NACHA—The Electronic Payments Association® - in the US have announced that the USA’s top financial institutions are on target to offer Same Day ACH payments beginning September 23, 2016, according to the results of a new survey which showed that:

• 95% of respondents indicated they will offer their clients Same Day ACH origination services by year-end
• the two strongest use cases among those offering Same Day services: payroll and business-to-business (B2B) payments, with 100 percent planning to offer same-day payroll payments and 95 percent planning to offer same-day B2B payments
• as well as offering services for expedited bill pay and person-to-person (P2P).

The telephone survey, conducted from January to February 2016, queried the plans of 22 of the top 25 ACH-originating financial institutions. While financial institutions will be required by NACHA’s Same Day ACH Rule to receive Same Day ACH payments beginning September 23, 2016, originating ACH payments, including same-day payments, is optional for originating financial institutions and their clients. 

NACHA reported that, “The nation’s largest financial institutions also share a desire to support their clients by moving payments faster with Same Day ACH. Of those that will offer Same Day ACH services, 86 percent will offer it to all of their clients, while 14 percent will make Same Day ACH available to select clients, based on need.”

Same-day ACH Charges

A major debate is developing about the charges for same-day ACH payments. Some banks are considering charges of $6+/transfer which some experts consider to be prohibitive and “will strangle the same-day ACH market at birth”. Evidence from other same day ACH payment systems, e.g. UK Faster Payments, is that low charges really encourage growth and create whole new markets with astounding rates of growth.