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Same Day ACH Will Be Enhanced to Meet ACH End-User Needs

September 20, 2018 / Source: NACHA

Same Day ACH Will Be Enhanced to Meet ACH End-User Needs

POSTED SEPTEMBER, 14 2018

NEW NACHA RULES WILL EXPAND ACCESS TO SAME DAY ACH, INCREASE THE PER-TRANSACTION DOLLAR LIMIT, AND SPEED FUNDS AVAILABILITY FOR SAME DAY AND NEXT-DAY ACH

HERNDON, Va., Sept. 17, 2018 – NACHA’s voting membership has approved three new rules to expand the capabilities of Same Day ACH for all financial institutions and their customers. The first expands access to Same Day ACH by allowing Same Day ACH transactions to be submitted to the ACH Network for an additional two hours every business day. The second increases the Same Day ACH per-transaction dollar limit to $100,000. The third increases the speed of funds availability for certain Same Day ACH and next-day ACH credits.

“Since the initial adoption of Same Day ACH, business users of ACH have been asking for enhancements,” said Jane Larimer, chief operating officer of NACHA. “NACHA and its members are now delivering those enhancements.”

Financial institutions and their customers will be better able to make use of Same Day ACH through expanded hours and a higher dollar limit. The expansion of Same Day ACH by two hours will be achieved through the creation of a new Same Day ACH processing window by the two ACH Network operators. ACH end users will have more time during the business day to initiate a variety of Same Day ACH payments, including payroll and other disbursements, bill payments, and business-to-business (B2B) transactions. With a higher dollar limit, ACH end users will have greater opportunity to make Same Day ACH payments for payroll, claim payments, B2B payments, and a variety of other use cases.

Making funds available faster for certain Same Day and next-day ACH credits benefits both consumers and businesses that receive deposits and disbursements via ACH. Funds from Same Day ACH credits processed in the existing first window will be made available by 1:30 p.m. local time. Funds from certain other ACH credits will be available by 9 a.m. local time by the receiving financial institution.

“NACHA continues to expand ACH Network offerings to make it easier to use the ACH,” continued Larimer. “With these enhancements to Same Day ACH, the ACH Network will have a comprehensive set of faster payments capabilities available to all financial institutions and their customers.”

Transaction data shows that Same Day ACH is thriving. There were nearly 41 million Same Day ACH transactions in the second quarter of 2018 – an increase of 243 percent over the second quarter of 2017, indicating that Same Day ACH continues to be embraced by businesses and their customers alike. Expanding the capabilities of Same Day ACH will serve to increase how businesses, financial institutions, and consumers can benefit from this ubiquitous faster payment solution. 

The three new rules have different effective dates. The faster funds availability rule will become effective on Sept. 20, 2019; the increase in the per-transaction dollar limit will become effective on March 20, 2020; and the new Same Day ACH processing window with expanded hours will go into effect on Sept. 18, 2020. 

To learn more about Same Day ACH, visit NACHA’s Same Day ACH Resource Center.

About NACHA
NACHA is a nonprofit organization that convenes hundreds of diverse organizations to enhance and enable electronic payments and financial data exchange within the U.S. and across geographies. Through development of rules, standards, governance, education, advocacy, and in support of innovation, NACHA’s efforts benefit the providers and users of those systems. NACHA leads groups focused on API standardization, authors the Quest Operating Rules for EBT, and is the steward of the ACH Network, a payment system that universally connects all U.S. bank accounts and facilitates the movement of money and information. In 2017, there was a total of nearly 26 billion ACH transactions. Of these, 21.5 billion ACH payments valued at $47 trillion moved across the ACH Network, and more than 4 billion were on-us transactions within financial institutions.