What is an ACH transfer?

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, what counts as direct deposit at SoFi, what counts as direct deposit at Wells Fargo, what counts as direct deposit at Huntington, what counts as direct deposit at U.S. Bank, what counts as direct deposit at Capital One, what counts as direct deposit at PNC Bank, and what counts as direct deposit at Bank of America. For a comprehensive cross-bank guide, see the complete guide to what counts as a direct deposit for bank bonuses.