Beginning in mid-September 2022, the ACH Operators - the Federal Reserve and The Clearing House - will implement additional late-night deliveries of ACH files to all Receiving Depository Financial Institutions (RDFIs).

In 2020, Nacha provided relief from certain provisions of the Nacha Operating Rules due to impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic. This relief generally took the form of a policy of non-enforcement of these provisions and the effective dates of some new rules. Nacha has determined to allow this relief to expire as of October 1, 2022.

Approximately six months ago, Nacha issued several ACH Operations Bulletins and Frequently Asked Questions announcing relief from a variety of requirements of the Nacha Operating Rules due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Businesses that originate pre-authorized ACH debits for services that have been interrupted may face an elevated risk of returns.

The Nacha Rules require an RDFI to accept a consumer’s Written Statement of Unauthorized Debit (WSUD), and also require that the WSUD be signed or similarly authenticated.

The upcoming effective dates of the Rule on Supplementing Data Security Requirements are extended by one year, to June 30, 2021 and June 30, 2022, respectively. The effective dates of other approved and upcoming Rules remain in effect.

In light of the current need for organizations to reduce on-site staffing levels, Nacha is providing temporary relief from deadlines for delivery of certain records that are required under the Nacha Rules. 

In light of the potential impact of coronavirus, Nacha reminds financial institutions of the importance of reviewing their business continuity plans to ensure that they are prepared to maintain ACH payment processing capabilities in the event of possible disruptions.  In additio

Nacha reminds financial institutions of the importance of reviewing their business continuity plans to ensure that they are prepared to maintain ACH payment processing capabilities in the event of possible disruptions.

The March 19, 2021 effective date for the new Same Day ACH processing window is confirmed.  

The upcoming effective date of the rule on Supplementing Fraud Detection Standards for WEB Debits is extended from January 1, 2020 to March 19, 2021. This extension is in response to industry requests to allow additional time for awareness, education and implementation.

The rule establishing the current Unauthorized Entry Fee provides that the amount will be re-evaluated every three years, with the initial 3-year period ending on September 30, 2019. The amount of the Unauthorized Entry Fee will remain at $4.50 per covered return during the next 3-year period, through September 30, 2022.

The effective date of the new Same Day ACH processing window is deferred by 6 months until March 19, 2021. The Federal Reserve Board of Governors (“Fed Board”) has informed Nacha that it will not be able to provide timely notification of its approval for Federal Reserve services necessary to enable the new window by the deadline provided for in the rule.

Nacha is publishing the attached form, entitled “Indemnification Agreement – Request for Return of Funds from ACH Entry” (“Indemnification Agreement”), for use by financial institutions in certain situations in which an ODFI requests the return of funds from an ACH transaction, and the RDFI desires to receive a written indemnification in addition to the indemnification contained in the Nacha Operating Rules (“Rules).”

The Nacha Operating Rules provide for Person-to-Person (P2P) payments via ACH credit transactions. In this way, one person can transfer funds to another person. Nacha has become aware that some financial institutions and their service providers are allowing consumers to debit other consumers’ accounts. This ACH Operations Bulletin[1] provides guidance to financial institutions and their service providers on the application of the Nacha Operating Rules and other risk management considerations relevant to the origination of such “consumer-to-other-consumer” (C2C) debits.

ACH debits become eligible for same-day settlement with the implementation of Same Day ACH Phase 2 on Sept. 15, 2017.

ACH debits become eligible for same-day settlement with the implementation of Same Day ACH Phase 2 on Sept. 15, 2017. This ACH Operations Bulletin provides information to Originating and Receiving Depository Financial Institutions, Originators, Third-Party Senders, and software and processing vendors on important aspects of ACH debit processing in a same-day environment. Even those not planning to use same-day processing for ACH debits should take reasonable care to prevent unintentional same-day ACH debits.

This ACH Operations Bulletin provides information to Participating Depository Financial Institutions and their business customers about a specific type of social engineering fraud that is targeting public-sector entities. Fraudsters have used these social engineering techniques to manipulate public-sector entities into redirecting legitimate vendor payments to accounts controlled by the fraudsters. Although any business entity could be the target of this type of social engineering attack, public-sector entities seem to be specifically targeted because their contracting information is often a matter of public record.

In most ACH transactions, the roles of the various parties to the transaction (e.g., Originator or Receiver) are well understood. When a transaction involves a Third-Party Sender or other payment intermediary, however, roles can become confused. Although the proliferation of new payment models makes it impossible to catalogue all the different fact patterns that may arise, this ACH Operations Bulletin is intended to provide some representative examples that should help participants and observers properly categorize the roles of the parties in payment scenarios involving different types of third party payment intermediaries, and understand how ACH transactions should be identified for consumers.

This ACH Operations Bulletin[1] addresses the applicability of various sections of the Nacha Operating Rules (Nacha Rules) to questionable ACH debit origination activity, highlights the roles and responsibilities of both Originating Depository Financial Institutions (ODFIs) and Receiving Depository Financial Institutions (RDFIs), and describes several amendments to the Nacha Rules related to these topics.[2] Due to these Rules amendments, several aspects of two previous bulletins from 2013 have been superseded; therefore, this bulletin replaces ACH Operations Bulletin #2-2013 (issued on March 14, 2013) and ACH Operations Bulletin #3-2013 (issued on July 15, 2013).