Welcome to the November 2025 Innovating Payments Executive Summary. In this issue, the Federal Reserve Board held its first Payments Innovation Conference, where it announced the exploration of “skinny” master accounts for FinTechs, and separately, Zelle® publicized plans to go global, supported by stablecoin payments.
In other news, Nacha reported its members approved five Nacha Operating Rules changes aimed at increasing the awareness and efficiency of International ACH Transactions, or IATs. In addition, the organization announced Q3 ACH Network volume, which delivered a 10% increase in the number B2B payment transactions.
The Clearing House also made several announcements. First, the organization announced the broader adoption of its Token Service, a next-generation bank account tokenization solution designed to safeguard information linked to bank account numbers and help reduce risks related to fraud and data breaches across the financial ecosystem. In addition, the RTP® network set a new single-day record, processing 1,808,967 transactions valued at $5.2 billion.
Read on for more on these and other stories.
The Federal Reserve
The Federal Reserve Board Hosts a Payments Innovation Conference
On October 21, the Federal Reserve Board hosted its first Payments Innovation Conference to bring together leading industry experts to share perspectives on the evolving landscape of money and payments. Governor Christopher J. Waller made opening remarks on embracing new technologies and players in payments, remarking:
I have asked Federal Reserve staff to explore the idea of what I am calling a "payment account." Today, Federal Reserve Banks provide access to master accounts and financial services to legally eligible entities following our Guidelines for Evaluating Account and Services Requests. The payment account would be available to all institutions that are legally eligible for an account and could be beneficial for those focused primarily on payments innovations.
This payment account concept would be targeted to provide basic Federal Reserve payment services to legally eligible institutions that right now conduct payment services primarily through a third-party bank that has a full-fledged master account. There are many eligible firms engaged in substantial payments activities that may not want or need all the bells and whistles of a master account, or access to the full suite of Federal Reserve financial services, to successfully innovate and provide services to their customers. The idea is to tailor the services of these new accounts to the needs of these firms and the risks they present to the Federal Reserve Banks and the payment system. Accordingly, and importantly, these lower-risk payment accounts would have a streamlined timeline for review. Payments innovation moves fast, and the Federal Reserve needs to keep up.
According to Bloomberg, these “skinny” master accounts that would give select FinTechs access to the accounts banks use to move money through Fed systems, but would exclude access to interest, overdraft privileges and discount window borrowing,
For more information or to watch videos of conference sessions, click here. Please note that the Federal Reserve Conference was approximately nine hours long, and in addition to the videos on the Federal Reserve site, they can be viewed on their YouTube channel: Federal Reserve - YouTube (look under Videos, and see the sessions listed as “Payments Innovation Conference.”)
Zelle
Zelle Goes International: Early Warning Expands $1T Payments Network with Stablecoin Initiative
According to an October 24 announcement, Early Warning Services has launched a new initiative to enable Zelle to deliver faster and more reliable cross-border money movement. The effort marks an important step in expanding the reach of Zelle globally by leveraging stablecoins.
"Zelle transformed how Americans send money at home. Now, we're beginning the work to bring that same level of speed and reliability to Zelle consumers sending money to and from the United States, building on what we have learned from the market, our users and our network banks and credit unions," said Early Warning Services CEO Cameron Fowler in the news release. "Our goal is to bring the trust, speed and convenience of Zelle to consumers' international money movement needs. We're investing where consumer need, bank capability and global opportunity intersect. With improved regulatory clarity in the U.S., we can focus on what we do best: driving innovation to market."
To learn more, read the full press release.
Nacha
Nacha Members Approve Rules to Enhance International ACH Transactions
Nacha recently announced that its voting members approved five Nacha Operating Rules changes aimed at increasing the awareness and efficiency of International ACH Transactions, or IATs. According to the press release:
One of the approved Rules refines the definition of an IAT with the goal of making it easier for ACH Originators and Originating Depository Financial Institutions (ODFIs) to determine whether a payment should be classified as an IAT.
The other approved Rules are aimed at transaction and data efficiency. They include adding the capability to carry a person’s date of birth for sanctions screening; adding a new return reason to indicate an issue with sanctions screening as distinct from other return reasons; recognizing the possibility that the financial agency outside the U.S. is a non-traditional account-holding institution or organization; and requiring U.S. financial institutions to register IAT-specific contacts in Nacha’s ACH Contact Registry.
The new rules go into effect on varying dates, beginning September 18, 2026, and ending March 17, 2028. More information on specifics can be found on Nacha.org.
B2B Payments on ACH Network Increase 10% in Third Quarter
Businesses are speeding up their transition away from checks, and recent Nacha data clearly shows that ACH now serves as the core of B2B payments.
In Q3 2025, nearly 2.1 billion B2B payments moved through the ACH Network—a 10% rise compared to the same quarter last year. These payments totaled an impressive $16 trillion, an increase of 8.8%, accounting for 69% of all ACH volume during the quarter. Among those B2B payments, $585 billion was made using Same Day ACH, up 15% from 2024’s Q3.
