Same-Day ACH Traffic Meets Expectations

By John Stewart
@DTPaymentNews

The nation’s automated clearing house network handled more than 13 million same-day transactions worth almost $17 billion between Sept. 23 and the end of the year, according to statistics released Wednesday by NACHA, the rulemaking authority for the ACH.

Image Credit: NACHA
Estep: "Same-day ACH has proven that it is a valuable faster payment solution."

Wednesday’s release represents the second time NACHA has issued numbers for same-day settlement, which began Sept. 23 last year with ACH credits. Same-day processing of ACH debits is scheduled to begin Sept. 15. Combined with the first statistical release, which covered the month of October, the latest figures indicate same-day ACH is maintaining pace. Same-day transactions flowed through the ACH at an average daily rate of approximately 194,000 for the 67 business days from Sept. 23 through Dec. 31, up slightly from the pace seen over 20 business days in October.

As the name implies, same-day settlement requires receiving financial institutions to credit accounts the same day transactions are initiated. Before same-day processing, ACH transactions would typically settle the next day.

Same-day transactions have been dominated by direct deposits, which include emergency payroll and pension payments. These totaled 6.8 million transactions, or 52% of same-day volume, for a total value of $5.9 billion. The next most-frequent transaction for the period was business-to-business payments, which accounted for nearly one-third of same-day volume at 4.1 million transactions. Dollar volume, though, totaled $8.8 billion.

Same-day person-to-person payments, meanwhile, came to 1.8 million, good for $1.2 billion. The speed of settlement is apparently attracting P2P payments of higher value than the typical share of dinner or baby-sitter fee, as the average ticket came to more than $660. Consumer bill payments accounted for nearly 250,000 transactions and $733 million in value.

"In its first three months of operation, same-day ACH has proven that it is a valuable faster payment solution for a variety of users, including businesses, consumers, and financial institutions," said Janet O. Estep, president and chief executive at Herndon, Va.-based NACHA, in a statement. "We are encouraged by its performance thus far, and look forward to seeing same-day ACH continue to provide value for its users in 2017."