ABA today urged the Federal Reserve to approve the recent rule change from NACHA, the electronic payments association, that would require financial institutions to have same-day ACH capability and require sending institutions to pay a 5.2 cent per-transaction fee to offset the costs of participating in same-day ACH.
ABA noted that mandatory participation and interbank compensation are essential to a well-functioning same-day ACH process. The association contrasted the NACHA plan with the regional Federal Reserve Banks’ FedACH SameDay Service, which includes a voluntary opt-in. “The program is five years old and only 100 financial institutions use it,” ABA said. “The benefits of offering this service as an ODFI are limited because there are a limited number of RDFIs that accept the faster payment.”
ABA encouraged the Fed to support the NACHA rule change — and include its provisions in the Fed banks’ operating documents — so that financial institutions can begin implementing same-day ACH for their customers without further delay. The Fed will continue to accept comments through July 2, and ABA encouraged bankers to submit comments in favor of the NACHA proposal. For more information, contact ABA’s Steve Kenneally.