“The switch by businesses from checks to ACH is being made for good reasons,” Jane Larimer, Nacha President and CEO, said in the release. “ACH is safer than a check in the mail, and it’s also faster, whether using Same Day ACH or standard.”
ACH Network's overall third-quarter volume reached 8.8 billion payments valued at $23.2 trillion, representing increases of 5.2% and 8.2%, respectively, from the previous year. Through the third quarter, Same Day ACH volume has grown by 9.2% for the year, with the value of these payments rising by 16.7%. September’s Same Day ACH volume exceeded 120 million payments, marking the highest monthly volume in 2025 and a rise of over 20% compared to September 2024.
Additional insights can be found in the complete press release here.
The Clearing House
Expanded Adoption of The Clearing House Token Service Strengthens Bank Account Security and Promotes Open Banking
The Clearing House (TCH) today announced the broader adoption of its Token Service, a next-generation bank account tokenization solution designed to safeguard information linked to bank account numbers and help reduce risks related to fraud and data breaches across the financial ecosystem, according to a TCH news release.
When a client shares their bank account information with a third party, tokenization helps protect their data by replacing sensitive details—like account numbers—with a unique, non-sensitive “token.” This token can be used to process payments without exposing the actual account information. The service is now available for ACH payments on the EPN® network and for instant payments on the RTP® network. As more banks adopt tokenization, it’s becoming an industry standard, opening the door to broader innovations in payment security, data protection, and fraud prevention.
The Clearing House and participating banks have deployed tokens to improve security in open banking, where data aggregators and FinTechs retrieve and store large volumes of consumer account data. In the past, “screen scraping” practices left sensitive account and payment-initiation data exposed and vulnerable to compromise. The shift to API-based data sharing with customer permissioned authentication creates a natural foundation for scaling tokenized account number distribution and empowering customers to review permissions for third-party data access periodically.
“With expanded adoption of the Token Service, we are providing banks and their customers a safer, more flexible way to store and use account information,” Jeff Williams, Senior Vice President, Product Development, at The Clearing House, said in the news release. “By embedding security at the network layer, we’re reducing the risk of fraud while opening the door to new, innovative applications across the payments ecosystem.”
For more details, read the full press release here.
RTP® Network Sets New Single-Day Record with 1.8 Million Transactions
Instant payments usage continues to accelerate in the United States as the RTP® network, the nation’s largest instant payments system operated by The Clearing House, set a new single-day record, processing 1,808,967 transactions valued at $5.2 billion, according to a news release.
The milestone reached on October 3 reflects the growing use of instant payments by financial institutions, businesses, and consumers seeking faster, more reliable money transfers. The record-breaking day follows a year of steady growth for the RTP network, which now averages over 1.3 million payments each day and continues to grow in both coverage and transaction size.
“Seeing 1.8 million payments in a single day underscores the momentum we’re seeing across the instant payments ecosystem,” Jim Colassano, Senior Vice President of RTP Business Product Management at The Clearing House, said in the release. “The RTP network continues to set new benchmarks for real-time payments in the U.S. Reaching a single-day record of nearly two million transactions highlights both the scalability of the network and the growing confidence of the financial industry in instant payments as the new standard.”
To learn more, click here.
Miscellaneous
AI is Reshaping Accounts Receivable: 99% of Enterprises Report Faster Payments
On Oct. 23, Billtrust, a B2B accounts receivable workflow and payment software company, announced the results of a new independent Wakefield Research study showing that artificial intelligence (AI) is now essential for accounts receivable (AR) teams, according to a company news release. As AI becomes integrated into AR workflows, it helps companies speed up payments, unlock liquidity, and expand operations in a volatile economic environment.
A recent Billtrust-commissioned study surveyed 500 finance decision-makers at North American companies with revenues exceeding $250 million. Among those currently using AI, 99% reported a decrease in average days sales outstanding (DSO), with 75% experiencing reductions of six days or more. The findings highlight AI’s growing influence in corporate finance—helping teams accelerate payment cycles, improve cash flow visibility, and expand operations efficiently, all without adding staff.
Other key findings include:
- 82% scaled operations by 11% or more without adding staff.
- 43% saw improved cash flow predictability and stability
- 90% believe their AR process will struggle to scale without AI
To read this release in full, click here.
NEACH
NEACH remains on the pulse of evolving payments topics. To keep up to date with the latest developments, join us on December 16, 2025, for the webinar, “What’s Next in Payments,” where the NEACH team will review the highlights from the past year and discuss what's coming next. Can’t attend in person? No worries! A recording will be provided for all registrants post-event. For more information and to register, click here.
NEACH - New England Automated Clearing House Association is a neutral, member-focused advocate. Our role is to give you the intelligence, context, and connections you need to make informed strategic decisions. We bring together industry leaders, policymakers, and innovators so you can evaluate innovation through the lens of your institution’s mission and market strategy. For more information, visit neach.org.
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AUTHOR: Joe Casali, AAP, AFPP, 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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