A big Same Day ACH enhancement arrives in March, but the chairman of the Nacha Board of Directors said changing to meet user needs is an ongoing process.

Volume on the ACH Network totaled 6.8 billion payments in the third quarter of 2020, a 9% increase from the same period in 2019.

The new third window for Same Day ACH is coming in March, meaning the time to prepare is now.

With paper check use declining and electronic payment methods on the rise, the ACH Network has grown tremendously in recent years. A recent PaymentsJournal podcast unpacked how this growth continued into 2020, even as the pandemic disrupted regular economic activity. In fact, the pandemic underscored just how reliable and valuable the ACH Network is to commercial and economic activity.

Business Email Compromise is a major concern today, but it appears that the recent enhancement to Same Day ACH has not resulted in any increase in criminal activity, an informal Nacha survey found.

The ACH Network reported payment volume growth of 7.9% in the second quarter of 2020, compared to the same period a year ago, reflecting the use of the Network to deliver economic assistance to individuals and businesses, as well as an acceleration in the shift from paying by paper check to paying electronically.

A new white paper authored by Mercator Advisory Group highlights how – as payments become faster – ACH supports the future of the industry with Same Day ACH, while providing the money-movement infrastructure for many other payment products.

Nacha has released ACH Network results for the first quarter of 2020.

Starting today the Same Day ACH per payment dollar limit jumps from $25,000 to $100,000.

The wait is almost over. This Friday, the latest enhancement to Same Day ACH takes effect.

Following Nacha’s confirmation of March 19, 2021, as the effective date for the new, third Same Day ACH window, The Clearing House and the Federal Reserve Banks, as the two ACH Operators, have agreed on the following processing schedule. The deadline for the receipt of originated Same Day ACH payments from originating depository financial institutions (ODFIs) will be 4:45 p.m. Eastern Time; the target distribution time for the output to receiving depository financial institutions (RDFIs) will be 5:30 p.m. ET; and settlement will occur at 6:00 p.m. ET.