HERNDON, Va.—NACHA--The Electronic Payments Association, which is the trustee and rule maker of the ACH Network, said it has now officially launched Phase 1 of Same Day ACH.
Same Day ACH is a new faster payments option that reaches all bank accounts and will enable businesses and consumers to send and receive payments and payment-related information on the same day through the ACH Network. It went into effect on Friday, Sept. 23.
Phase 1 of Same Day ACH allows for the sending and receiving of virtually any ACH credit transaction, enabling a variety of transactions such as urgent claim payments from an insurance company to a consumer or same-day payroll payments from an employer to an hourly or contract employee.
“The launch of Same Day ACH marks a significant milestone in the journey towards faster payments in the U.S.,” said Janet O. Estep, president and CEO of NACHA in a statement. “While other payments initiatives have been developed to support the demand for faster payments in the U.S., Same Day ACH provides absolute certainty that your payment can get to absolutely anyone else with a bank account on the same day, regardless of which bank or credit union they use, bringing value to all users of the ACH Network.”
All financial institutions are now able to receive same-day transactions. Although sending same-day transactions by financial institutions and their customers is optional, it is expected that many will begin enabling the origination of same-day payments today. According to research conducted by NACHA, 95% of the nation’s top financial institutions intend to originate Same Day ACH in 2016. The top reasons cited for how Same Day ACH will be used by financial institutions beginning today include payroll and business-to-business payments.
“Same Day ACH is an innovative and immediate solution to support the demands of those consumers and businesses that want to move their money faster,” said Estep. “Not only does it support the industry’s near-term needs, but it also serves as a building block for the future of faster payments. Upon the Same Day ACH foundation, other products and services can be built to continue to meet the evolving needs of consumers and businesses into the future.”
Phase 2 of Same Day ACH will launch on Sept. 15, 2017. Phase 2 will introduce the faster processing and settlement of debit transactions, in addition to credit transactions. This Phase will support additional use cases such as consumer bill payment for utility, insurance, telecom, mortgage, loan and credit card payments, NACHA said.