HERNDON, Va.– The National Automated Clearinghouse Association (NACHA) of is reporting 2018 was a milestone year, with payment volume climbing by almost 1.5 billion payments. That marks the fourth straight year the ACH Network has added more than one-billion new payments.
NACHA said volume reached nearly 23 billion payments in 2018, a year-over-year increase of 6.9% and the highest growth rate since 2008. That’s nearly 70 payments for every person in the U.S.
“The value of ACH payments in 2018 was $51.2 trillion, a 9.5% increase over 2017,” NACHA said. “ It marked the sixth consecutive year in which ACH payment value has risen by at least $1 trillion. For perspective, the value of last year’s ACH payments was more than 2 1/2 times that of the nation’s 2017 gross domestic product.”
Same Day ACH volume soared in 2018, the first full year with same-day debits as well as credits, the organization reported. There were nearly 178 million Same Day ACH payments in 2018: 98.3 million credits and 79.7 million debits. Overall Same Day ACH volume jumped 137% from 2017. Total Same Day ACH value in 2018 was $159.9 billion, up 83% over the year before.
“The results for 2018 make clear that the ACH Network is vibrant and continues to be a vital component of the nation’s economic engine,” said NACHA Chief Operating Officer Jane Larimer. “With more enhancements to Same Day ACH being rolled out this year and next, the experience for businesses and consumers will only get better.”
Use Case Growth
According to NACHA, several core ACH use cases saw substantial growth in 2018 including:
- Business-to-business (B2B) payments, up 9.4% to 3.6 billion, total value $34.9 trillion
- Direct Deposit, up 4.4 percent to 6.8 billion, total value $9.7 trillion
- Internet payments, up 14.2 percent to 5.9 billion, total value $2.9 trillion
- Payments from health plans to medical and dental providers, up 11.5% to 306.7-million, for a total value of $1.59 trillion.
- Person-to-person (P2P) payments, up 32.2 percent to 128.7 million, total value $209.6 billion
An infographic highlighting 2018 Network volume and value is available for download.