How to Set Up ACH Refund Enrollment in ACE Portal

TL;DR – Without ACH enrollment, CBP cannot deposit your refund and the payment will be rejected. Navigate to your Importer sub-account in ACE Portal → ACH Refund Authorization tab → enter your bank details. As of late March 2026, only 8.1% of affected importers (26,664 out of 330,566) had completed this step. Do it before your CAPE Declaration is accepted.

Why ACH Enrollment Is Critical

CBP issues IEEPA refunds electronically through ACH – the standard bank transfer network. If your ACH enrollment is not active when CBP processes your refund, the payment is rejected at the point of delivery. Your CAPE Declaration was accepted, your entries were reliquidated, CBP generated the payment – and then nothing arrived because there was no bank account to send it to.

As of March 26, 2026, only 8.1% of the 330,566 affected importers (26,664 IORs) had completed electronic refund enrollment – even though those importers represented 78% of impacted entries by duty value. CBP's REV-613 report was already capturing rejected payment attempts from importers whose bank details were missing or incorrect.

This is the most commonly skipped step in the CAPE process. Do it before you submit your Declaration.

Who Needs to Enroll

You need ACH enrollment if:

You are the IOR and want CBP to pay the refund directly to your bank account
You are a customs broker designated as refund recipient via CBP Form 4811

You may not need it if:

Your broker is the designated refund recipient and handles ACH enrollment on their own ACE account
Check with your broker to confirm who is enrolled and which account the payment will go to

Step-by-Step: Enroll in ACE Portal

Step 1 – Log in and navigate to your Importer sub-account

Sign in to ACE Portal at ace.cbp.dhs.gov. Switch to your Importer sub-account view – ACH enrollment is not accessible from a top-level or broker account view. If you don't have an Importer sub-account yet, see the ACE Portal Setup Guide.

Step 2 – Open the ACH Refund Authorization tab

Inside your Importer sub-account, look for the ACH Refund Authorization tab in the navigation. This is where bank details are stored for electronic refund payments.

Step 3 – Enter your bank details

Add your bank routing number and account number. CBP accepts both business and personal checking accounts, though a business account in the name of the importing entity is standard practice.

Double-check the routing and account numbers before saving – an error here will cause your refund to be rejected even if enrollment shows as complete.

If Your Payment Was Already Rejected

If CBP attempted to issue your refund but the payment was rejected because ACH enrollment was missing or incorrect, the rejection will appear in the REV-613 report in ACE Portal. This report tracks ACH-rejected refund payments specifically.

To recover a rejected payment:

Enroll in ACH or correct your bank details in the ACH Refund Authorization tab. Then follow CBP's Replacement Refund Instructions – the process for reissuing a payment that was previously rejected. Contact frn-achrefundsupport@cbp.dhs.gov if you have questions about a specific rejected payment.

Monitoring Your Refund Status

ACE Portal has dedicated reports for tracking refund status:

REV-603 (Trade Refund report) – shows successfully issued refund payments. Run this periodically after submitting your CAPE Declaration to see if a payment has been generated.

REV-613 – shows payments rejected due to missing ACH enrollment. If you see entries here, your bank details need to be corrected before CBP will reissue.

REV-615 (Trade CAPE Detail Refund Report) – new as of April 20, 2026. Provides consolidated CAPE refund information plus entry-level detail. This is the primary report for tracking CAPE-specific refund status.

To run these reports, navigate to the Reports section in ACE Portal under your Importer sub-account view and search by report name.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I change my ACH details after enrolling? Yes. You can update your routing and account numbers in the ACH Refund Authorization tab at any time. If you update them after a payment has already been issued but before it posts, contact frn-achrefundsupport@cbp.dhs.gov to ensure the update takes effect for your pending payment.

What if I don't have a US bank account? CBP's ACH system requires a US bank account. Foreign entities acting as IOR without a US bank account face an unresolved barrier as of April 2026 – CBP has not published a solution. Contact IEEPARefunds@cbp.dhs.gov for the latest guidance on this situation.

My broker is receiving the refund – does the broker need ACH enrollment? Yes. If your broker is designated as the refund recipient via CBP Form 4811, the ACH enrollment needs to be active on the broker's ACE account for the broker's bank account – not yours. Confirm with your broker that their ACH enrollment is set up before your Declaration is accepted.

How long after enrollment until CBP can pay me? ACH enrollment takes effect immediately – there's no waiting period after you enter your bank details. The delay between enrollment and receiving payment is entirely on CBP's processing side: entries liquidate approximately 45 days after Declaration acceptance, and the payment arrives within 60–90 days. Enrollment itself is not a bottleneck.