“Nacha’s Top 50 rankings of financial institution originators and receivers of ACH payments for 2021 are now available.  The Top 50 originating institutions saw total ACH volume of nearly 25 billion payments last year, an increase of 8.2% over 2020. They accounted for 92.1% of the ACH Network’s total commercial payments volume. The 2021 Top 50 receiving institutions recorded ACH volume totaling 18.2 billion payments, up 11% from 2020. They accounted for 62.6% of total ACH Network volume, which includes payments received from the federal government.”

“NACHA today increased the dollar limit for same-day ACH transactions from $100,000 to $1 million. The change was executed in collaboration with the Federal Reserve and The Clearing House, the network’s two ACH operators.”

“With momentum accelerating behind faster payments on the automated clearing house, fraud prevention is taking on a higher profile at the nation’s banks. In the latest move, Bank of America Corp. on Thursday introduced ACH Positive Pay on its CashPro mobile app. The move will let app users review and then approve or reject transaction requests any time on a smart phone or smart watch.”

“Transaction volume on EPN, the ACH network from The Clearing House, increased 9.6% in 2021, outpacing the broader ACH market as financial institution customers continued the shift to electronic payments that accelerated during the pandemic. Overall, 2021 U.S. ACH network volume increased 8.7%1 as business and consumers switched to electronic payments. During that time, EPN carried approximately 50% of overall ACH U.S. commercial volume and 55% of the volume from the 50 largest financial institutions. There are approximately 300 financial institutions processing with EPN.”

“Today, Nacha announced it named Modern Treasury as a Preferred Partner for Payment Operations. In becoming a Preferred Partner, Modern Treasury joins a select group of creators and entrepreneurs that Nacha recognizes for offering products and services aligned with Nacha’s core strategies to advance the ACH Network.”

“Marqeta (NASDAQ: MQ), the global modern card issuing platform, today announced a partnership with Plaid, a data network that powers the tools millions of people rely on to live healthier financial lives, to simplify ACH transfers, enabling customers to seamlessly and securely authenticate their bank accounts and fund their accounts to power more immediate spending.”

“Nacha announced today the addition of Webster Bank as a Nacha Direct Member. Nacha has more than 40 Direct Members, consisting of financial institutions and Payments Associations (PAs) that collectively represent nearly all financial institutions across the United States.”

“The modern ACH Network experienced significant growth in 2021, with 29.1 billion payments valued at $72.6 trillion, and Same Day ACH payment volume grew nearly 74%, new figures from Nacha show.  ACH Network payment volume was up 8.7%, or 2.3 billion, over 2020, marking the seventh consecutive year volume grew by at least 1 billion payments. The value of those payments rose 17.4%, or $10.8 trillion, making 2021 the ninth straight year to see a payment value increase of at least $1 trillion.”

“Buoyed by strong gains in the healthcare and business-to-business sectors as well as Same Day ACH payments, ACH Network payment volume grew 6.1% during the fourth quarter of 2021. There were 7.5 billion ACH payments in the final quarter of the year, 426 million more than the same time in 2020. The value of those payments, $18.9 trillion, is a 13.4% increase.”

“Advanced Fraud Solutions is now a Nacha Preferred Partner for Account Validation. In becoming a Preferred Partner, Advanced Fraud Solutions joins a select group of innovators that Nacha recognizes for offering products and services that align with Nacha’s core strategies to advance the ACH Network.”

“Today, Nacha released the following statement by President and CEO Jane Larimer on the December 2021 update to the Federal Reserve Payments Study: ‘The latest update to the Federal Reserve Payments Study highlights the importance of the fast and modern ACH Network to our nation’s payment system. In 2020, many businesses and individuals turned to the ACH Network to send and receive payments because of pandemic-related disruptions. Americans received payments seamlessly through the ACH Network even as volumes substantially grew. In 2020, there were a record 26.8 billion payments on the ACH Network, an 8.2% increase compared to 2019.'”

“Nacha’s Afinis Interoperability Standards announced today it has released two APIs to assist financial institutions’ business clients with account ownership validation and with payment initiation. Afinis is a membership-based organization that focuses on the rapid delivery of APIs and other financial services standards across the U.S. and globally. The new APIs are: Account Validation Plus Name: validates the owner of an account, as well as the accuracy of the routing and account number. Authorize to Initiate Payment: assists a business in providing information and authorization to a trading partner so the trading partner may process a payment transaction against the business’ financial account or virtual card. The API also enables the business to receive a notification when the trading partner has received the payment instructions.”

“With business-to-business (B2B) showing particularly strong growth, and healthcare claim payments setting a record, the modern ACH Network recorded a 7.7% increase in payment volume during the third quarter of 2021.  There were 7.3 billion payments on the ACH Network in the third quarter, 520 million more than a year earlier. The value of those payments, $18.1 trillion, reflects a rise of 13.8%. As it has throughout the pandemic, B2B volume continued its strong growth. There were 1.4 billion B2B payments, an increase of 18.7% from the same time in 2020.”

“Silicon Valley Bank , the bank of the world’s most innovative companies and their investors, and Plaid , a data network powering the digital financial ecosystem, today announced a partnership to allow clients to instantly authenticate bank account information with Plaid and securely generate payments via a tokenized payment solution. SVB is the first bank to provide ACH account token integration with Plaid.”

