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The ACH can be used to clear both credits and debits. But New certification program for ACH resellers
historically, due to NACHA rules and ACH processing
schedules, these transactions have required two to three NACHA held its annual Payments conference in April,
days to complete ‒ from initiation to final settlement. ACH where it heralded a new certification program for third
debits, which will become eligible for same-day settlement parties that act as go-betweens for businesses and banks.
this September, accounted for 58 percent of all transactions The association noted that TeleCheck, a unit of First Data
that were cleared through the ACH in 2016. Corp. that provides ACH and check services, was the
first such third-party service provider to be awarded the
Consumer payments are a dominant contributor to ACH designation, "NACHA Certified."
growth. Direct deposit transactions accounted for 30
percent of all payments that went through the ACH last "NACHA Certified organizations demonstrate that
year. P2P payments saw the largest growth spurt with a they are vetted and validated with sound core practices
38.5 percent increase over 2015. Online debits grew by 12.7 in place and that they have met guidelines governing
percent over 2015 to total 4.6 billion, NACHA said. financial stability and commitment to quality," Estep said
in describing the new program in remarks delivered at the
NACHA stated that B2B payments are growing, but not conference. She also said NACHA was launching a new
with equal gusto. Traditional B2B credit formats saw accreditation program for risk professionals.
volume increase more than 5 percent over 2015 totals. And Making payments faster
it's not just simple credit payments going over the ACH;
more businesses are sending payments and remittance The move to same-day ACH is part of a larger, international
information together, NACHA said. For example, movement toward faster payment schemes. In addition to
healthcare payments via the ACH grew by 15.6 percent the United States, more than 20 countries are now running
last year to nearly 242 million transactions. In all, more or plan to establish faster payment systems, according to
than 2.1 billion addenda records accompanied payments the Fed. In a nod to the trend, NACHA renamed its annual
through the ACH network in 2016. event the Faster Payments Conference.