Metadata driven methods and systems utilized to process financial data include a method to generate a plurality of first acquirer dependent software components based on a first acquirer settlement metadata file that corresponds to a first acquirer. The first acquirer dependent software components are used to generate an acquirer settlement file based on financial data. The acquirer settlement file is communicated to the first acquirer that is included in an automatic clearing house system that processes the financial data. In addition, the metadata driven methods and systems utilized to process financial data include a method to generate a plurality of first acquirer dependent software components based on a first acquirer return metadata file that corresponds to a first acquirer. The first acquirer dependent software components are used to process an acquirer return file that is received from the first acquirer and includes financial data. The first acquirer is included in an automatic clearing house system.