.svg)
The US ACH network moved 7.5bn payments in the second quarter of 2022 driven by the growth in Same Day ACH and business-to-business (B2B) payments, Nacha says.
The ACH network moved 7.5bn payments overall in Q2 2022 transferring $19.6trn, according to Nacha, the rules and standards body of the US private-sector automated clearing house (ACH) network.
This represents a 3.5 percent increase in the number of account-to-account payments, which include credit transfers and direct debits, compared with the same period last year.
Although this overall growth is relatively flat for the year, largely the result of a decline in direct deposit payments, it masks significant rates of growth across a number of key channels and flows, including Same Day ACH payments and B2B payments.
The number of Same Day ACH payments increased 24 percent year-on-year in Q2 2022 to 185m, while in value terms it almost doubled to $486bn.
The significant uptake, particularly in value, follows the increase of the dollar limit of Same Day ACH transfers to $1m per transaction in mid-March.
“The payments community asked for the $1 million limit, and the ACH Operators and financial institutions joined with Nacha to make it a reality. The results show the benefits of Same Day to users of the ACH Network,” said Jane Larimer, Nacha president and CEO.
Meanwhile, B2B payments increased by 12.3 percent, with 1.5bn payments initiated in Q2 2022.
Although the US is by far the largest cheque user globally, businesses had steadily shifted away from cheques toward the use of the ACH network even before the pandemic.
For example, between 2011 and 2020, B2B ACH payments doubled from 2.24bn to 4.42bn, according to Nacha’s ACH Volume and Value Statistics.
This trend was further accelerated by the pandemic and businesses do not appear to have any intention of switching back to paper.
In particular, businesses are increasingly switching to the convenience of ACH transfers over cheques, ensuring payments can be made and received more promptly and with minimal disruptions.
Businesses benefit from the convenience of electronic B2B payments because these payments allow for straight-through processing to accounts payable and accounts receivable.
In addition, electronic payments reduce costs to businesses and increase the speed of funds availability.
Late last year, a Federal Reserve’s payments study found that account-to-account payments also gained on card payments during the pandemic, with a record 26.8bn payments flowing through the ACH network in 2020, an increase of 8.2 percent compared with 2019.
This growth included a 10.7 percent increase in B2B payments, a 12 percent increase in direct deposit payments and a 15 percent increase in online consumer bill pay payments.
