Automated Clearing House (ACH)

The ACH is a session-based clearing system for processing inter-bank Direct Credits and Cheque Imaging and Truncation. The system clears low value transactions in batches and submits it for settlement in the Maldives Real-Time Gross Settlement (MRTGS) System operated by the MMA.

The Direct Credit services of ACH, which commenced its operations in 2012, facilitates processing payments below MVR 100,000 and USD 5,000. This system also supports the efficient processing of bulk interbank payments such as salary transfers.

With the implementation of Cheque Imaging and Truncation in 2016, the banks now exchange cheque images and data through the ACH for clearing the cheques. This has increased the efficiency of the clearing process and enables funds to be credited to customers’ accounts faster than the manual process.