Payment Acknowledgements overview

NAB Direct Link provides payment status notifications called Acknowledgements (ACK) for all payment files. Each submitted payment file will undergo validation before being processed and Acknowledgement files are generated to provide status updates.

The name of these Acknowledgement files will follow the format: <original payment filename>.<status>.ACK

Along the payment journey, certain Acknowledgements may be generated more than once.

How a payment Acknowledgement will appear

The payment status is populated into the filename of the Acknowledgement provided. For example, if an original payment file was submitted for processing labelled “TestPayment.aba”, the resulting processed Acknowledgement will be labelled “TestPayment.aba.asc.PROCESSED.ACK”.

The extension “.asc” is populated into the filename as this indicates the file is PGP encrypted by NAB.

Acknowledgement types

There are three payment Acknowledgement types.

Acknowledgement Type Reason
Info Standard Acknowledgement
Warn File has not processed and requires intervention. Generally, this is when a payment is required to be approved.
Error File has not been processed, review payment file, resolve and resubmit.

Acknowledgement statuses

There are five possible payment Acknowledgements returned by NAB Direct Link.

  Type Filename extension Description What to do
Accepted
Type
Info
Filename extension
ACCEPTED.ACK
Description
Information about the status of the Payment
What to do
No action required.
Processed
Type
Info
Filename extension
PROCESSED.ACK
Description
Confirmation of successful processing of the payment
What to do
No action required.
Rejected
Type
Error
Filename extension
REJECTED.ACK
Description
Notification of failure to process the Payment
What to do
Review the file, correct any errors, resubmit the file.
Pending
Type
Warn
Filename extension
PENDING.ACK
Description
Payment has been held and requires Intervention
What to do
The file is awaiting further action prior to processing. This may be the need to authorise a payment via NAB Connect, or held by NAB for further action.
Declined
Type
Info
Filename extension
DECLINED.ACK
Description
Notification of payment being declined
What to do
Review the file, correct any errors or limit breaches and resubmit the file.

Steps to take if you have not received an Acknowledgement

  • Some Acknowledgements are not available immediately, refer to the File type information matrix for timeframes.
  • Establish another connection to NAB Direct Link to retrieve the Acknowledgements.

Related guides

Find a missing payment or payment Acknowledgement in NAB Direct Link

See how to find missing payments or acknowledgements in NAB Direct Link.

System requirements for NAB Direct Link

See what system requirements you need to get started with NAB Direct Link.

Contact us for NAB Direct Link enquiries

Speak to someone for help with NAB Direct Link.

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