Spring cleaning shouldn’t be limited to the basement and garage. When was the last time you checked your bank or credit union’s entries in the ACH Contact Registry? Now is a good time to go in and look at the contacts you have listed. 

“Changes to staff are one of the biggest issues we see,” said Jeanette A. Fox, Nacha Senior Director, Risk Investigations & ACH Network Risk Management. 

Located in Nacha’s secure Risk Management Portal, the goal of the ACH Contact Registry is to make it easy for each Financial Institution to find the right person at another FI who can help. Under the Nacha Operating Rule which created the Registry, all FIs using the ACH Network must register contacts for ACH operations and fraud/risk management. There’s the option for individual or departmental contacts, so long as the phone numbers and email addresses provided are monitored during normal business hours. Many FIs have also voluntarily entered contacts for wires, checks, debit and credit cards, faster payments and legal.

Under the Rule, any required ACH information entered must be updated within 45 days following any change, and Fox said FIs should have procedures in place to do that. But sometimes it doesn’t happen, so a bit of spring cleaning might be in order, to check for folks who perhaps retired, were promoted, or moved on.

“The tool is only as good as the data entered,” noted Cathy McNickle, Nacha Director, Risk Management Services. Oftentimes the need to reach someone is pressing, and outdated information only slows the process. McNickle said Nacha is available to help with any issues encountered while using the Risk Management Portal (see contact information below). 

Nearly 8,400 FIs have entered some 41,600 contacts in the ACH Contact Registry. Enforcement began Aug. 1, 2021, and Lorie Nash, Nacha Senior Director of Compliance, said Nacha’s ACH Rules Enforcement team regularly sends out violation notices. When necessary, the team imposes fines, but Nash said Nacha would much prefer FIs stay in compliance, stressing it is the responsibility of each bank and credit union—large or small—to have their contacts registered. 

“Just like with any other Rule, ACH Network participants need to stay current on the Rule changes that impact them,” said Nash, noting that the Payments Associations are a great resource for updates and training on new Nacha Operating Rules.

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

If you’re ready to enter your information on the ACH Contact Registry, go to the Risk Management Portal.

For assistance, Nacha’s Portal support number is 703-349-4556, or you can email rmportal@nacha.org.