NACHA Says ACH Payments Overall Volume Increased 5.3 Percent In 2016

NACHA, the Electronics Payments Association, announced late last week that ACH overall transaction volume in 2016 reached 25.6 billion.

According to a press release, NACHA said the 25.6 billion transaction volume marked a 5.3 percent increase over 2015 volume and marks the third consecutive year in which volume increased by a billion transactions or more over the previous year. What’s more, NACHA said $43.7 trillion was transferred over the ACH Network in 2016, representing a 5.1 percent increase compared to 2015.

“2016 marked a significant year for the continued evolution and growth of the ACH Network,” said Janet O. Estep, president and CEO of NACHA, in the press release. “With the implementation of Same Day ACH, we have added to the robust capabilities of the network, now enabling not only next-day payment capabilities, but same-day capabilities as well. The added attribute of speed provides additional flexibility and options to a system that has the capacity to process credit and debit transactions, payments and robust information together, domestic and international transactions, business and consumer payments, and more. And it is this versatility that makes ACH payments a valued payment type and supports the continued growth of the ACH Network.”

NACHA said that with the launch of Same Day ACH credits in September of last year the payment type was responsible for more than 13 million credit transactions totaling nearly $17 billion. Same-day direct deposits made up 52 percent of Same Day ACH volume; business-to-business (B2B) transactions made up 32 percent of Same Day ACH; person-to-person (P2P) payments constituted 13.5 percent of same-day volume; and consumer bill payments made up the remaining 2 percent of Same Day ACH volume, the trade group said in the press release. Meanwhile, NACHA said last year the ACH Network processed almost 12 billion debit transactions, which constitute 58 percent of overall ACH Network volume. As for B2B transaction use, NACHA said it was not only strong among same-day transactions, but traditional ACH transactions as well. B2B credit payments grew with CTX credits increasing 5.6 percent and CCD credits by 5.1 percent.

In addition to B2B transaction growth, the ACH Network saw growth in transaction categories in which consumers serve as the recipient of the payment, specifically direct deposits via ACH, P2P payments and online payments. In 2016, the Network transferred 6.1 billion direct deposits, an increase of 5.1 percent over 2015. Direct deposits now make up 30 percent of overall ACH volume. P2P payments increased 38.5 to almost 79 million transactions.