Nacha Records Booming Same-Day Results As the ACH Confronts Pandemic Concerns

Faster-payment volume soared 88% on the nation’s automated clearing house network in the year’s first quarter compared to the same period in 2020, Nacha reported Thursday. Transactions processed the same day they were initiated totaled 141.1 million, compared to 75 million in last year’s March quarter, the last period before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. Dollar value for same-day ACH shot up fully 133% to $187.6 billion, according to Nacha, the governing body for the ACH network.

Altogether, same-day ACH transactions have now totaled more than 1 billion since the faster-payment service was introduced for credits in 2016 and for debits a year later, Nacha reported, with more than $1 trillion in value transferred over the years.

Herndon, Va.-based Nacha last month increased operating hours for same-day ACH, while the network now settles transactions four times each day. Another adjustment, which will raise the same-day transaction limit from $100,000 to $1 million, is set to take effect in March 2022.

The demands and restrictions associated with the yearlong pandemic continue to show up in overall payments statistics, as Nacha reported 2.7 billion total ACH transactions for March, a monthly record. The number was reached in part as the network handled some 110 million economic impact payments by direct deposit, issued by the federal government in response to the ongoing pandemic. That result followed the 118 million daily payments handled in February, the greatest daily average yet seen for a month.

“While these have been some of the most challenging times we have seen, the modern ACH network has again shown itself to be not only resilient but industrial strength,” said Jane Larimer, president and chief executive at Nacha. “The ACH network is doing its part to get Americans the assistance they need while keeping billions of other payments moving seamlessly.”

For the quarter, ACH transactions totaled 7.1 billion, up 11.2% year over year. A standout performer was peer-to-peer payments, which rose fully 72% to total 76.5 million. P2P networks like Zelle rely on the ACH network. Internet payments rose 14.1% to 2.1 billion as consumers continued to rely on e-commerce in the face of physical-store closures or restrictions.