REMINDER: ACE Portal Access and ACH Set-Up Required to Receive CBP Refunds

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Feb. 6 transitioned to electronic-only refunds, as announced in the Electronic Refunds Interim Final Rule published Jan. 2 in the Federal Register (91 FR 21). This change was necessitated by 31 U.S.C. § 3332 and President Trump’s March 25, 2025, Executive Order 14247, Modernizing Payments To and From America's Bank Account, 90 FR 14001. 

Since Feb. 6, CBP has had over 12,300 certified refunds rejected because the recipient party did not provide CBP the necessary banking information. If a refund recipient has failed to provide CBP valid U.S. bank account information in the ACE Secure Data Portal (ACE Portal), CBP is unable to deliver electronic refunds to that recipient. 

CBP said importers and other parties who have had entry summaries liquidate since Feb. 6, 2026, and have not yet provided the agency the necessary banking information to effectuate ACH refunds need to follow the instructions in the following ACH refund enrollment resources: 

·     One Page Overview: ACH Refund Enrollment Overview

·     FAQs: ACE Portal Updates to Enable Electronic Refund Enrollment 

·     Information Notice: ACE Portal Updates to Enable Electronic Refund Enrollment 

·     Information Notice: Automated ACE Portal Application for Importer Accounts

·     Information Notice: ACE Portal Feature for Trade Users to Add Notify Parties 

·     Training Guide: ACE Portal Importer Account Application 

·     Training Guide: ACH Refund Enrollment in the ACE Portal 

·     Training Video: ACH Refund Enrollment in the ACE Portal 

·     Training Guide: ACE Portal Feature to Add Notify Parties 

·     Training Guide: ACE Refund Report 

·     Rejected ACH Refund Information: Replacement Refund Instructions  

For technical questions, contact the ACE Account Services Desk at ace.support@cbp.dhs.gov, while general inquiries can be directed to CBP’s Office of Trade Relations at traderelations@cbp.dhs.gov.

For further questions or discussion, please contact your South East World Wide (Chicago), Ltd. Sales Representative.