News

Here is the latest news, announcements, and press releases relative to ACH and the financial industry.

In The News
May 5, 2008 NACHA Launches Secure Vault Payments Pilot NACHA – The Electronic Payments Association announced today that Secure Vault Payments is now a live pilot program to test online consumer purchases and bill payments. The Automated Clearing House(ACH)-based Internet payments network allows consumers to conduct e-commerce and bill payment transactions without sharing personal account information.
April 29, 2008 International Payments Framework Now in Phase II The International Payments Framework Group (IPF) has announced the decision to go forward with the next phase of this project. Phase II will improve the cross-border payments process through operating rules that will enable interoperability between domestic and international ACH systems. The group will meet in Germany in early May to begin implementing Phase II.
April 14, 2008 NACHA LAUNCHES NEW eBILL SYSTEM NACHA—The Electronic Payments Association said today its Electronic Billing Information Delivery Service (EBIDS), which speeds up the ability of consumers to receive electronic bills (eBills) at the online provider of their choice, recently began operation.
April 3, 2008 ACH Operations Bulletin Effective Date of NACHA Rules Interpretation Extended to August 4, 2008.
March 27, 2008 NEACH Member Record Updates a huge success! Thank you to all who participated in our Member Record Update process. The response we received was greater than anticipated and we consider the entire process a huge success.
March 21, 2008 New ODFI Reporting Rule Goes into Effect Today!!!! New Rule Goes into Effect Today!!!! New reporting requirements for ODFIs within Article Two (Origination of Entries) go into effect on Friday March 21st .
March 18, 2008 NACHA and ACH Operators Mark One-Year Countdown to New Rules for International ACH Transactions The NACHA rule and format for international ACH transaction (IAT) becomes effective on March 20, 2009, and will enable all U.S. financial institutions to send and receive cross-border ACH payments that can be readily identified and that carry remittance information identifying all the parties to the payment. All U.S. financial institutions are affected by this change.
March 18, 2008 The PayItGreen Alliance Asks Consumers to Green Their Finances The PayItGreen™ Alliance is asking consumers to turn off paper bills and statements and make payments electronically. The Alliance, comprised of leaders in the financial and consumer billing industries, was formed in 2007 to educate consumers about the positive environmental impact of choosing electronic bills, statements and payments over paper alternatives. The Alliance has named April as PayItGreen Month to launch this initiative.
February 29, 2008 NEACH responds to the Request for Comment on Risk Management and Assessment NEACH is pleased to respond to the Request for Comment on Risk Management and Assessment. NEACH is comprised of roughly 600 financial institutions located in New England. During the comment period, NEACH discussed the proposal with the NEACH Rules and Operations Committee, which is representative of our membership, as well as additional members, and solicited their feedback. Our response to the Request for Comment is based on their feedback and the best interests of our members.
February 29, 2008 NEACH responds to the Rules Compliance Audit Proposal Request for Comment sent out by NACHA NEACH is pleased to respond to the Request for Comment on Rules Compliance Audit Proposal. NEACH is comprised of roughly 600 financial institutions located in New England. During the comment period, NEACH discussed the proposal with the NEACH Rules and Operations Committee, which is representative of our membership, as well as additional members, and solicited their feedback. Our response to the Request for Comment is based on their feedback and the best interests of our members.
February 8, 2008 AAP Testing Goes Electronic NACHA—The Electronic Payments Association and the Regional Payments Associations are pleased to announce that beginning in 2008, the Accredited ACH Professional (AAP) program exam will be offered electronically at more than 500 LaserGrade computer-based testing centers nationwide.
February 5, 2008 NACHA Membership Approves Company Name Identification Rule On January 24, 2008 the voting membership of NACHA approved the Company Name Identification Rule as an amendment to the NACHA Operating Rules. The Company Name Identification Rule is a component of NACHA's comprehensive risk management strategy for the ACH Network. It is the second component of the strategy to be voted on by the NACHA membership for inclusion in the Rules.
February 1, 2008 ACH VOLUMES CONTINUE TO GROW IN 4TH QUARTER OF 2007 ACH Network volume increased by 12.2 percent in the 4th quarter of 2007 compared to the same quarter a year ago, rising to a total of 3,640,793,079 payments. The dollar value of these payments was $7.3 trillion, an increase of 7.6 percent over the 4th quarter figures for 2006.
January 23, 2008 Social Security Number Suppression in ACH Payments UPDATE- SEE ATTACHED FORM The Department of the Treasury, Financial Management Service, recognizes the importance of the privacy of SSN information and is in the process of developing a phased-in strategy for suppressing SSN's in outbound ACH Social Security payments.
January 14, 2008 Risk Management and Rules Compliance Audit Request for Comment NACHA requests comments on two proposals to amend the NACHA Operating Rules. Both proposals are components of NACHA's Risk Management Strategy for the ACH Network, the goal of which is to ensure high-quality ACH transactions and reduce risk for financial institutions, businesses and consumers. Each component should be considered in the broader context of the whole strategy. Comments on both proposals are due by February 19, 2008. The ACH Participant Surveys are intended to gather feedback from ACH participants on the respective proposals. Survey responses will be reviewed in detail to determine whether ACH participants support the proposal and whether any refinements to the proposal would be appropriate. Responses are due at NACHA by 02/19/2008. NEACH also recommends that members send a copy of their response to NEACH so we can get a sense on what our Membership feels about these very important proposals. For questions on either of the proposals please feel free to contact Sean Carter at NEACH. Sean can be reached by phone (781) 321-1011 or by email at scarter@neach.org