Welcome to Innovating Payments Top 3 News Headlines for the Week of March 24. In this issue, Nacha members have approved new rules that take aim at credit-push fraud. For the first time, RDFIs will have a defined role in monitoring the ACH payments they receive. Meanwhile, The Central Banking Awards 2024 (Off-site) recently recognized the Federal Reserve's FedNow® Service in the Payments and Market Infrastructure Development category, citing the innovative nature of the new instant payments infrastructure. Also making headlines, the rising embrace of disbursements may cut down on check fraud, reducing the number of checks intercepted by fraudsters.
Read on to learn more.
1. New Nacha Rules Take Aim at Credit-Push Fraud (Nacha)
Nacha members have approved a set of rules intended to reduce the incidence of frauds, such as business email compromise (BEC), that make use of credit-push payments. The new rules establish a base-level of ACH payment monitoring on all parties in the ACH Network (except consumers). While the new rules do not shift the liability for ACH payments, for the first time receiving financial institutions (RDFIs) will have a defined role in monitoring the ACH payments they receive. (Read more.)
2. FedNow® Service honored in Central Banking Awards 2024 (FedNow Explorer)
The highly complex payments system of the world's largest economy was transformed in July 2023, when the U.S. Federal Reserve System went live with its FedNow Service. The new cloud-based, real-time gross-settlement system allows some 9,000 banks and payment services providers in the U.S. to facilitate instant payments across the country, based on Fed technology that was developed in-house. The U.S. has been comparatively slow to adopt instant payments, in part due to its complex and fragmented financial system, says Nick Stanescu, executive vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and chief executive of the FedNow Service. (Read more.)
3. Instant Disbursement Can Stem the Tide of Check Fraud (PYMNTS)
For the bad actors, check fraud is en vogue. For consumers, and for banks, the rising embrace of disbursements may have a positive knock-on effect: cutting down on check fraud by reducing the number of checks intercepted by fraudsters. As reported, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has estimated that check fraud has increased by double-digit percentage points. The fraud tactic may be old fashioned but remains effective. The criminals grab the checks from the mailbox and physically alter the names and payment amounts on those checks. (Read more.)
How will the new Nacha credit-push rules impact your RDFI? What plans does your financial institution have for cutting down on check fraud? How might the new FedNow service help your financial institution innovate?
Check back soon for our next issue, highlighting the industry's most pressing and need-to-know developments. Until then, visit us online at Innovating Payments.
AUTHOR: Joe Casali, AAP, APRP
Executive Vice President
As the EVP of Payments Innovation for NEACH, Joe focuses on exploring innovative solutions and technologies that will help position members for success, both now and in the future. Connect with Joe to read more of his blogs, articles, and posts.
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