Mapping Out B2B Payments Via ACH

Along with Same Day ACH credit and eventual Same Day ACH debit transaction, businesses have more choices on just how they can send and receive payments between one another and with haste. The latest ISO 20022 guide from NACHA offers up guidance on how to execute ACH payments.

In the last few weeks, much has been made about the Same Day ACH payments initiative that has taken root, and taken off, across a number of use cases, from P2P to bill payments from consumers.

Within the B2B space, business-focused transactions made up 36 percent of the volume of Same Day ACH transactions in the month of October, out of a total 4.8 million separate transactions. That speaks volumes, literally, to the desire for firms to take advantage of ACH payments. Against that backdrop, NACHA, the electronic payments association, said earlier this month that it had released an enhanced version of its ISO 20022-to-ACH Mapping Guide, aimed as a way for financial firms to bring the standard’s instructions to business customers.

NACHA said that the new information includes instructions to those firms that allow for the mapping of debit and credit transactions, along with Same Day ACH information.

As has been reported, ISO 20022 is the standard through which U.S. financial transactions and services are transmitted via messaging across firms globally. Those business processes were developed by the International Organization for Standardization, which has outlined the way payment files can be brought to ACH transactions.

Europe had been on board with the payments initiative, and as has been documented in these virtual pages, the United States has lagged a bit behind to adopt and adapt to the standards, even as B2B transactions have proven to be stubbornly paper-based. ACH transactions have been used in B2B functions on a recurring basis and have traditionally covered payroll transactions or other somewhat predictable functions. In fact, the Same Day ACH data released for last month showed adoption in order to meet emergency payroll (or benefits needs).