It’s called Nacha Capitol Hill Day, but this year it took an unprecedented detour, starting about a mile and a half to the west, right next door to the White House. 

“We went to the U.S. Treasury,” said Bill Sullivan, Nacha Associate Managing Director, Government and Industry Relations. “We met with several executive appointees from President Trump’s administration.” The hot topic: An executive order issued March 25 to stop the Treasury from issuing paper checks by Sept. 30, and to have all payments to the federal government processed electronically “as soon as practicable, and to the extent permitted by law.” 

Eliminating paper checks has long been atop Nacha’s agenda, and Sullivan said the Nacha group had “a great conversation” at Treasury. 

But that was only the start of a very busy day, June 24. When they arrived on the Hill, the group—including members of the Nacha Board of Directors and Nacha’s Government Relations Advisory Group—employed a divide and conquer strategy, splitting into two groups, each meeting with staffers from different senators’ offices. 

Jennifer Denoo, President and CEO of Great Basin Federal Credit Union, and a Nacha Board member, was among the participants. Speaking on Nacha’s Payments SmartCast podcast, Denoo said that during the meetings with Hill staff, they shared experiences of “how ACH impacts us, makes our lives a little bit easier for my members or a bank’s customers. That’s really what they need to hear and want to hear. They’re there to represent their constituents, and so it’s our job to get the voice out from the constituents’ perspective,” as well as from the financial institutions’ perspective. 

The information sharing runs two ways, because when Denoo returned home to Reno, Nevada, she briefed fellow credit union CEOs in the state, as well as the Wespay Payments Association, where she is a Board member. 

Denoo stressed the importance of getting to know your lawmakers, something that makes Hill Day especially worthwhile. 

“Relationships take time to build. It’s not just a one-time or never visit. It’s putting ourselves in front of them, introducing them, and getting to know them,” said Denoo. And that’s another two-way street, because she often fields questions from lawmakers. 

“It’s not just us going and having an ask all the time,” said Denoo. “It’s that they think of us as a resource.”

Much more was discussed, and you can listen to the complete podcast below.