In 2025 businesses and individuals need fast, secure, low-cost ways to move money, and two options dominate the conversation: ACH and EFT. The terms get used interchangeably, but they are not the same thing.
What EFT and ACH actually mean
EFT (electronic funds transfer) is the umbrella term for any electronic movement of money between bank accounts. ACH (Automated Clearing House) is one type of EFT - it processes payments in batches through a specialized network, which cuts costs for banks and end users. Think of EFT as the whole delivery system and ACH as one truck that waits until it has a batch of packages heading the same way, then delivers them together: cheaper, if a little slower.
EFT also covers wire transfers, debit card transactions and peer-to-peer transfers like Zelle, PayPal and Venmo.
How ACH works and what it costs
- A person or business initiates a payment through their bank or processor.
- The sending bank submits it into the ACH network.
- Transactions are grouped and processed in batches.
- Funds land in the receiving account - standard ACH takes 2-3 business days, same-day ACH within 24 hours.
ACH is cheap: roughly $0.20 to $1 per transfer (about 0.5% to 1%), versus $10-$30 for a domestic wire. It runs under NACHA rules with multi-layer encryption, which is why it handles payroll, benefits and IRS refunds. In Q2 2025 the ACH network processed 8.7 billion transactions worth $23.3 trillion.
Which one to choose
For a one-off that has to move now, like a property closing, a wire beats ACH. For repetitive domestic payments such as payroll, rent or subscriptions, ACH wins on cost. For international payments you need a global EFT method like SWIFT, SEPA or a wire service.
Whichever rail you use, card acceptance still costs merchants roughly 3% or more per transaction. Cashswipe's model lets business owners pass that fee to the customer legally, and the people who place and service those processing accounts earn a small cut of every transaction as residual income.