With paper check use declining and electronic payment methods on the rise, the ACH Network has grown tremendously in recent years. A recent PaymentsJournal podcast unpacked how this growth continued into 2020, even as the pandemic disrupted regular economic activity. In fact, the pandemic underscored just how reliable and valuable the ACH Network is to commercial and economic activity.

Part of the ACH Network’s continued success is tied to Same Day ACH, Nacha’s faster payment offering. First launched in 2016, Same Day ACH offers users the ability to compress the full cycle of an ACH payment into one banking day. This means that ACH payments can be initiated, cleared, settled and posted into the receivers account all on the same day, rather than over one or two banking days, as may be the case with  other ACH payments.

To better understand how and why Same Day ACH volumes have been growing and what use cases Nacha’s faster payment option supports, PaymentsJournal sat down with Michael Herd, Senior Vice President of ACH Network Administration at Nacha, and Sarah Grotta, Director of Debit and Alternative Products Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group.

PaymentsJournalSame Day ACH in 2020: Constant Growth & Continued ImprovementsPaymentsJournal Same Day ACH in 2020: Constant Growth & Continued ImprovementsPaymentsJournaljQuery(document).ready(function ($){var settings_ap18933865 = { design_skin: "skin-wave" ,autoplay: "off",disable_volume:"default" ,loop:"off" ,cue: "on" ,embedded: "off" ,preload_method:"metadata" ,design_animateplaypause:"off" ,skinwave_dynamicwaves:"off" ,skinwave_enableSpectrum:"off" ,skinwave_enableReflect:"on",settings_backup_type:"full",playfrom:"default",soundcloud_apikey:"" ,skinwave_comments_enable:"off",settings_php_handler:window.ajaxurl,skinwave_wave_mode:"canvas",pcm_data_try_to_generate: "on","pcm_notice": "off","notice_no_media": "on",design_color_bg: "111111",design_color_highlight: "ef6b13",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_waves_number: "3",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_waves_padding: "1",skinwave_wave_mode_canvas_reflection_size: "0.25",skinwave_comments_playerid:"18933865",php_retriever:"https://www.paymentsjournal.com/wp-content/plugins/dzs-zoomsounds/soundcloudretriever.php" }; try{ dzsap_init(".ap_idx_99645_2",settings_ap18933865); }catch(err){ console.warn("cannot init player", err); } });

Same Day ACH volumes have continued to grow through the pandemic

Similar to trends associated with other ACH payments, Same Day ACH volumes have continued to grow at a normal rate in 2020. In the first quarter, the ACH Network’s overall volume grew by 7.1% compared to the previous year, with Same Day ACH volumes rising by 42%. The second quarter was very similar, with overall ACH volume rising 7.9% year-over-year and Same Day ACH volumes climbing 37% compared to 2Q 2019.

Q1 2019 Same Day ACH

These statistics show how the “ACH network was used extensively, particularly in the second quarter, to deliver assistance payments to businesses and to individuals,” noted Herd. Assistance payments included Economic Impact Payments, unemployment benefits, small business loans, and the variety of other stimulus payments made by the government in response to COVID-19.

Q2 Same Day ACH

Since Same Day ACH has a smaller base of transactions, its growth rate will be higher than the ACH Network’s overall growth ...