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Same-day ACH transactions helped fuel a strong first quarter for the automated clearinghouse network.
Nacha, the governing body for the automated clearing house network, reported early Tuesday that same-day ACH transactions totaled 273.7 million during the quarter, a 47% increase from the same period a year ago. The dollar value of those transactions was $719 billion, a 27.2% increase from a year earlier.
In March, same-day ACH transactions totaled 95.6 million, averaging more than 4.5 million payments per day, both all-time monthly highs, Nacha says.
Overall, the automated clearinghouse handled 8.2 billion payments valued at $20.7 trillion in the first quarter, increases of 5.6% and 5%, respectively.
The growth of same-day ACH volume is due to a combination of factors such as the versatility and security the payment method offers and Nacha’s continued promotion of the payment option.
“Same-day ACH is a secure, cost-effective payment method that can be used to initiate a lot of payments, such as direct deposit, tax payments and vendor-to-vendor payments,” says Devon Marsh, senior director, network administration for Nacha.
Marsh adds that growth in same-day ACH volume has been helped by Nacha’s ongoing promotion of the payment option since its launch in September 2016.
“Our message [about same-day ACH] has been a continuous reminder about the value, speed and reach of same-day ACH,” Marsh adds.
Same-day business-to-business ACH transactions also posted strong growth during the first quarter. The ACH handled 75.5 million same-day B2B transactions during the quarter, up from 57.5 million a year earlier, a 31% increase. The dollar value of those transactions totaled $401 billion, up from $301.5 billion, a 33% increase.
Overall, the ACH processed 1.7 billion B2B payments during the first quarter, a 10.8% increase from a year earlier.
Marsh attributes the increase in same-day B2B ACH transactions to business desire to transaction security. “Research has shown that checks are very vulnerable to fraud,” Marsh says. “With a B2B ACH transaction, there is less risk of fraud.”
Consumer internet-initiated debits through the ACH showed solid growth totaling 2.6 billion transactions valued at $1.5 trillion during the quarter, a 7.4% and more than 5% increase from a year earlier, respectively. Consumer internet-initiated debits represented 56.6% of all ACH debits in the first quarter, Nacha says.
