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NEWS RELEASE
CONTACT:
Michael Herd
mherd@nacha.org
ACH Payment Growth Accelerates to 16.2 Percent in 2001, NACHA
Announces
More Than 1 Billion Payments Added for First Time
Dallas, Texas, April 15, 2002— Annual transaction volume on the Automated Clearing House (ACH) Network increased by more than one billion
payments for the first time in 2001, according to statistics released today by NACHA – The Electronic Payments Association at its PAYMENTS 2002 conference.
The volume of ACH payments in 2001 exceeded 7.99 billion, up 16.2 percent from 2000. The value of these payments was $22.2 trillion,
representing a 9.2 percent increase. The transaction growth rate for 2001 increased substantially over the 12.4 percent rate for 2000.
"The year 2001 was an outstanding year for ACH participants," said Janet C. Boyst, Chair of NACHA's Board of Directors and Senior Vice President and
Group Executive at Wachovia Bank. "There were significant increases in transaction volume for all categories of ACH payments. With the introduction of new ACH products and improvements to ACH services,
ACH payment providers are positioned to continue to serve the needs of businesses, individuals and the government to move money."
ACH payments include Direct Deposit of payroll, Social Security benefits and tax refunds, Direct Payment of consumer bills, business-to-business
payments, Federal tax payments, and, increasingly, e-check and e-commerce payments.
Commercial use of ACH payments increased by 17.4 percent, from 6.03 billion in 2000 to 7.08 billion in 2001. Inter-bank ACH payments increased
by 17.6 percent, from 4.36 billion to 5.13 billion. "On-Us" transactions – payments that remain within a single financial institution – grew by 16.9 percent, from 1.67 billion in 2000 to 1.96 billion in
2001.
The Federal government's ACH volume increased by 7.4 percent in 2001, from 848 million to 910 million payments.
Direct Deposit
The number of Direct Deposits in 2001 increased by 11.6 percent over 2000, from 3.3 billion to 3.7 billion payments. 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. The value of these Direct Deposits was more than $4 trillion, an average of $1,110 per Direct Deposit. Excluding Federal government payments, the average Direct Deposit was for $1,195.
"Direct Deposit is the most secure and reliable way to get paid," said Elliott C. McEntee, President and Chief Executive Officer of NACHA.
"Approximately 115 million people nationwide rely on Direct Deposit to receive their pay or government benefits. Companies and government agencies save billions of dollars a year by using Direct Deposit."
Direct Payment
The number of Direct Payments in 2001 totaled 2.6 billion, a 17.6 percent increase over 2000. A Direct Payment is a pre-authorized debit that
uses the ACH Network, and is typically used for recurring bills such as mortgages, loans, utilities, investments and charitable contributions. The value of these payments was $1.6 trillion, an average of $631.
McEntee noted, "Americans saved more than one billion dollars in postage costs and late fees by using Direct Payment."
Corporate Payments
Use of the ACH Network for corporate payments, which include business-to-business payments, cash management transfers, government vendor payments,
and Federal tax payments, increased from 1.2 billion transactions in 2000 to 1.4 billion in 2001, an 11.9 percent increase. The value of these payments was more than $16.3 trillion, an average of $11,812 per
payment.
Financial EDI
Financial electronic data interchange (EDI), the electronic exchange of payments and payment-related information or documents in standard EDI
formats between business partners, increased from 129 million payments in 2000 to 143 million in 2001, a 10.8 percent increase. Use of EDI addenda records, the payment-related remittance information that
accompany payments, increased by 17.0 percent, from 353 million EDI records in 2000 to 413 million in 2001.
E-Checks
More than 200 million e-check payments were made in 2001. An e-check is an electronic debit to a consumer's checking account that is initiated
at the point-of-sale, on the Internet, over the telephone, or via a bill remittance sent through the mail, and is processed using the ACH Network.
In 2001 there were 88.7 million e-checks originated at the point-of-sale, 74.6 million originated on the Internet, and 8.7 million originated via
the telephone. Millions of other e-check payments were originated during pilot projects for both telephone and remittance payments.
"Retailers and billers are beginning to take advantage of the savings and efficiencies inherent in electronic payment processing by converting paper
checks into e-checks," said McEntee.
In addition, NACHA statistics also show that 23.2 million re-presented check entries were processed through the ACH Network. 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.
New ACH products that have become available since 2000 accounted for 2.8 percent of all ACH payments in 2001.
ACH Volume (in millions)
2001 2000 % Increase
Commercial
Inter-bank 5,126 4,360 17.6
On-Us 1,958 1,675 16.9
Commercial Total 7,084 6,034 17.4
Government 910 848 7.4
Total 7,994 6,882 16.2
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 650 organizations through its 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 and invoice presentment and payment (EBPP, EIPP), e-checks, financial electronic data
interchange (EDI), international payments, and electronic benefits transfer (EBT). Visit NACHA on the Internet at www.nacha.org.
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