A total of 26.8 billion payments were made on the ACH Network in 2020—up 8.2% from a year prior—with a record of more than 2 billion new payments added, according to new figures released by NACHA today. Of the total number of payments, 15.2 billion were debit payments and 11.6 billion were credit payments. The total value of ACH payments in 2020 was $61.9 trillion, up 10% from 2019. Check payments, meanwhile, fell by more than 21%.
“As the world was turned upside-down by COVID-19, the modern ACH Network rose to the challenge to help keep vital payments moving quickly and accurately among American consumers, businesses, and government agencies,” said Jane Larimer, NACHA President and CEO. “Today’s ACH Network is truly industrial strength, handling large volumes of direct deposits for Economic Impact Payments, unemployment benefits, and assistance payments for other organizations and institutions in the U.S.”
Same-day ACH payments also continued to rise in popularity; same-day transactions rose 39% to 347 million, and total value increased 86% from 2019. NACHA will continue the expansion of its same-day ACH services in March, when it will implement a later same-day ACH window.