A C/H accounting credit adjustment on your bank statement is money added to your account through the Automated Clearing House network to correct or finalize an earlier transaction. “C/H” is the bank’s shorthand for Clearing House, and “credit adjustment” means the entry is fixing or completing something rather than recording brand-new money coming in. Most of these entries are legitimate: a merchant refund, a reversed payment, a fee the bank took back, or a temporary credit tied to a dispute you filed.
What C/H Actually Stands For
In most banks, C/H refers to the Clearing House, meaning the ACH network. ACH is the nationwide system that moves electronic payments between banks in batches: direct deposits, bill payments, tax refunds, and merchant refunds all travel through it.1Federal Reserve Board. Automated Clearinghouse Services
A few institutions use C/H internally to mean Cash/House, labeling transactions handled inside the bank’s own accounts rather than through an outside network. The distinction matters more for the bank’s bookkeeping than for you. Either way, “credit adjustment” tells you the same thing: your balance went up because of a correction or a completed process, not a fresh deposit.
Why It Says “Adjustment” Instead of “Deposit”
A regular deposit records new money arriving: a paycheck, a transfer from a friend, cash at the ATM. A credit adjustment modifies an existing record. The bank is saying your balance should have been higher, and it’s fixing the ledger. That’s why automated systems flag adjustments separately from deposits, so corrections don’t get double-counted as income.
One thing to watch: not every credit adjustment is permanent. If you disputed a charge, your bank may have posted a provisional credit while it investigates. Regulation E requires the bank to give you that provisional credit if the investigation stretches past 10 business days, and you get full use of the funds during the review.2eCFR. 12 CFR 1005.11 – Procedures for Resolving Errors But if the bank later decides the original charge was valid, it can pull that credit back out. Until you get written confirmation that a dispute is closed in your favor, treat dispute-related credits as temporary.
Common Reasons the Entry Appears
Most C/H credit adjustments fall into a small number of buckets. Matching yours to one of these usually tells you whether to follow up or move on.
- A merchant processed a refund through the ACH network. This is the single most common reason.
- An earlier electronic payment failed and the funds are being restored.
- The bank found an internal error, such as a misapplied deposit or an incorrect fee, and corrected it.
- The bank recalculated interest owed to you or reversed a fee it shouldn’t have charged.
- You reported an unauthorized or incorrect charge and the bank issued a provisional dispute credit.
- Your employer’s payroll processor corrected a previous underpayment through ACH.
ACH Return Codes You Might See
When the adjustment stems from a returned or reversed ACH payment, the transaction details often include a short alphanumeric code that explains why the original transaction bounced. A few of the ones you’re most likely to run into:
- R01, Insufficient Funds. The originating account didn’t have enough money.
- R02, Account Closed.
- R03, No Account. The bank couldn’t find an account matching the information.
- R07, Authorization Revoked by the account holder.
- R08, Payment Stopped by a stop-payment order.
- R10, Customer Advises Not Authorized.
- R24, Duplicate Entry.
Expand the transaction inside your bank’s app or online portal to see whether one of these codes is attached. If it is, that alone often answers your question.
How to Track Down Your Specific Adjustment
Start in your online banking portal. Most C/H credit adjustments carry a transaction ID or a merchant code in the expanded transaction view, and that identifier links back to whatever triggered the credit. Compare the amount and date against recent refunds you’re expecting, disputes you filed, or payments that didn’t go through.
If the online details aren’t enough, call the bank with the exact amount and date in hand. Those two data points are the fastest route to the underlying record. Some banks charge a research fee for older transactions, so ask about cost upfront if the entry is more than a statement cycle or two old.
You can also go to the other side of the transaction. If the credit looks like it came from an employer, a merchant, or a government agency, their records will show whether they sent a refund, correction, or payment through the ACH network.3Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Is an ACH Transaction?
What to Do If the Adjustment Looks Wrong
If the credit doesn’t match anything you can explain, or if you think an adjustment is missing or the wrong amount, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and Regulation E give you a clear path.
Filing a Notice of Error
To trigger the bank’s legal duty to investigate, send a notice of error that includes your name, account number, and a description of the problem with the approximate date and amount. You have 60 days from the date the bank sent the statement showing the entry. After 60 days, the bank’s obligations narrow sharply.2eCFR. 12 CFR 1005.11 – Procedures for Resolving Errors
The bank has 10 business days to investigate. If it needs more time, it can take up to 45 days, but only if it provisionally credits your account within the initial 10 business days and lets you use the funds. If it confirms an error, it must correct the account within one business day.
Liability If It Involves an Unauthorized Transfer
When the adjustment is tied to an unauthorized transaction, how fast you report the problem sets how much you can be stuck paying:
- Reported within 2 business days of learning of the loss: maximum liability of $50.
- Reported after 2 business days but within 60 days of the statement: maximum liability of $500.
- Reported more than 60 days after the statement: potentially full liability for unauthorized transfers that happen after the 60-day window closes.
The unlimited exposure after 60 days is the real reason to open statements when they arrive.4eCFR. 12 CFR 1005.6 – Liability of Consumer for Unauthorized Transfers
If the Bank Won’t Fix It
You can file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB forwards it to the bank, which generally has 15 days to respond, or up to 60 days in complex cases. You then have 60 days to review the response and push back.5Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Learn How the Complaint Process Works Complaints go through the CFPB website or by calling (855) 411-2372 on weekdays.
Is a Credit Adjustment Taxable?
It depends on what the money represents. A correction that puts your own funds back where they belong is not income. If the bank pulled $200 in error and credits it back, you’re getting your own money returned.
Interest is different. If the adjustment is added interest the bank owed you, that’s taxable, and banks report interest payments of $10 or more on Form 1099-INT even when the payment arrives labeled as an adjustment.6Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Forms 1099-INT and 1099-OID
Promotional credits or goodwill payments (the kind a bank offers to smooth over a service problem) can also be reportable as miscellaneous income above IRS thresholds. If a credit adjustment doesn’t clearly match a refund or an error correction, keep a note of it and check your year-end tax forms from the bank before filing.7Internal Revenue Service. Publication 525 – Taxable and Nontaxable Income