ACH Transfers: How to Receive USD Payments as a Non-US Business

ACH stands for Automated Clearing House, the network that moves most electronic batch payments between US bank accounts: payroll, supplier payments, and direct debits. It is governed by Nacha, which maintains the ACH Operating Rules.

There are two directions to know. An ACH credit pushes money into an account, which is what happens when a US client pays you. An ACH debit pulls money out, which is what happens when a biller charges you. Receiving USD as a business is therefore an ACH credit landing in an account that holds a US routing number.

Unlike a wire, which moves funds individually and in near real time, ACH groups payments into batches that clear on a set schedule. That batching is why ACH is cheaper and slightly slower than a wire.

Every ACH payment involves four parties:

1. Originator, the party sending the money, usually your US client.
2. ODFI (Originating Depository Financial Institution), that client's US bank.
3. ACH Operator, FedACH or the private EPN network, which routes the batch.
4. RDFI (Receiving Depository Financial Institution), the institution that credits the recipient.

From there, two scenarios apply.

Scenario A, you hold a US-routing account. Through Mercury, Wise, Payoneer, Relay, or Brex, the payment looks like an ordinary domestic ACH credit to your US payer, and it settles like one. This is the common path for non-US businesses.

Scenario B, the money goes to a bank outside the US. Because at least one leg now touches a financial institution outside US jurisdiction, Nacha rules require the payment to be classified as an International ACH Transaction and routed through a Gateway Operator. This is the case that adds screening and time.

In both cases the flow is the same: the payer initiates, the ODFI verifies and batches, the ACH Operator routes, and the RDFI credits the account.

Is ACH the same as a wire transfer? No. ACH moves payments in batches over the US network, cheaply and in one to three business days. A wire moves a single payment in near real time, at a higher cost, and is effectively final once settled. SWIFT is the messaging standard behind most international wires.

As an example of how wire pricing differs from ACH, Mercury lets customers send USD international wires with no Mercury fee under the standard SHA option, where intermediary banks may still deduct charges, or pay a flat fee to have those intermediary charges covered instead. Non-USD international wires there carry a one percent conversion fee. By contrast, receiving USD by ACH into the accounts below is usually free.

For modest, recurring USD payments, ACH into a US-routing account is normally the cheaper choice. For large or time-critical transfers, a wire can be worth the fee.

On the sending side, US business accounts increasingly bundle ACH at no extra cost. Brex advertises unlimited same-day ACH payments for free, Mercury states that it is free for customers to pay you by ACH, and Relay includes ten free same-day ACH payments per month on its paid Grow plan.

On the receiving side, the providers below generally let you receive ACH into a US-routing account at no cost. Payoneer is the main exception, since its receiving accounts apply either a fixed fee or a percentage fee depending on the route.

For the underlying network fees, Nacha sets per-item amounts in the Schedule of Fees inside its Operating Rules rather than publishing them openly, so any specific network fee figure should come from that source rather than an estimate.

OFAC, the US Office of Foreign Assets Control, administers and enforces US economic sanctions. The IAT format exists largely to make compliance with those sanctions workable inside the ACH network.

Responsibility is shared: the ODFI is expected to know its originator, the RDFI its recipient, and the Gateway Operator classifies the payment as an IAT and runs the sanctions screening the format is built to support. Because the IAT record carries every party's details, a receiving institution can screen the payment without chasing missing information.

If a payment matches a sanctions entry, it can be held or rejected pending review. For the specific handling of OFAC screening on IAT items, the Federal Reserve's IAT FAQ is the authoritative reference, and the US Treasury publishes its broader framework for sanctions compliance.

FedGlobal ACH Payments was the Federal Reserve's own cross-border ACH service. It once reached more than thirty countries, but the Fed wound down the Europe and Canada corridors in 2023, leaving only Mexico and Panama.

It is now being closed entirely. In November 2025 the Federal Reserve announced that FedGlobal ACH Payments to Mexico and Panama will be discontinued by the end of 2026, that the service no longer accepts new participants, and that payments to those two countries will be accepted only until late November 2026.

The takeaway is simple: FedGlobal is not a route a non-US business should plan around. The workable path for receiving USD is a US-routing account, covered next.

Non-US business covers two different situations, and they lead to different providers. The first is a US entity (an LLC or C-corp) owned by founders who live abroad: Mercury, Relay, and Brex all serve this case, because they require a US-registered business. The second is an entity incorporated entirely outside the US: here Wise and Payoneer are the realistic options, since they onboard businesses from many jurisdictions rather than US entities only.

