 replaces the retired legacy-format message in WIR-04 §6 with a camt.056 request, a camt.029 answer and a pacs.004 return. When Imogen Thackeray approves it, the 4 questions refused on §6 since October 19 are answered again and their askers told, RQ-0175 gets the corrected step, and lesson L-42 is unblocked. Lachlan Wexley drafted it, so he cannot approve it.
What are new ACH staff asking most?
The 9 people in their first 90 days asked 202 of October's 652 questions. The top repeat is R10 or R11: 23 times by 9 people this quarter. The training agent built lesson L-41 from those questions, with five quiz questions, for Bram Hollins to approve.
Prepare the pack for the annual Nacha audit
The pack for June 1 to October 22 holds 4,274 questions with their answers, sources, editions and confidence; the 175 routed questions and who answered them; every edition load and procedure change with maker and checker; every return released with its preparer and releaser; and overrides and flags with reason codes. Restricted questions stay out unless the BSA Officer adds them. The 2026 audit is due by December 31.
13 screens from the working solution, on its sample data. Pick one to see it large.
What the credit union configures. The Systems Administrator proposes a change and the Payments Compliance Officer approves it before it takes effect.
| Setting | Default | Choose from |
|---|---|---|
| Answer confidence threshold | 0.85 | A slider from 0.70 to 0.95; between 0.70 and the threshold the question goes to compliance with a draft, below 0.70 there is no answer |
| Editions the agents may use | From the effective date, once approved | Use only from the effective date · use only after the Payments Compliance Officer approves · refuse when a procedure is older than a rule it depends on |
| Issuer source refresh | Daily at 6:00 AM ET | On or off; lower confidence on a source whose refresh failed |
| Wire room questions | 30 minutes, before the 6:00 PM ET cutoff | Escalate at 75% of the clock, to the officer's phone |
| ACH, member and other questions | 4 business hours · 1 business day | Escalate at 75% of the clock |
| Always routed | Unauthorized wires over $100,000 · any question about a report to FinCEN | To the Payments Compliance Officer · to the BSA Officer only |
| Calendar and cutoffs | Federal Reserve holidays by year · return file 4:00 PM ET · wire 6:00 PM ET | Each year's schedule approved before use; Saturday holidays not observed |
| Retention | Six years · BSA-related items five years | Questions, answers and sources for the Nacha audit · 31 CFR 1010.430 for BSA items |
Every figure is labelled: a target the solution is built to, an estimate, a typical published result, or a proven one.
“demo” = seen in the working solution, on its sample questions, returns and wires · “target” = the design goal, measured in the live solution · “estimated” = our estimate for one hard rule question at the demo credit union · “typical” = published figures and rules (Nacha, 2025 ACH Network volume: 35.2 billion payments worth $93 trillion; the Nacha Operating Rules on the extended return timeframe and the October 1, 2024 amendment on the statement clock; the Federal Reserve holiday schedule; Federal Reserve Financial Services on Fedwire's move to ISO 20022 on July 14, 2025; 31 CFR 1010.430 on BSA record retention). Rule passages in the working solution are summaries, because the Nacha rulebook text is licensed. People, the credit union, companies, banks and account references named on this page are fictional: characters and sample data in the working solution.
Nacha & Payment Rules Search answers questions about the Nacha operating rules, Fedwire, FedNow, SWIFT and your own payments procedures in two or three plain sentences, each claim footnoted to the passage it rests on. Agents ask the one or two facts that change the answer, read them from the core banking system and the ACH processing platform, and date the deadline on a calendar that skips weekends and Federal Reserve holidays. When sources disagree, they refuse and route the question to your Payments Compliance Officer.
For a consumer account, an R10 or R11 return under the extended timeframe must reach the originating bank by opening of business on the banking day after the 60th calendar day from settlement. Since October 1, 2024 it must also arrive by the opening of the sixth banking day after you finish reviewing the member's signed statement. The calculation agent counts both clocks on the approved Federal Reserve holiday calendar, shows the counting day by day and puts your file cutoff on top; the earlier date wins.
R10 is for a debit from an originator the member does not know or never authorized; R11 is for a debit from a company the member did authorize, but not as agreed, such as the wrong amount or date. Both need a signed written statement of unauthorized debit and use the extended timeframe. On a business account the answer changes: R29, with two banking days, and the agents say so when you switch the account type.
The checking agent refuses to answer the step in question. It shows the two passages side by side, says what both sources agree on and what is safe to do now, and routes the question to the Payments Compliance Officer with a clock set by the payment's cutoff, 30 minutes for the wire room. When a procedure change is approved, the questions refused on that section are answered again and their askers told.
Yes. The library holds the Nacha Operating Rules 2026 edition with its March and June 2026 amendments, Regulation J, UCC Article 4A, Regulation E, the Fedwire operating circular and ISO 20022 formats, the FedNow operating procedures, SWIFT CBPR+ usage guidelines and your own procedures. Each source has its edition, effective date, approver and status, and an answer uses only the editions in force on the date that matters.
It keeps the record the audit asks for. Every question, answer, source, edition, confidence score, routing, override and released return is on the audit trail with who, when, why and the evidence, kept six years, and BSA-related items five. One click builds an export pack for the annual Nacha Rules Compliance Audit, NCUA examiners, internal audit or the Supervisory Committee; restricted questions stay out unless the BSA Officer adds them.
Yes. The agents read, cite, count, draft and refuse; they never release a return, send a wire message or a notice, recredit a member or approve anything. A senior specialist releases returns someone else prepared, and the Payments Compliance Officer approves every edition, procedure change, reusable answer and setting. Overrides carry a reason code, from O1 rule misread to O4 newer guidance.
The Agentic Solution Engine builds and deploys it from your requirements and your documents: your procedures, your cutoffs, your approvers, routing clocks and roles, connected to your ACH processing platform, core banking system and case management. It goes live once every quality gate has passed.
Wire inquiries answered in hours, not days, with every liability reply checked.
1-min demoPayment RepairEvery failed payment fixed with its proof, checked by a second person, before the cutoff.
1-min demoACH Returns & NOC ManagementEvery return inside its window, and every originator caught before it crosses a level.
1-min demoWe'll run Nacha & Payment Rules Search on your own procedures and the rule questions your payments staff ask.