Big Banks Like NACHA’S Same-Day Plans

NACHA’s new proposal for same-day ACH payments got a warm reception Tuesday (Dec. 9) from the big banks that helped kill a similar proposal in 2012, according to American Banker.

A key difference in the 2014 proposal: Banks that send a same-day transaction would pay a flat fee of 8.2 cents per transaction to the receiving bank to help reduce the cost of necessary technology upgrades. In 2012, big banks reportedly objected to the fact that receiving banks would have to spend money on upgrades but wouldn’t get many benefits.

While 8.2 cents sounds small, NACHA projects the annual number of same-day transactions will increase sharply from 37 million in 2016 (for about $3 million in total transaction fees) to 1.37 billion by 2027 (more than $112 million in fees per year). If transaction volumes exceed projections, the 8.2-cent fee would automatically be reduced.

NACHA also projects upgrade costs for the 30 largest receiving banks at a total of $109 million, with incremental operating costs estimated at $10 million annually. For all other receiving banks, implementation costs were estimated to be $9 million, with added operating costs pegged at $39 million per year.

The same-day proposal got public support from The Clearing House — the consortium of big banks that played a key role in killing the 2012 same-day proposal — and the Independent Community Bankers of America, which represents small banks and has supported same-day payments proposals. The Clearing House said the NACHA proposal will “complement” its own recently announced plans to build a real-time system for settling payments.

NACHA said it may hold a vote on the proposal by the second quarter of next year, after making changes based on feedback it receives.