NACHA

National Automated Clearing House Association (Nacha) manages the development, administration, and governance of the ACH Network, the backbone for the electronic movement of money and data in the United States. It is funded by the financial institutions it governs. The ACH Network serves as a network for direct consumer, business, and government payments, and annually facilitates billions of payments such as direct deposit and direct payment. The ACH Network is governed by the Nacha Operating Rules, a set of rules that guide risk management.[4]

Nacha
FoundedJune 20, 1974 (1974-06-20)[1]
TypeNonprofit
23-7451693[2]
Legal status501(c)(6)[2]
PurposeTo promote the development of electronic solutions that improve the payment system for the benefit of its members and their customers.[2]
Location
ServicesFinancial Services Trade Association
Members
440+
Jane Larimer[3]
Janet O. Estep[3]
Revenue (2016)
$18,851,464[2]
Expenses (2016)$18,311,064[2]
Employees (2016)
75[2]
Volunteers (2016)
150[2]
Websitewww.nacha.org

Nacha is a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit association incorporated in 1974. It represents nearly 11,000 financial institutions by way of eleven regional payments associations[5] and direct membership. Nacha is not directly involved in the ACH transactions that flow to and from organizations and financial institutions.

History and Organization

In 1972, the California Automated Clearing House Association (now called WesPay) was formed, becoming the first operational ACH association in the United States.[6]

After two years, other regional ACH associations were formed. The associations came together in 1974 to create Nacha, which was tasked with developing, governing and administering the ACH Network. While Nacha administers the Network, it does not operate the physical ACH Network; the processing of transactions is handled by the Federal Reserve and The Clearing House (also known as EPN).[7]

Originally part of the American Bankers Association, Nacha separated in 1985 and hired Bill Moroney as its first CEO. He was succeeded in 1988 by Elliott McEntee.[8] Upon McEntee's retirement in 2008, Janet O. Estep became Nacha's President and CEO. In 2019, Estep was named President Emeritus and Jane Larimer became Nacha's President and CEO.[9]

Initiatives

Nacha’s establishment led to the first ACH rules being drafted, and that in turn paved the way for the very first type of ACH transactions, known as direct deposit. The U.S. Air Force became the first employer in the nation to initiate a direct deposit payroll program. Direct deposit is the way nearly 93 percent of Americans get paid.[10][11]

Nacha wrote and administers the Quest Operating Rules for Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) which have been in place since 1996.[12]

Under the administrative simplification provisions of the Affordable Care Act, Nacha was designated by HHS as the standards development organization (SDO) for the healthcare EFT. Nacha’s CCD+Addenda payment (a business-to-business payment with one addenda record of remittance information) was designated as the standard healthcare EFT transaction. Under the administrative simplification framework, health plans are required to pay claims using the standard EFT transaction when requested by healthcare, medical or dental practices. In 2018, more than 306.7 million ACH electronic funds transfer (EFT) payments, valued at $1.59 trillion, were made from health plans to healthcare providers.[13]

In 2018 Nacha acquired the Interactive Financial eXchange (IFX) Forum.[14] In September 2018, Nacha launched Afinis Interoperability Standards, a membership-based standards organization, to develop interoperable, portable financial services standards. IFX Forum is a part of Afinis Interoperability Standards.[15]

In October 2018, Nacha announced it had acquired the Business Payments Directory Association.[16][17]

In June 2020, Nacha named Lyons Commercial Data as its Preferred Partner for handling their Routing Number and Account & Ownership Verification.[18][19]

Phixius Pilot Program

On 12 August 2020, Nacha reported that Visa has entered a growing list of collaborators piloting Phixius. Phixius is a Nacha built and managed business that uses technologies, structured APIs and rules to allow interoperability in a secure network of linked credentialed service providers (CSPs) for the protected exchange of payment related details.[20]

Secure Vault Payments

Secure Vault Payments (SVP) is an electronic funds transfer (EFT) payment system created by Nacha in 2008 that transfers funds for online and mobile payments.[21]

See also

References
  1. "National Automated Clearing House Association". Division of Corporations. Delaware Department of State. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
  2. "Form 990: Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax". National Automated Clearing House Association. Guidestar. December 31, 2016.
  3. "Nacha Leadership". Nacha. Retrieved July 17, 2019
  4. "ACH Network: How it Works | Nacha". nacha.org (Press release). Retrieved 2019-02-14.
  5. "Regional Payments Associations". www.nacha.org (Press release). Retrieved November 22, 2016.
  6. "WesPay History". wespay.org. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
  7. "The Evolution of the ACH" (PDF). nacha.org (Press release). Retrieved 2019-02-14.
  8. "Nacha Timeline 1990s". nacha.org (Press release). Retrieved 2019-02-14.
  9. "About Nacha". nacha.org (Press release). Retrieved 2019-02-14.
  10. "A primer on Nacha". Fin (Press release). Retrieved 2019-02-14.
  11. "National Payroll Week Survey" (PDF).
  12. "Nacha" (PDF) (Press release).
  13. PYMNTS (2019-01-17). "305M+ Healthcare Claims Paid Via ACH In 2018". PYMNTS.com (Press release). Retrieved 2019-02-14.
  14. PYMNTS (2018-03-01). "Nacha, IFX Forum Join Forces for API Development". PYMNTS.com (Press release). Retrieved 2019-02-14.
  15. "Nacha Launches Afinis Interoperability Standards for Financial Services | Nacha". nacha.org (Press release). Retrieved 2019-02-14.
  16. "Nacha Acquires the Business Payments Directory Association To Bolster B2B Payments Services". Digital Transactions (Press release). Retrieved 2019-02-14.
  17. "Nacha acquires BPDA to push blockchain-based B2B payments directory". Finextra Research. 2018-10-03. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
  18. PYMNTS (2020-06-30). "Payment Rail Innovators Eye B2B Payment Data". PYMNTS.com. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
  19. "Home". Lyons Commercial Data. 2018-09-11. Retrieved 2020-07-21.
  20. "Nacha Adds Visa to Phixius Pilot Program". Cision PR Newswire. 12 August 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  21. Estep, Jan (14 October 2014). "BankThink: Same-Day ACH and the Future of Faster Payments". American Banker (Press release). Source Media. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
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