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BACH

Bank ACH in the Bahamas means the Bahamas Automated Clearing House (BACH), the system the commercial banks set up in 2010 to clear payments between each other. A transfer from your bank's online banking to someone at a different Bahamian bank goes through it, and so do salary direct credits, direct debits and cheques. It handles only Bahamian dollars, inside the Bahamas, and each payment must be under B$150,000. In June 2026 banks charged from nothing to $5.50 for an online transfer to another bank.
Country Bahamas (BS)
What it is Interbank automated clearing house for retail payments in Bahamian dollars (B$)
Operator The Bahamas Automated Clearing House Limited, owned by the Clearing Banks Association; the central bank settles it
Banks Bank of The Bahamas, Citibank, Commonwealth Bank, Fidelity, FirstCaribbean (CIBC), RBC, Scotiabank
Since 2010
Cost Online bank-to-bank transfer: free to $5.50 (June 2026)
Typical limit Under B$150,000 per payment
Reaches Bahamian bank accounts and Sand Dollar wallets; no cross-border payments
Code on paper? No. You pay an account number at a bank and branch code

How the ACH came to the Bahamas

  • 2004: the central bank started the Bahamas Interbank Settlement System for large payments between banks. It then pushed for a bank-owned ACH for small retail payments, which started in 2010 [1].
  • 2010–2013: at first the ACH passed cheque information between banks and carried direct credits that let companies pay salaries electronically. By April 2013 it handled "well over one million" electronic payments a year, about $8 billion in value, and cleared cheques in one and a half to two days [2].
  • Online transfers to other banks. In December 2012 online banking could pay only accounts at your own bank. The central bank's plan for "Customer Initiated Transactions" through the ACH was meant to change that [3]. In 2013 the ACH said it would add them that year, but Commonwealth Bank warned that not all banks were ready [2]. By June 2026 six banks listed a bank-to-bank transfer among their internet-banking services [4].
  • July 2013: the government dropped the stamp tax on Bahamian-dollar electronic transfers and debits. Cash withdrawals and cheques still attract it [1].
  • 2022: all banks moved to a new ACH message format that says more clearly who sent a payment. Cleared cheques had fallen by an average of 7.5% a year since 2011, while electronic payments grew at double-digit rates [5].
  • March 2022: Sand Dollar wallets were connected to the ACH, so their holders could send money to a bank account [6]. By April 2023 every bank's online banking could send money to a Sand Dollar wallet [7].

How to use it

  1. Log in to your bank's online banking and choose a transfer to another local bank. You need the receiver's account number and the amount. The receiving bank then credits the account through the ACH [2].
  2. Bank and branch codes: each participating bank has an ACH bank code. For example, Bank of The Bahamas is 001, Commonwealth Bank 021, Citibank 265, and the central bank 100 [8].
  3. Timing: ACH transfers are settled on business days, not around the clock. Sand Dollar transfers through the ACH went through between 8:30am and 4:30pm, Monday to Friday, in 2022 [6]. Direct debits settle the business day after they are submitted [8].
  4. Receive: a credit lands in your account by the settlement date, and your bank doesn't have to notify you [8].

Who can use it: anyone with an account at a participating bank. Each direct participant must be a licensed commercial bank in the settlement system or a payment provider licensed by the central bank. As of the 2018 rules, there were no indirect participants [8].

Limits and fees

Limit: each payment must be under B$150,000, a ceiling set by the central bank. A bank may set a lower one [8].

Fees for an internet-banking transfer, as the banks reported them to the central bank at 30 June 2026 (taxes included) [4]:

Bank Bank-to-bank transfer Between your own accounts, same bank
Bank of The Bahamas $1.10 by ACH ($5.50 by RTGS) Free
Commonwealth Bank $2.75 standard, $5.50 urgent Free
Fidelity Bank (Bahamas) Free Free
CIBC Caribbean Bank (Bahamas) $5.50 Free
RBC Royal Bank (Bahamas) $1.10 Free
Scotiabank (Bahamas) Free Free

Scotiabank also charges $33 to investigate a wire or ACH payment [4]. RTGS is the central bank's real-time gross settlement system for large-value payments between banks [1]. Limits change; check your bank's current terms.

Paying shops and businesses

  • Payroll: direct credits for salaries were one of the ACH's first uses. In 2012 its electronic transactions grew 30–40%, helped by more companies paying salaries this way [2].
  • Bills: the ACH rules define customer-initiated entries as payments a customer starts to pay a company or person, such as utility bills [8].
  • Fewer cheques: cheques worth $3.8 billion were still cleared in 2024, though their value fell 1.9% that year. In December 2025 the central bank proposed two caps: cheques cashed over the counter limited to $1,000, and any transaction paid by cheque limited to $10,000. Both would take effect by 31 December 2026 at the latest [9]. Those payments are meant to move to electronic transfers.

Paying across borders

The ACH carries Bahamian-dollar payments within the Bahamas only [8]. To send money abroad you use a wire transfer. Outgoing wires cost, for example, $22–$220 at Bank of The Bahamas and $68.75–$100.38 at Commonwealth Bank (June 2026) [4].

