Nacha: Same Day ACH Volume Leaps 65.7% in Q3

Same Day ACH volume on the ACH Network leapt 65.7% in the third quarter compared to a year earlier, while the value of those payments rose 38.8%.

Those increases brought the number of Same Day ACH payments in the third quarter to 355.2 million and the value of those payments to $844 billion, Nacha, which governs the ACH Network, said in a Thursday (Oct. 17) press release emailed to PYMNTS.

“These results are continued proof of the robust adoption of Same Day ACH,” Nacha President and CEO Jane Larimer said in the release. “Since its debut, Same Day ACH has handled nearly 4 billion payments valued at $8 trillion.”

During the third quarter, compared to a year earlier, total ACH Network volume increased 7.4% to 8.4 billion payments, and the value of those payments increased 8.9% to $21.5 trillion, according to the release.

All major ACH Network payment categories saw volume increases in the third quarter, the release said. Compared to the same quarter in 2023, there was a 12.6% increase in B2B payments, a 9% increase in consumer internet-initiated and a 7.8% increase in healthcare claim payments.

Nacha is seeking comments on a proposal to expand the operating hours of Same Day ACH to align with the close of the business day in the Pacific time zone — a change that would add another 3.25 hours each day for users to submit same-day payments, per the release.

“Nacha has already made several enhancements to Same Day ACH, including higher dollar limits, expanded hours and accelerated funds availability,” Larimer said in the release. “We will continue working to ensure that Same Day ACH helps meet the needs of the payments community.”

In March, Nacha introduced new rules to create a “base level of ACH monitoring for all parties in the ACH Network,” with the exception of consumers, in a bid to reduce scams like business email compromise (BEC) and credit-push fraud.

When fraud is detected, the originating depository financial institution (ODFI) can request the return of the payment, the receiving depository financial institution (RDFI) can delay funds availability (within limits), and the RDFI can return a suspicious transaction, without waiting for a request or customer claim.