NACHA Launches Program to Support Standardization of B2B ACH Transactions
March 14, 2018 / Source: NACHA
NACHA Launches Program to Support Standardization of B2B ACH Transactions
POSTED MARCH 13, 2018
Request for Payment Program Leverages ISO 20022 Message Standard to Enable a Consistent Process for Electronic Invoicing and Receipt of Payment and Remittance
HERNDON, Va., March. 13, 2018 – Today, NACHA—The Electronic Payments Association® announced the launch of its new Request for Payment program. The Request for Payment program leverages the ISO 20022 message standard to enable businesses of all sizes to send electronic invoices and receive corresponding payment and remittance through the ACH Network. The program, which is voluntary, provides for consistency in process across enterprise applications and platforms, creating efficiencies, increased control, and cost savings.
“Businesses today are looking for ways to effectively and efficiently manage the complex payment and cash application process in our changing global environment,” said George Throckmorton, managing director, network development & strategic initiatives for NACHA. “Globalization, the implementation of new technologies, and siloed operations and processes have created layers of complexity and inefficiency that impact the way businesses serve and support their customers, and their bottom lines.
“With NACHA’s Request for Payment program, businesses can leverage an ISO 20022 message to standardize invoicing and payment collection, and automate the cash application process, as remittance can flow with the payment to support straight-through processing. And with the ACH Network’s connection to all financial institutions and thus all accounts in the U.S., through the program businesses can expand their reach and better support existing and future customers.”
The ACH Network is a robust payment system offering functionality and flexibility for corporate payments. It allows for the transfer of monetary transactions or “zero dollar” message transactions. It can support the transmission of almost 10,000 addenda records with payment. Additionally, the Network can process transactions next day or even same day when a faster transaction is preferred.
“Although speed is typically not the most important component of a business payment, the ACH Network and the Request for Payment program provide the choice and flexibility to meet the needs of today’s businesses,” added Throckmorton.
The Request for Payment program is available to any business. To participate, businesses will need to download and view the Request for Payment Program rules and agree to them by referencing them within existing trading agreements.
To download the Request for Payment Rules or to learn more, visit https://www.nacha.org/request-for-payment.