Accredited ACH Professional (AAP) Practice Exam

What must an RDFI verify when receiving a prenotification?

1. Account number is a valid account number

2. Receiver's name matches the bank account

3. The initial transaction was successful

4. The balance of the account is sufficient

The correct answer is: Account number is a valid account number

When receiving a prenotification, an RDFI (Receiving Depository Financial Institution) must confirm that the account number is a valid account number. A prenotification is a zero-dollar transaction initiated by the originating institution to alert the RDFI of an upcoming ACH transaction. Verifying the validity of the account number is essential because it ensures that the account exists, minimizing errors in future transactions. Although confirming the receiver's name matches the bank account and checking whether the initial transaction was successful could be important for general account management or fraud prevention, those specific verifications are not required solely for a prenotification. The balance of the account also does not need to be verified at this stage since the prenotification itself does not involve transferring funds. Instead, the primary focus is to ensure that the account number linked to the receiver is valid and correctly recognized by the RDFI.