Electronic Funds Transfer And Clearing Networks

Electronic funds transfer and clearing network terms describe bank and payment infrastructure that sends payment instructions, routes transaction data, clears entries, or supports settlement between institutions. This branch explains EFT, EPN, Nacha, SWIFT, ISO 20022, interbank networks, electronic settlement, EFTPOS, and straight-through processing.

Use these pages when a payment record, bank file, settlement report, payment message, merchant checkout record, or reconciliation issue depends on the rail or message standard. The key question is whether the term controls the payment instruction, network route, settlement timing, data format, or operational control.

What This Branch Covers

Decision Lens

Start by separating instruction, clearing, settlement, posting, and messaging. A network may move payment data, govern rules, clear entries, or support settlement, but those roles are not always the same.

Evaluation Checklist

• Identify the payment rail, sender, receiver, financial institutions, message type, and settlement date.
• Check whether the term is a network, rule body, message standard, settlement process, or automation method.
• Separate bank posting from interbank clearing and final settlement.
• Review return windows, reversals, cutoffs, fees, fraud signals, sanctions screening, and reconciliation evidence.
• Use current network and institution records when timing, liability, or compliance matters.

Common Mistakes

• Treating SWIFT as the same thing as settlement.
• Assuming EFT identifies one single payment rail.
• Confusing message formatting with the legal effect of payment finality.
• Ignoring cutoffs, returns, and settlement timing when reconciling electronic payments.

In this section

Choose a subsection first. Deeper term pages live inside each subsection, which keeps large topic hubs readable.