|
NEWS RELEASE
CONTACTS:
Michael Herd (Media Only)
mherd@nacha.org
Bill Nelson
bnelson@nacha.org
Commercial ACH Payments Increase by 14 Percent in 2000, NACHA
Announces
Washington, DC, April 23, 2001— Automated clearing house (ACH) payments totaled almost 6.9 billion in 2000, according to statistics
released today by NACHA – The Electronic Payments Association at its PAYMENTS 2001 conference.
"In 2000 the ACH Network continued the robust growth that occurred every year during the 1990s. Annual commercial ACH volume is 580 percent
higher than 10 years ago," said Janet C. Boyst, Chair of NACHA's Board of Directors and Senior Vice President and Group Executive at Wachovia Bank. "As established ACH products such as Direct Deposit and
Direct Payment continue to grow, ACH providers are offering new products for retail payments, bill and invoice payments, e-commerce payments, and international payments. As new methods of conducting commerce
evolve, the ACH Network is well-positioned to continue to serve the needs of businesses, individuals and the government to move money."
ACH payments for 2000 totaled 6.88 billion, up 12.4 percent from the 6.12 billion payments reported for 1999. The dollar amount of the
transactions grew from $19.0 trillion in 1999 to $20.3 trillion in 2000, a 6.5 percent increase. ACH payments include Direct Deposit of payroll, Social Security benefits and tax refunds, Direct Payments of
mortgages, car loans, insurance, utility and other bills, business-to-business payments, federal tax payments, electronic checks, and, increasingly, e-commerce payments.
Commercial use of ACH payments increased by 14.1 percent, from 5.29 billion in 1999 to 6.03 billion in 2000. Significantly, commercial ACH
payments processed by an ACH Operator increased by 13.0 percent, up from the previous year's growth rate of 9.5 percent. In 1999, the conclusion of several major financial institution mergers moved many ACH
transactions from ACH Operators – electronic clearing houses between financial institutions – to "On-Us" transactions – payments that remain within a single financial institution. Correspondingly, the
growth in On-Us payments slowed from 35.5 percent in 1999 to 16.9 percent in 2000.
Direct Deposit
The number of Direct Deposits in 2000 increased by 8.75 percent over 1999, from 3.0 billion to 3.3 billion. Direct Deposit is used for
payroll, expense and travel reimbursement, pension and annuity payments, interest payments, retirement and mutual fund distributions, Social Security, Veterans and other government benefits, and tax refunds.
"Approximately 100 million people nationwide rely on Direct Deposit to receive their pay or government benefits," said Charles B. Bretz, Chairman of
the NACHA Marketing Management Group and Senior Vice President of Compass Bank. "Americans save millions of hours due to the reliability and efficiency of Direct Deposit. Companies and government
agencies save billions of dollars in payment processing costs and productivity gains."
Direct Payment and Other Consumer Debits
The number of bill payments and other consumer debit payments made over the ACH Network in 2000 totaled 2.2 billion, an 18.4 percent increase over
1999. A bill payment using the ACH Network is known as a Direct Payment, and is typically used for bills such as mortgages, loans, utilities, and even credit cards. Other types of consumer debits include
charitable contributions and mutual fund or stock investments.
Bretz noted, "At 33 cents per stamp in 2000, Americans saved over $700 million in postage alone by using Direct Payment for their bills, not to
mention late fees that were avoided."
Business Payments
Use of the ACH Network for business payments, which include business-to-business payments, cash management transfers, government vendor payments,
and Federal tax payments, increased from 1.1 billion transactions in 1999 to 1.24 billion in 2000, an 11.8 percent increase.
"U.S. companies realize tremendous costs savings and productivity gains by using electronic payments for accounts receivable and payable, and by
paying Federal tax withholdings electronically," said Elliott C. McEntee, President and Chief Executive Officer of NACHA. "As companies move toward a more electronic trading environment, the ACH Network is
ready to handle payments for online exchanges and electronic invoice presentment."
Financial EDI
Financial electronic data interchange (EDI), the electronic exchange of payments, payment-related information or financially related documents in
standard formats between business partners, increased from 105 million payments in 1999 to 129 million in 2000, a 22.6 percent increase. Use of addenda records, the payment-related remittance information that
is attached to EDI payments, increased by 30.1 percent, from 270 million records in 1999 to 353 million in 2000.
Use of Corporate Trade Exchange payments, a type of financial EDI that allows multiple invoices to be paid with one transaction, increased by 42.5
percent, from 18.6 million in 1999 to 26.5 million in 2000. These payments, known by the acronym CTX, have more than doubled in the past two years.
Electronic Checks
Thirty-two million paper checks were converted into electronic ACH debits at
retail locations in 2000, the first year that statistics for this new ACH product are available.
"Electronic check volume in 2000 was higher than expected," said McEntee. "Retailers are beginning to take advantage of the savings and
efficiencies inherent in electronic payments rather than check processing, and this method of check conversion is growing rapidly."
In addition, NACHA statistics also show that 3.5 million re-presented check entries were processed through the ACH Network from September 15 through
December 31, 2000. A re-presented check entry is a returned consumer check that is re-presented for payment electronically rather than through the paper check collection system.
ACH Volume (in millions)
2000 1999 % Increase
Commercial
Inter-bank 4,360 3,858 13.0
On-Us 1,675 1,432 16.9
Commercial Total 6,034 5,290 14.1
Government 848 832 1.9
Total 6,882 6,122 12.4
About NACHA - The Electronic Payments Association
NACHA is the leading organization in developing electronic solutions to improve the payments system. NACHA represents more than 12,000
financial institutions through direct memberships and a network of regional payments associations, and 600 organizations through its six industry councils. NACHA develops operating rules and business practices
for the Automated Clearing House (ACH) Network and for electronic payments in the areas of Internet commerce, electronic bill payment and presentment (EBPP), financial electronic data interchange (EDI),
international payments, electronic checks, and electronic benefits transfer (EBT). Visit NACHA on the Internet at www.nacha.org.
|