One restriction cuts across both. Each provider blocks certain countries of residence or citizenship, and those lists change, so confirm your own eligibility against the provider's prohibited-country list before relying on it. This matters in practice: Mercury, for example, has added Nigeria to its prohibited list, so a Nigeria-based founder would be declined. Note as well that these providers are fintechs, not banks, so deposits are held at FDIC-insured partner banks rather than at the fintech itself.

Provider comparison

Mercury, US business checking and savings, fintech using partner banks (Choice Financial Group, Column N.A.). Needs a US entity. International founders accepted, except residents on Mercury's prohibited list, and a US operating presence is required. Receives ACH via US routing number. Cost to receive: free.

Wise Business, USD account details with a US routing number. Accepts businesses from many jurisdictions, including non-US entities, so it often works where a US-entity-only provider cannot. Receives ACH into USD account details. Cost to receive: free by ACH (one-off fee to set up USD account details).

Payoneer, receiving accounts in USD, EUR, GBP, and more. Broad coverage across many countries, including non-US entities. Receives ACH via virtual receiving accounts. Cost to receive: fixed fee or 1% on USD received, by route or plan.

Relay (RelayFi), US business checking, fintech using Thread Bank, Member FDIC. Needs a US entity. Owners resident in 200+ countries accepted, except a prohibited list, with a US operating presence required. Receives ACH. Plan-based cost; Grow plan includes 10 free same-day ACH per month.

Brex, US business account, Brex LLC, a subsidiary of Capital One. US-registered entities only (C-corp, S-corp, LLC, LLP). Receives ACH. Cost to receive: free, no Brex transaction fee.

If none of these will onboard your entity, the fallback is to work with a US accounting or formation provider that opens a US business account in the entity's name, which then gives you a US routing number for ACH.

For setup specifics, see our reviews of Wise Business and Payoneer. If you are not sure which provider will accept your nationality, our bank eligibility by nationality tool screens the options for you, and for a wider comparison that goes beyond ACH, see our guide to the best multi-currency business accounts. For a broader view, see our roundup of best digital banks for international businesses.

The ACH network itself does not require any tax form. The forms below come from the IRS reporting obligations of your US payer, separate from the ACH transaction mechanics.

Which IRS form applies

Form W-9 is filed by US persons and entities (US citizens, US LLCs, US corporations). It certifies the correct Taxpayer Identification Number for the payer's IRS information return.

Form W-8BEN is filed by foreign individuals receiving US-source income. It certifies foreign status as beneficial owner of the income.

Form W-8BEN-E is filed by foreign entities receiving US-source income. It certifies the entity's foreign status and documents status under IRS chapters 3 and 4.

Form W-8ECI is filed by foreign persons whose income is effectively connected with a US trade or business. It supports filing income on a US return rather than withholding at source.

Links to each form are in the sources section. If withholding applies to your situation, rely on the exact wording on the relevant IRS page rather than a rule of thumb.

Security and record keeping

ACH has its own safeguards independent of sanctions screening. Payments can be returned within defined windows using standardized return codes, and receiving institutions monitor for unauthorized or erroneous entries. For International ACH Transactions specifically, the addenda records carrying party details are part of the compliance design, not just metadata. Keeping a record of those details is a sound habit for any business receiving cross-border ACH regularly.

A few preventable errors account for most failed or delayed ACH receipts.

• Sharing an incorrect routing or account number. The most common cause of failed or returned credits. Confirm both before sending them to a payer.
• Assuming every US client can send ACH. Some only offer cards or wires.
• Mistiming a currency conversion. The rate applies when the conversion runs, not when the payment is initiated.
• Mixing business and personal accounts.
• Ignoring return notifications, which usually signal a fixable problem with the account details.

All facts and figures in this guide come from the following official sources, verified May 31, 2026.

• Nacha, International ACH Transactions: https://www.nacha.org/content/international-ach-transactions
• Nacha, Network Administration Fees: https://www.nacha.org/content/network-administration-fees
• Federal Reserve Financial Services, IAT FAQ: https://www.frbservices.org/resources/financial-services/ach/faq/iat.html
• Federal Reserve Financial Services, FedGlobal ACH Payments: https://www.frbservices.org/financial-services/ach/fedglobal
• US Treasury, OFAC Framework for Compliance Commitments: https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/126/framework_ofac_cc.pdf
• IRS, About Form W-9: https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-9
• IRS, About Form W-8BEN: https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-8-ben
• IRS, About Form W-8BEN-E: https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-8-ben-e
• IRS, About Form W-8ECI: https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-w-8-eci
• Mercury pricing: https://mercury.com/pricing
• Relay pricing: https://relayfi.com/pricing
• Payoneer fees: https://www.payoneer.com/about/fees/