Patent ID: 8560441

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for managing a foreign payment in an international automated clearinghouse (“ACH”), comprising the steps of: creating at a domestic originating depository financial institution (“ODFI”) located in the United States an ACH item designating, in a foreign currency, a payment amount to a receiving depository financial institution located outside of the United States; interacting, via a conversion module of the ODFI, with a foreign exchange agent to determine a foreign exchange conversion rate for the foreign currency; calculating, by the conversion module, an amount of domestic currency equivalent to the foreign currency payment amount based on the determined foreign exchange conversion rate; entering, by the conversion module, at the ODFI, the calculated amount of domestic currency into the ACH item; electronically transmitting, by the ODFI, the ACH item comprising the foreign currency payment amount and the entered, calculated amount of domestic currency, from the ODFI to an ACH network for payment of the payment amount to the receiving depository institution; debiting the calculated amount of domestic currency from an account of the ODFI and crediting the calculated amount of domestic currency to an account of the foreign exchange agent; and debiting the foreign currency payment amount from the account of the foreign exchange agent and crediting the foreign currency payment amount to an account of the receiving depositing financial institution, wherein the conversion module is implemented in a computer system that comprises instructions stored in a machine-readable medium and a processor that executes the instructions, and at least one of the debited and credited amounts is varied to account for a fee or commission.