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Proponents of same-day settlement of automated clearing house transactions are now pinning their hopes on an enhanced same-day service from the Federal Reserve that contains many elements in a proposal from ACH governing body NACHA that failed last August despite widespread banker support. The beefed-up Fed service, however, still …
Read More »All-Electronic Payments Dominate 2012’s ACH Transaction Volumes
Boosted by more all-electronic payments, total automated clearing house network transaction volume grew 4.2% in 2012 to nearly 16.8 billion transactions from 16.1 billion the prior year, ACH governing body NACHA reported Wednesday. The value of ACH payments increased 8.8% to $36.9 trillion. WEB, an ACH code primarily for …
Read More »Pulse’s Tie to Acculynk Furthers Trend Toward EFT-Based P2P Services
The effort to harness debit card networks for near-instant person-to-person payments is moving apace. The latest development is this week’s announcement that the Houston-based Pulse electronic funds transfer network has enabled a service that will let cardholders pay each other by entering their debit card PINs on a so-called …
Read More »NACHA’s Bill-Pay Council Puts the Finishing Touches on Its QR-Code Guidelines
Mobile bill payments took a step forward Thursday when automated clearing house network overseer NACHA reported that its Council for Electronic Billing and Payment (CEBP) had developed final guidelines for consumers to use Quick Response (QR) codes on bills to facilitate electronic payments. The guidelines are voluntary for billers, banks …
Read More »Treasury Makes a Home-Stretch Sprint To Eliminate Benefits Checks
The last mile is frequently the hardest part of any journey. The U.S. Treasury Department is wrestling with that phenomenon as it attempts to eliminate its remaining 5 million monthly checks for distribution of Social Security and other federal benefits by a looming March 1 deadline. Treasury’s Financial Management Service …
Read More »The Latest Numbers Herald Checks’ Electronic Future
New data from the automated clearing house network show that ACH debit transactions for online bill payments grew 9% in the third quarter while paper checks converted into ACH transactions after being mailed to lockboxes decreased by 8%. The story behind the interrelated numbers boils down to the years-long …
Read More »Speed, Efficiency Top Fed Priorities, But Banks’ Wire Profits Hinder Faster ACH
A senior Federal Reserve official said greater speed, efficiency, and responsiveness to consumer preferences are the central bank’s top payments priorities as it plans for the next decade. But apart from promoting open communication and collaboration among industry players, Sandra Pianalto, president and chief executive of the Federal Reserve Bank …
Read More »Transaction Growth Perks up for the ACH As Online Bill Payments Continue to Climb
The automated clearing house network’s transaction count grew by 4% in the second quarter compared to the same period in 2011, according to the latest figures from NACHA, the regulatory body for the network. Transactions totaled 4.15 billion, worth approximately $9.1 trillion in value, according to the NACHA statistics. Transactions …
Read More »ACH Bill-Pay Council Floats Plan To Bring QR Codes to Bills
A group that promotes electronic bill payment through the automated clearing house network is proposing guidelines for use of Quick Response (QR) bar codes on bills that backers hope will encourage more consumers to pay bills online. The Council for Electronic Billing and Payment is taking comments on its proposal …
Read More »NACHA Proposes a WEB Credit for P2P Payments Over the ACH Network
In an effort to bring some order to the Wild West of person-to-person payments over the automated clearing house network, ACH governing body NACHA-The Electronic Payments Association is proposing a new credit version of its WEB code for online person-to-person payments that would include standardized formatting for the transactions. Herndon, …
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