With the coronavirus pandemic bringing uncertainty and disruption, be assured that the ACH Network, a vital part of America’s economic lifeblood, is operating normally.  

Direct Deposits are being processed normally. Salaries, Social Security, tax refunds, veterans benefits, insurance claim payments, pension payments, expense reimbursements—anything paid by Direct Deposit that is sent into the ACH system is continuing. Banks and credit unions are operating to make Direct Deposit funds available to customers on time, even when branches have limited hours or staffing.

Knowing that the payments you and your customers depend upon are being processed normally should be one less thing to worry about. And if you have customers concerned about, or who are unable to send, receive and deposit paper checks, whether for payroll, bill payments, or business-to-business (B2B), this could be a good time to adopt ACH payments. 

As for Nacha, while most of our team is working remotely, we remain at your service. Have a Rules question? Contact us, the same as you always would, be it by phone, email or the contact form on our website. While it might take a little longer than usual, you can be sure that we will assist you. Our staff—like your staff—is under extraordinary pressure. Nacha is rising to the challenge. We are there for you. 

Unfortunately, scammers are also busy, and with that in mind I encourage you to remind your staff and your customers to be extra vigilant. 

As people work from remote locations, as the dining room becomes the new office or cubicle, it’s easy to be distracted or to not recognize scams. The bad guys practicing Business Email Compromise, vendor impersonation, and money mule schemes know this. Please remind your folks to continue casting a wary eye over emails requesting information about, or changes to such things as Direct Deposit or vendor payments. Never reply to such emails; instead, call or send a separate email to the person supposedly making the request. Nacha’s Current Fraud Threats page has important information, and we invite you to share the helpful posts on our social media channels, including LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, to spread the word. 

Many of you were looking forward to our Payments 2020 conference and we share in the immense disappointment of having to cancel. I know you understand that the health and safety of everyone involved is paramount, and we were left with no other option. Our team is hard at work creating a virtual event. We’ll have more information about that soon, in addition to finding new ways to educate and offer networking capabilities. And we look forward to seeing you in San Francisco at Payments 2021.

As the problem solvers and consensus builders who enable payments to securely reach virtually every American, Nacha has, and will continue to work tirelessly to serve you. We will meet the challenges at hand, and those yet to come. 

Stay safe, everyone.