What is an ACH transfer?
An electronic bank-to-bank transfer processed through the Automated Clearing House network.
ACH is the system that moves most electronic money in the US. Direct deposits, bill payments, and bank-to-bank transfers all run on it. If you've ever had a paycheck deposited or paid a bill online, that was almost certainly an ACH transfer.
For bank bonuses, ACH comes up in two main ways.
The first is direct deposit requirements. Whether a transfer counts as a qualifying direct deposit usually depends on how the ACH transaction is coded, not where the money actually came from. Payroll providers send transfers with a specific code that flags them as direct deposits. A manual transfer from your other bank account uses a different code, and often won't qualify.
The second is that some banks count ACH pushes and pulls differently. A push is when you send money from the originating bank. A pull is when the receiving bank reaches out and grabs it. Some bonus requirements specify one or the other, so it's worth knowing which direction your transfer is going. For a breakdown of specific ACH methods that work at popular banks, see what counts as direct deposit at Chase.
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