Keeping on top of Nacha Rules changes includes making sure your financial institution’s Originators stay in the loop. While that can be challenging, a June 10 session at Smarter Faster Payments Remote Connect 2026 aimed to help FIs undertake the task. William Mills, Vice President, Deposit and ACH Operations at Premier Banks, offered some basics for impactful education, starting with focusing. 

“You’ve got to identify exactly what you want your learners to walk away with,” said Mills. “And if you don’t know it, if you’re going in blind, it’s unlikely that they’re going to hold on to it and take it away.” Mills suggested 1-to-3 topics, and if you go for the high number “they’ve got to be super interrelated.” 

He also stressed knowing the audience’s base level of understanding; otherwise, they’re unlikely to retain the information. And he urged “focusing on the ‘why.’ If you tell people the ‘how,’ or the ‘what,’ it doesn’t stick as well as if you tell them the ‘why,’” said Mills. For example, “Why did the Rules change?” 

“Repeat, repeat, repeat,” is another of his basics. “It helps people understand. It helps people hold on to things.”

As for the types of education, Mills believes “live one-on-one interaction is the best,” though he readily acknowledges “it is also the hardest way to teach, because you have to have the time to meet with however many Originators, or however many employees you need to teach.” But having a live session means “we’re asking questions, we’re learning about the audience, we’re understanding what you know and what you don’t know and what we need to do to address the things that you want and need.” And, Mills noted, if one student isn’t grasping a concept, the person in the next seat can often help to explain it. “It reinforces that knowledge and makes it stick with them.”

Since in-person isn’t always possible, Mills suggests something your FI might overlook. 

“If your digital banking platform provides a space for you to communicate with your customers, a short, less than 100-word message that’s bulleted, is an excellent way to communicate with your Originators and say, ‘There’s a new Rule coming up. It addresses this, this, and this,’” said Mills. “Keep it short, simple, direct. It will cause them to think about things.”

Tops on his list of pro tips, Mills stressed that “in the long run it doesn’t matter what technique you use, as long as you’re thoughtful about it.” 

“It matters more that you’re thoughtful about how you communicate what you need to communicate, that you’re thoughtful about how you make connections that help people retain things,” said Mills. “It’s more important that you’re thoughtful than the specific technique.”

Information about new Nacha Rules is available on Nacha’s website.