When an ACH withdrawl is posted to my bank account, is my bank required to provide info to me?

Question

I have had some ACH debits from my bank account from a company name I don't recognize. My bank tells me that they have no further information(like a PHONE NUMBER!) they can provide to me - that my only option is to file a fraud report-which will start an investigation. Meanwhile my account is overdrawn and my real bills are getting returned--while my bank is raking in 34.00 bucks a pop on my overdrafts. I'm in Illinois if that makes a difference--I plan on leaving this bank - I feel they withhold info from me that is needed to manage my account--and between the teller, the branch manager, and the corporate location they all provide me with different answers. I had always heard that ACH charges need to be accompanied by a phone number of the party debiting the account.

Answer 1

file the fraud report and close the account. All of my ACH withdrawals show who was paid and the number.

Answer 2

there needs to be some way for them to provide some info of some sort---is it a major bank or a credit union?  either one of those should help you no problems---if there is a merhant number or something, that could have the phone number in it---or is there a company name or anything?  and are you sure you didn't pay for anything online?  sometimes purchases like that will go through a 3rd party and that will be the companys name that shows up on the bank statement-----good luck

Answer 3

I'm not sure if they are required to provide information for every ACH transaction on your account, however, every US state has a Department of Banking agency (For CT it is http://www.ct.gov/dob/site/default.asp).  I'm sure you can find out via your state DOB.

Good Luck

Answer 4

They should beable to provide you with the name of the place that is taking the money... I would definitely file a complaint. And get an investigation started.  Out of curiosity.. which bank is it?  I used to live in IL and banked at National City, and that was quite possibly the worst experience of my life!!!

Answer 5

I deal with this every day at a bank and to answer your question about getting a phone number, yes, your bank should get you a phone number to the business that is withdrawing the money.  Each ACH transaction that is received by a bank has a trace number attached to it, its 15 digits in length, the first 8 digits identify the bank that originated the transaction.  Your bank can call the sending bank and ask for the phone number of the ACH originator by supplying the information in the ACH transaction that posted to your account.  

Phone numbers don't show up in all ACH transactions, its completely up to the business that originates the ACH if they want their phone number to be visible, but there is a new rule in ACH that is making businesses use a name that clearly identifies them.  My advice for you is to find a better bank that will service your needs better, I hope you get to the bottom of this.

Answer 6

Some ACH transactions don't have phone numbers attached, that has happened to me before. But if they provide you the name of the company you should be able to search for some contact info. Unfortunately, the only thing you can do is pursue the investigation of fraud. If it ends in your favor, your bank will credit you the amounts and the charges accrued for overdraft. (At least my bank does). You can also request to block any ACH transactions from that company or companies, and your bank will deny them coming through. I would withdraw as much as you can, start a new account with another bank and start paying your bills from that. Meanwhile your other bank account will be overdrawn, but you will stay above water throughout the investigation. Good luck!

EDIT : By the way, you cannot close the account until it is at a positive or zero balance, and has no pending transactions.

Answer 7

The info will appear on your next statement.

You should probably apologize to the bank when you figure out what those charges actually are, (you'll have an "Ohhh!" moment soon) the chances of it being fraud are close to zero...they would have emptied your account if it was fraudsters.

Personally I have never heard that ACH charges need to be accompanied by a phone number of the party debiting the account.