Electronic Payments Network

The Electronic Payments Network (EPN) is a privately-owned automated clearinghouse (ACH) system.

The EPN facilitates electronic bank-to-bank fund transfers — such as social security benefits, payroll, dividend deposits, loan payments, and tax refunds — between consumers, merchants and financial institutions. It’s owned by the Clearing House Payments Company, which is itself owned by 22 of the country’s largest financial institutions. And, the EPN is one of two clearinghouse operators in the United States, the other being the Federal Reserve’s FedNow system.

Like FedNow, the EPN supports both debit and credit ACH payments. But, the EPN pioneered substantial upgrades to the nation’s ACH payments system, such as the switch to a fully-electronic network.

An EPN payment occurs when a sending party (the “originator”) submits an ACH entry to their Originating Depository Financial Institution (ODFI). The ODFI routes those details to the EPN, which in turn sorts and routes the transaction to the correct Receiving Depository Financial Institution (RDFI). The RDFI then credits the funds to the recipient’s account.

Transactions processed by the EPN typically take one to three business days to settle. The National Automated Clearinghouse Association (NACHA), which governs the country’s ACH network, estimates that “...approximately 80% of ACH Network volume settles in one banking day — or less.”