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ACH return R39

Improper Source Document / Source Document Presented for Payment

Category: Check conversion & RCK Initiated by: RDFI

Applies to (SEC scope)

ARC, BOC, POP

camt.053 mapping

Not mapped

Reinitiation

Not applicable to this code

Nacha's definition

RDFI determines that: (1) the source document used for an ARC, BOC, or POP Entry to its Receiver's account is improper, or (2) an ARC, BOC, or POP Entry and the source document to which the Entry relates have been presented for payment and posted to the Receiver's account.

Verbatim from Nacha — ISO 20022 Guide to Mapping U.S. ACH Return Items and Notifications of Change, August 2023, Version 2.01 (Table 1, return reason codes) (return reason code table). Applies to: ARC, BOC, POP.

How it appears in an ISO 20022 statement

Nacha's mapping guide marks this code as not currently supported or mapped for camt.053 (footnote 1): it applies to Standard Entry Class codes or flows the guide does not cover, so it has no published ISO 20022 reason-code mapping.

Return time frame

Nacha's R10/R11 rule page describes R39 as a 2-day return, in contrast with R37's 60-day extended return.

Source: Nacha — rule page 'Differentiating Unauthorized Return Reasons' (R10 / R11; effective 1 April 2020 and 1 April 2021)

Can the entry be reinitiated?

Nacha's reinitiation rule governs resubmission of returned debit entries; it does not arise for this code. See the definition and the operator note for what the return means and who acts on it.

Source: Nacha — rule page 'ACH Network Risk and Enforcement Topics' (unauthorized return rate threshold; reinitiation of entries)

What an operator does next

The source document was ineligible, or both the entry and the check were presented. Refund any second payment; review eligibility screening for check conversion.

PaymentBrief guidance, not Nacha text. Your ODFI's procedures and the current Nacha Operating Rules govern.

Where this comes up on PaymentBrief

Direct debit explained: ACH, SEPA, Bacs and eGIRO

Where ACH debit returns sit in the mandate and collection lifecycle, and how the return-rate thresholds bear on your ODFI relationship.
Confidence: high. Status: verified. The Nacha Operating Rules govern. Nacha sells them and they were not used here; every statement above is taken from a public Nacha document or a public US Treasury or Federal Reserve document, named per statement. Where those documents are silent, this card says so of those documents — it is not a claim about everything Nacha has published.

Sources for this code

Related codes

R37

Source Document Presented for Payment

R38

Stop Payment on Source Document

R50

State Law Affecting RCK Acceptance

R51

Item related to RCK Entry is Ineligible or RCK Entry is Improper
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