Newsroom

February 10, 2015

NACHA targets same-day ACH final rule in 2Q

NACHA – The Electronic Payments Association plans to issue a final Same Day ACH rule in the second quarter of this year, the group said in an announcement Monday.

Same Day ACH would provide, in addition to the current early morning settlement, two new same-day ACH clearing and settlement windows at mid-day and the end of the business day. NACHA says it would be available for virtually any ACH transaction

NAFCU supports faster payments but has lodged concerns with NACHA over its proposal.

"NAFCU continues to believe that an industry-driven response is needed to implement faster payments," NAFCU Senior Vice President of Government Affairs and General Counsel Carrie Hunt wrote in a comment letter. "Furthermore, any solution that speeds up payments should thoroughly involve all business, operations, risk, technical, fraud and innovation teams."

Hunt said that for many, there doesn't appear to be enough valid use or business cases identified to validate "a clear cost-to-benefit analysis" of same-day ACH. She said while consumers will benefit from real-time funds transfers, NACHA's proposed solution will be next-day settlement for many regular consumer purposes.

Given that NACHA seems poised to move, Hunt said, NAFCU "would like to strongly urge NACHA to implement its suggested phase-in approach to implementation."

She also noted the inequity for receiving-only institutions of a mandatory same-day program without interbank fees. "Resolving this inequity will be a key for participation moving forward," she wrote.