What's coming: in April 2024 the central bank committed to a real-time fast payments network for wallets and bank accounts. It also wants the Bahamas ready for the G20's 2027 targets for cheaper, faster international payments [10]. In March 2026 it chose Montran to build a Fast Payment System. It is due by the first quarter of 2027, will run 24 hours a day every day, and will work with the ACH, the real-time settlement system and Sand Dollar [11]. A first study and participant workshop ran on 15–24 July 2026 [12]. No cross-border links have been announced for it.

Is there an ACH payment code in the Bahamas?

No. An ACH payment goes to an account number at a bank and branch code [8]. No scannable code carries it, and we found no published standard for a payment code printed on Bahamian bills or invoices. The QR code you are likely to see at a Bahamian till is a Sand Dollar wallet code, the only payment QR we found in national use: residents pay retailers through QR codes linked to digital wallets [14]. Its format is not published either; see the Sand Dollar standard. We found nothing in the Bahamas like Europe's bank-transfer EPC QR code.

The central bank warns about fake ads and AI "deepfake" videos impersonating its governor. It says legitimate payments to it go only through local commercial banks, on channels the bank can verify. It also says links found on social media should never be used to reach a bank's website [13].

  • Type your bank's address yourself or use its app; don't follow a link to it.
  • An ACH transfer is a payment you send. Nobody legitimate needs you to send money to "unlock" a prize or an investment.
  • Report attempts to the Royal Bahamas Police Force and to the platform where you saw them [13].

Bank ACH and the alternatives in the Bahamas

Way to pay Best for Notes
ACH transfer Salaries, bills, rent, transfers between banks Under B$150,000; free to $5.50; business days only
RTGS / urgent transfer Large or same-day payments $5.50 by RTGS at Bank of The Bahamas, $5.50 "urgent" at Commonwealth (June 2026) [4]
Sand Dollar wallet Small payments, people without bank accounts QR or custom name; linked to banks through the ACH
Island Pay Was a wallet with a prepaid card Platform shut down in 2025
Cheque Being phased down Proposed $10,000 cap by end-2026 [9]

Sources

  1. Sand Dollar (Central Bank of The Bahamas), "History Sand Dollar - Bahamas", read 19 Oct 2026. https://www.sanddollar.bs/history
  2. The Tribune, "Clearing House targets 2m transactions in 2013", 24 Apr 2013. https://tribune242.com/news/2013/apr/24/clearing-house-targets-2m-transactions-in-2013
  3. The Tribune, "'SWITCH' turn on target for 2013", 18 Dec 2012. https://tribune242.com/news/2012/dec/18/switch-turn-target-2013
  4. Central Bank of The Bahamas, "Commercial Bank Fees Schedule (Basic Fees) as at June 2026". https://cdn.centralbankbahamas.com/tenantcbob_prod/assets/documents/Commercial-Bank-Fee-Schedule-June-2026-1791301649-mtsp6w.pdf
  5. The Tribune, "Cheque volumes fall 7.5% annually over past decade", 14 Jul 2022. https://www.tribune242.com/comments/cr/124/104196
  6. Eyewitness News, "Central Bank integrates Sand Dollar with Bahamas Automated Clearing House", 3 Mar 2022. https://ewnews.com/central-bank-integrates-sand-dollar-with-bahamas-automated-clearing-house
  7. Central Bank of The Bahamas, "Press Release: Public Update on The Bahamas Digital Currency SandDollar", 3 Apr 2023. https://www.centralbankbahamas.com/news/press-releases/press-release-public-update-on-the-bahamas-digital-currency-sanddollar-1
  8. RBC Royal Bank (Bahamas), "Detailed ACH Rules - Automated Direct Credits/Direct Debits - Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT/ACH Services)", 2018. https://www.rbcroyalbank.com/caribbean/bahamas/docs/bah-ach-rules-electronic-funds-transfer.pdf
  9. The Tribune, "'Happy medium': Maximum cheque value limits unveiled", 9 Dec 2025. https://www.tribune242.com/news/2025/dec/09/happy-medium-maximum-cheque-value-limits-unveiled
  10. Eyewitness News, "CENTRAL BANK: "Steady progress" being made toward cheque usage reduction goal", 24 Apr 2024. https://ewnews.com/central-bank-steady-progress-being-made-toward-cheque-usage-reduction-goal
  11. Central Bank of The Bahamas, "Montran Corporation Selected to Provide The Bahamas' Fast Payment System Solution", Mar 2026. https://www.centralbankbahamas.com/news/press-releases/montran-corporation-selected-to-provide-the-bahamas-fast-payment-system-solution
  12. Central Bank of The Bahamas, "Press Release: Initial Fast Payment System Study & Participant Workshop", Jul 2026. https://www.centralbankbahamas.com/news/press-releases/press-release-fast-payment-systems-solution-initial-study
  13. Central Bank of The Bahamas, "Press Release: Continued Public Advisory on Investment Scams", read 19 Oct 2026. https://www.centralbankbahamas.com/news/press-releases/press-release-continued-public-advisory-on-investment-scams
  14. SAIL Magazine, "Cruising: Paying with Sand Dollars", 1 Jun 2021. https://sailmagazine.com/cruising/cruising-paying-with-sand-dollars/

Researched 19 October 2026. Limits and bank fees change; the banks' own pages are authoritative.

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