ACH Network Processed 21.5B Transactions in 2017

New data shows that the ACH Network processed 21.5 billion transactions valued at more than $46.8 trillion last year — an increase of 5.7 percent and 6.9 percent, respectively, over 2016.

It is the third year in a row in which the number of new ACH transactions increased by more than one billion. And the network’s growth rate for last year is the highest since 2008.

“2017 marks another significant achievement in the evolution of the ACH Network, as transaction volume was exceptionally strong and Same Day ACH was made fully available,” said NACHA Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel Jane Larimer. “The continued robust growth comes as no surprise as the ACH Network continues to evolve to meet the needs of financial institutions, businesses and consumers.”

Last year, nine billion ACH credit transactions had a total value of more than $30 trillion, while the more than 12 billion debit transactions had a total value of more than $16 trillion. That propelled the value of the network’s transactions to more than double the U.S. GDP, with volume that is more than 66 times the number of people in the U.S.

The network saw an increase in all transactions for 2017, including a 5.6 percent increase in business-to-business transactions (3.3 billion transactions); a 5.8 percent increase in payroll and other consumer direct deposit transactions (6.5 billion transactions); a 13.1 percent increase in internet transactions (5.2 billion transactions); a 23.3 percent increase in person-to-person transactions (97 million); and a 478 percent increase in same day ACH transactions (75 million).

Financial institutions surveyed by NACHA also reported 4.2 billion “on-us” ACH transactions, which are not processed by ACH Network operators. This is 5.3 percent higher than similar volume reported in 2016.

Last month, NACHA announced it was launching a new initiative to make B2B ACH payments more efficient. The Request for Payment program uses the ISO 20022 messaging standard to facilitate eInvoicing and receive ACH payments that correspond to that bill.