Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) Registration

Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) Registration is the process by which a contractor provides its banking information -- specifically its financial institution's ABA routing number and its bank account number -- within its SAM.gov entity record so that the federal government can pay invoices by direct deposit rather than by paper check. FAR 52.232-33 requires contractors to maintain current EFT information in SAM.gov and mandates that the government use EFT as the standard payment method for contract payments.

What is EFT Registration?

FAR Subpart 32.11 and the associated clause FAR 52.232-33 (Payment by Electronic Funds Transfer -- System for Award Management) establish EFT as the default payment mechanism for federal contracts. When a contractor submits an invoice through Wide Area Workflow (WAWF) or another approved invoicing system, the payment is routed to the bank account on file in the contractor's SAM.gov record. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), Treasury's Bureau of the Fiscal Service, and individual agency payment offices all rely on the SAM.gov EFT data to process disbursements.

The EFT section of a SAM.gov registration requires the contractor to enter its financial institution name, ABA routing transit number, and either a checking or savings account number. The contractor also designates which bank account type is registered. This information is associated with the entity's UEI and TIN and is used by Treasury's payment systems to generate ACH transactions.

When a contractor's banking information changes -- such as after switching financial institutions, opening a new account, or closing an existing one -- the contractor must update SAM.gov before the next payment is processed. A payment sent to a closed or incorrect account will be returned by the receiving bank, creating a delay of several weeks while the payment is recalled, reprocessed, and resent to the correct account.

Why it matters for contractors

EFT payment delays caused by outdated banking information in SAM.gov are entirely preventable but extremely common. When a payment is returned due to an invalid account, Treasury places the funds in suspense, and the agency finance office must initiate a manual recovery process before reissuing the payment. Under the Prompt Payment Act (31 U.S.C. 3901-3907), the government is required to pay properly submitted invoices within 30 days (or shorter periods specified in the contract), but a returned EFT payment resets that clock and removes the government's interest penalty obligation because the payment failure is attributable to the contractor.

Contractors that change banks -- including those that undergo mergers, acquisitions, or banking relationship changes -- must prioritize updating their SAM.gov EFT information before submitting any new invoices. Waiting until a payment fails to update the banking data guarantees a multi-week delay in receiving funds.

Example

A construction firm completes a milestone on a federal facilities contract and submits a $340,000 invoice through WAWF. Unknown to its accounts receivable team, the firm had switched its primary operating account two months earlier and never updated SAM.gov. Treasury processes the EFT and sends the payment to the old account, which has been closed. The receiving bank returns the funds within two business days. Treasury places the payment in suspense. The agency finance office contacts the contractor's Electronic Business POC, who updates SAM.gov with the new account information. After verification, Treasury reprocesses the payment. The total delay is 19 calendar days -- all of which could have been prevented by a five-minute SAM.gov update at the time of the account change.