“Every day, U.S. government agencies rely on the ACH Network to distribute critical payments because it is safe, secure and reliable. While the government has a history of using Direct Deposit, the U.S. Treasury also recently turned to the ACH Network to deliver $654 billion in economic impact payments to Americans and send child tax credits to more than 30 million families. To illustrate how Direct Deposits sent through the ACH Network are vital to Americans, Nacha launched directdepositdelivers.org.”

“With Same Day ACH about to mark its fifth anniversary, new figures from Nacha show astounding growth for this faster payment method. In the second quarter of 2021, Same Day ACH payment volume was 148.7 million, an increase of 82% over the same time in 2020. Those payments transferred $250 billion, up 115% from a year earlier…Same Day ACH for credits went live on Sept. 23, 2016. Since then, Nacha, the ACH Operators and financial institutions have made enhancements every year, including adding debits, making funds available sooner, and raising the payment limit to $100,000. In March of this year, daily Same Day ACH hours were extended by two hours. Financial institutions are now able to submit Same Day ACH payments three times a day. “

“Advanced Fraud Solutions (AFS), a leading provider of payments fraud detection software, today announced TrueACH® with Account Validation — a new ACH tool that enables financial institutions to confirm account status and authorized user(s). TrueACH with Account Validation was developed in response to Nacha’s WEB Debit Account Validation Rule, which requires financial institutions to apply a “commercially reasonable fraud detection system” to validate that an account is open and accepts ACH entries.”

“Robust growth continued for the modern ACH Network in the second quarter of 2021. Payment volume climbed 9.9%, with particularly strong growth in business-to-business (B2B) payments. The ACH Network processed 7.3 billion payments in the second quarter, 655 million more than the same time in 2020. The value of those payments was $18.4 trillion, an increase of 24.6% from a year earlier.”

“Certegy , a leading ACH payments and risk management company, today announced the launch of its new Virtual Terminal platform, allowing both in-store and mobile merchants to process paper checks and ACH transactions. Virtual Terminal provides merchants with the option to leverage either a web browser or mobile device to serve as their POS register rather than using a bulky and expensive traditional POS system.”

“Nacha announced today the addition of North American Banking Company as a Nacha Direct Financial Institution Member. Nacha now has more than 40 Direct Members, consisting of financial institutions and Payments Associations (PAs) that collectively represent nearly all financial institutions across the U.S…Through cross-industry cooperation, innovation and collaboration, Nacha’s Direct Members are committed to shaping the future of the ACH Network – one of the largest, safest, and most reliable payment systems in the world. They are also active participants in Nacha’s efforts to educate and advocate for the ACH Network with regulators, legislators, and other stakeholder organizations whose policies affect the payments system.”

“TokenEx today became a Nacha Preferred Partner for ACH Data Protection. As a Nacha Preferred Partner, TokenEx joins a select group of innovators recognized for offering products and services that align with Nacha’s strategies to advance the ACH Network…This partnership comes at a crucial moment, as Phase 1 of Nacha’s Rule on Supplementing Data Security Requirements goes into effect June 30, 2021. This rule requires ACH Originators and Third Parties that process more than 6 million ACH payments annually to render deposit account information unreadable in electronic storage.”

“As the COVID-19 pandemic begins to subside, healthcare claim payments are on the rise.  Figures from Nacha, which governs the ACH Network, show nearly 37.4 million healthcare claim payments were made to providers by ACH in March 2021, the most ever in a single month, and an increase of 19.3% over March 2020. The value of those payments, more than $171.3 billion, is up 13% from a year earlier.  From January through April of this year, the number of healthcare claim payments made electronically by ACH reached 132 million, an increase of 15.6%, and moved $622 billion.”

“Aptys Solutions , a leading provider of cloud-based payments technology serving over 4,000 financial institutions through enterprise software, faster payments and mobile P2P solutions , announced new ACH functionality that lowers operational and systematic risk for financial institutions with the newly released Receipt Warehouse. Receipt Warehouse allows financial institutions to better manage incoming ACH transactions.”

“For many ecommerce businesses, ACH payments debited directly from bank accounts provide a lower-cost, more accessible alternative to credit cards. And while cards expire and go missing, account and routing numbers used for ACH payments are more permanent, leaving less room for interruption and error. Despite the benefits for merchants, customer preference and convenience have helped cards solidify their position as the recent default in ecommerce payments.”

“BillingPlatform , the leading global cloud-based monetization and billing solution provider, and GoCardless , a global leader in bank-to-bank payments, today announced a partnership that combines innovative Payment Gateway Framework technology and enhanced ACH debit capabilities – helping to streamline the quote-to-cash processes for businesses so they can get paid more quickly and easily. By combining the most flexible billing solution on the market with a low-cost payment method that increases cash flow and decreases churn, BillingPlatform and GoCardless offer a solution which enables recurring revenue businesses to turn their billing and payment strategy into a competitive advantage.”

“Today, Square announced businesses can now accept Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments on Square Invoices, bringing convenience and payment flexibility to businesses and their customers alike. ACH payments are an electronic bank payment method that provide a simple and secure alternative to card networks. ACH payment acceptance is another way that Square is meeting the needs of large businesses – particularly those with high ticket items where card processing fees can be cost prohibitive.”