What is an ACH debit?

An ACH debit is a pull: the originator takes funds from the receiver’s bank account. Rent, subscriptions, and loan collections are debits. The receiver must have authorized the pull. Returns for NSF, revoked authorization, and wrong account numbers are common and can arrive days after you credited the wallet.

How does an ACH debit work?

The customer gives you an account and a mandate. Your bank files a debit. The receiving bank takes the money if the account allows it. You usually credit the wallet when you originate, then wait. If the debit returns, you must take the wallet back down.

ACH debit vs ACH credit

A debit depends on someone else’s balance. A credit depends on yours. Treat an originated debit as unsettled until the return window you chose to wait, or until you have enough history to price the risk. Do not let that wallet pay out the full amount on day one unless you mean to take NSF risk.

What do you hold?

Hold the credited amount inflight, or hold a portion you cannot yet trust. A full credit plus an instant payout is how debit-return losses happen.

How it works with Blnk

The source is @WorldUSD_ACH. The destination is the customer wallet. Keep it inflight until you accept the return risk.

await blnk.Transactions.create({
  precise_amount: 25000,
  precision: 100,
  reference: 'ach_debit_20260816_001',
  currency: 'USD',
  source: '@WorldUSD_ACH',
  destination: 'customer_wallet_id',
  description: 'ACH debit collection',
  inflight: true,
  meta_data: {
    rail: 'ach',
    direction: 'debit',
    sec_code: 'WEB',
    customer_id: 'cus_8f21a4',
  },
});