How ACH works: A developer perspective (2014) • Hacker News Board

Re: How ACH works: A developer perspective (2014)

#101

Post by EpicEng » Fri, Aug 25, 2017, 5:05 AM UTC

joshribakoff wrote: post #97

dcow wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know why everyone thinks they need an API to reimplement (poorly) basic unix functionality that's been around be for years.

No. I'm referring to an API to query data in realtime instead of batching the entire freaking database and then having out dated snapshot of the data

>Because it didn't work in FileZilla, they didn't want to use it

Sounds like they didn't need much if any of what you did. They wanted X and you gave them Y. Y would require them to change the way they worked. Did they need query capability? Seems like they didn't and SFTP would have suited them better.

Honestly sounds to me like you went for an overly complex solution where something simple would have done just fine.

Re: How ACH works: A developer perspective (2014)

#102

Post by dmlittle » Fri, Aug 25, 2017, 5:05 AM UTC

marktangotango wrote: post #19

joshribakoff wrote: post #6

I had an integrator request this so I stood up a nodeJS server that only implements upload, not download. This way if they leaked their own password, a malicious actor is limited to forging data, and no real data can be leaked. Because it didn't work in FileZilla, they didn't want to use it. Worked at another company that shuffled data between big name gyms & health insurance companies, it also used CSV files sent ov…

Funnily, you're complaining about csv formatting, guess you never worked with ACH formatting. It's cobol fixed length files. I implemented parsing/creation for this file format at two different companies. Hired on at one company, first day, my manager said, "hey, you have experience with ACH right? we have this project...". That's when you learn to start leaving stuff off your resume.

Every time someone complains about file formats I bring up a similar story. It's hard to believe fixed width files are still being used today. Parsing these kind of files with 45 million records, each 600+ bytes is a huge pain. I chuckle when I think about the first time I dealt with these files and thought I could open them in an editor...

Re: How ACH works: A developer perspective (2014)

#103

Post by pg_is_a_butt » Fri, Aug 25, 2017, 5:07 AM UTC

sixdimensional wrote: post #88

HillRat wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, ACH is surprisingly not-unpleasant, at least relative to nightmares like X12 EDI with its implicit looping constructs and billions of companion guides that supercede random parts of the base spec.

X12 EDI, been there earned the badge, both on the generating and receiving sides. 837, 834, 835 and others in health care - fun! Positional format, with situational meaning... really it is a fascinating format.

i wrote the X12 EDI stuff for a major clearwater distributor... also wrote the ACH stuff that dumped someone a file and their job was to upload it via SFTP to the bank. so many badges.

Re: How ACH works: A developer perspective (2014)

#104

Post by kalleboo » Fri, Aug 25, 2017, 5:09 AM UTC

derefr wrote: post #9

A good story on ACH: http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?story... They mention that other regions' inter-bank money-transfer systems (e.g. the EU's) have been sped up to be same-day, or in some cases nearly instantaneous. The US ACH system lags behind, due to the sheer number of institutions that would be involved in a modernization effort. (There are a lot more US banks than there are UK/French/Ca…

The NPR story touches on the real reason it won't be upgraded - because it would cannibalize the $30/transaction revenue banks get from wire transfers.

Re: How ACH works: A developer perspective (2014)

#105

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Aug 25, 2017, 5:12 AM UTC

colejohnson66 wrote: post #54

posguy wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ACH needs to die. Its a very old system, and you have no clue if a transfer ever actually goes through. Only ACH rejects ever get sent back, and there isn't a definitive window in which you'll get that reject.

Wait. ACH doesn’t even tell the sender if it succeeded??!

[deleted]

Re: How ACH works: A developer perspective (2014)

#106

Post by josu » Fri, Aug 25, 2017, 5:17 AM UTC

jackgavigan wrote: post #42

The UK's Faster Payments system does same day (often less than an hour) inter-bank transfers for up to £250,000. http://www.fasterpayments.org.uk/about-us/how-faster-payment...

Mexico allows to transfer money between bank accounts in seconds: http://www.banxico.org.mx/sistemas-de-pago/servicios/sistema...

Re: How ACH works: A developer perspective (2014)

#107

Post by meta_AU » Fri, Aug 25, 2017, 5:27 AM UTC

The entire Australian energy market communicates with XML over FTP. Electricity meter data is CSV in XML over FTP.

Sometimes simple just works.

Re: How ACH works: A developer perspective (2014)

#108

Post by jonssons » Fri, Aug 25, 2017, 5:34 AM UTC

meta_AU wrote: post #107

The entire Australian energy market communicates with XML over FTP. Electricity meter data is CSV in XML over FTP. Sometimes simple just works.

FTP, not SFTP? I'd increase the bill of my neighbours I don't like a bit.

Re: How ACH works: A developer perspective (2014)

#109

Post by geon » Fri, Aug 25, 2017, 5:36 AM UTC

geomark wrote: post #99

djsumdog wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My first job in 2005 was to take over an ACH processing system that was written for our company. It was all in Perl. :-P ACH format is super weird .. tons of lines with 99999 on them as separators. And yes, we had to go through a bank to do any ACH transactions. They shipped us a router that setup an IPSec tunnel and it had a backup ISDN connection on it as well. I wish ACH was more accessible. In many other countrie…

As an American expat living in a developing country it seems very weird to me how backwards the US ACH system is. Where I live now it's the same as the countries you mentioned, anyone can send money to your bank account using just the account number. And it appears in minutes. The banks even offer you an SMS alert when founds arrive and the sender can elect to send an SMS to alert the receiver to check their account…

Swish in Sweden?

Re: How ACH works: A developer perspective (2014)

#110

Post by 20after4 » Fri, Aug 25, 2017, 5:36 AM UTC

sixdimensional wrote: post #88

HillRat wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, ACH is surprisingly not-unpleasant, at least relative to nightmares like X12 EDI with its implicit looping constructs and billions of companion guides that supercede random parts of the base spec.

X12 EDI, been there earned the badge, both on the generating and receiving sides. 837, 834, 835 and others in health care - fun! Positional format, with situational meaning... really it is a fascinating format.

Don't you mean nightmare format?