An automatic funds transfer is a transfer of money that a bank carries out on its own, on dates or under conditions the customer has set in advance. It may move money between the customer's own accounts, for example a fixed sum from a checking account into a savings account each payday, or pay an outside party such as a lender or insurer. When the transfer pays a bill or a company on a schedule it is a form of recurring payment, explained in full in the Recurring Payments entry.
Banks use several names for the same idea, including automatic transfer, scheduled transfer and, for payments to others, preauthorised payment. Where the customer's bank pushes a fixed amount out, the arrangement works like a standing order; where the company receiving the money pulls it, it is closer to a direct debit.
Some banks also offer transfers triggered by a balance rather than a date, such as moving surplus cash out of an operating account each night, a service businesses know as a sweep account.