Odds are you’ve been working from home a lot recently, and every so often there’s probably something you need at the office. Maybe it’s the printer for the jumbo spreadsheet, or the double monitor setup at your desk. 

At the same time, there may be something that hasn’t changed no matter where you’re working: the challenge of finding the right person at another financial institution to help with an ACH issue. That’s where the new ACH Contact Registry is going to help. 

Authorized users at the nation’s financial institutions will have access to the Registry, which opens July 1 for all financial institutions to begin adding contact information. The Nacha Rule that created the Registry covers not only ACH operations, but also fraud and risk management at financial institutions. For each area, financial institutions are required to enter either primary and secondary contacts, or a department contact. Those email addresses and phone numbers need to be monitored during normal business hours.

“Questions come up daily, regardless of where people are working from,” said Debbie Barr, Nacha Senior Director, ACH Network Rules Process & Communications. “Getting those questions answered can be challenging even in the best of times. In fact, more than 90% of those who responded to Nacha’s request for comment said finding the right contact can be anywhere from medium to very difficult.”

“Even with people working remotely, as many are doing today, the ACH Contact Registry will simplify the process for financial institutions to get a hold of the right person to help with what is so often a timely matter,” said Barr.

The ACH Contact Registry will be in Nacha’s secure Risk Management Portal, which is where the existing voluntary contact database lives. If your financial institution participates in the database, this is a good time to review your information to make sure it’s still accurate, which will simplify matters for the Registry. For other institutions, this is the time to be thinking about the information you will enter and who should have access.  

Learn more about the ACH Contact Registry on the Rules section of Nacha.org.