ACH Transaction Volume Grew in 4th Quarter Despite Tough Economy,

NACHA Reports Strong Growth Reported for Internet Payments 
 

HERNDON, Va., February 11, 2009 — The number of ACH payments in the 4th quarter 2008 grew by 4.5 percent over the same period in 2007, topping 3.8 billion, according to statistics released by NACHA – The Electronic Payments Association.  Internet-initiated ACH payments (known as “WEB” entries) experienced robust growth, increasing 16.5 percent over 4th quarter 2007 volumes.  Strong growth also occurred with certain business-to-business payments (known as “CTX” entries) in which remittance information is exchanged electronically.  The number of these payments grew by 15 percent over 4th quarter 2007 levels.
 

“The continued growth o ...

Action Requested

Please submit nominations using this form no later than Friday, March 6, 2009 to the attention of Maribel Bondoc, Manager of Network Rules, NACHA, fax: (703) 561-1056 or e-mail: mbondoc@nacha.org.

 

Background

The Rules & Operations Committee has approved the formation of a Category B Rules Work Group to develop a rule amendment focusing on the extension of the return period for adjustment entries. All proposals in the Rule Making Process are categorized by the Committee according to their probable impact on ACH participants as follows: (1) Category A - Major Impact, (2) Category B - Moderate Impact, or (3) Category C - Minor Impact.

 
Please review the following ...

Action Required

Regional payments associations may use this information to communicate with their RDFI members that have account holders affected by this situation.  Direct financial institution members are requested to share this information internally with appropriate areas of their institutions.

 

GUIDANCE

NACHA has been in contact with an ODFI, its regional payments association, and regulators on a situation that may impact many RDFIs and their account holders.  The ODFI has ceased processing for an ACH processor that initiates ACH transactions on behalf of a number of other ACH processors, including payroll processors.  In some cases, employers’ accounts have been debited to fund payrolls, but payroll credits (Direct Deposit) to employees have not been released.

 
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Responses Due February 20, 2009

NACHA requests information from the NACHA family on potential Category C - Minor Impact changes to the NACHA Operating Rules.  These changes are being considered in conjunction with the Rules Simplification project.  Responses are due February 20, 2009.

To download the Request for Information click here

NACHA requests information from ACH Network participants and other payment system stakeholders on a concept that would allow paying banks to make warranty claims on unauthorized Remotely Created Checks through the ACH Network.  NACHA is issuing the warranty claim entry as a concept; specific amendments to the NACHA Operating Rules are not being proposed at this time.  Responses are due February 6, 2009. <more>

SUMMARY: 

On November 12, 2008, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve and the Department of Treasury (“Agencies”) issued the final rule regarding Prohibition on Funding of Unlawful Internet Gambling.  A copy of the final rule is attached.  The final rule has an effective date of January 19, 2009, but mandatory compliance is not required until December 1, 2009. 
 

NACHA staff is preparing a thorough analysis of the final rule’s impact on the ACH Network, and on the NACHA Operating Rules.  A preliminary analysis shows that the majority of issues NACHA raised in its comment letter were addressed satisfactorily.  For example, the final rule:

• Adopts the “actual knowledge” standard requested by NACHA for the remedial action provisions of Section ___.6;
• Preserves the overblocking provision ...

Executive Summary

The Nominating Committee announces that the ballot period for the election of candidates to the NACHA Board of Directors has closed effective November 17, 2008. The terms of the Directors elected in this cycle will begin as of January 1, 2009. Directors are listed below alphabetically.

 

Elected to One-Year Terms (2009-2009)

 

Ann-Marie Bartels, Mid-America Payment Exchange (RPA)

Charles Bretz, Compass Bank (RPA)

Roy DeCicco, J.P. Morgan (DFI)

Fred Laing, UMACHA (Council)

Chrystina Giorgio, Sandy Spring Bank (RPA)

William Newman, Bank of America (DFI)

 

Elected to ...

November 4, 2008

To help financial institutions assess their ability to accept new format and processing requirements under the new SEC code for international ACH transactions (IAT), the Federal Reserve Banks will begin offering IAT testing on November 4, 2008.

IAT test files can only be exchanged through authorized ACH Sending and Receiving Points. Sending Points will be able to view test results or status using FedACH Information Services available via the FedLine Web access solution. For receipt testing, Receiving Points will be able to receive files for any one or all of the institutions for which they are authorized. Each IAT test receipt file will consist of four transactions containing all mandatory fields and a mixture of optional IAT addenda records. If an institution does not maintain an electronic connection to the Federal Reserve, FedACH Central Operations S ...

Federal Reserve spam attack emerges

Malware scam warns of phishing scam

Written by Shaun Nichols in San Francisco

 November 14,  2008

Security officials are warning users of a clever new phishing scam arriving in emails purporting to come from the US Federal Reserve.

The US Computer Emergency Response Team (US-CERT) said that the spammed messages direct users to a web page which warns of a new phishing scam targeting users.

The message contains a fake Federal Reserve letterhead and warns users in typically broken English that a "large-scales phishing attack started and has been still lasting".

In addition to the shoddy gram ...

On July 30, 2008, NACHA’s Board of Directors approved a Policy Statement on Direct Access. This policy addresses the importance of Originating Depository Financial Institutions (ODFIs) registering with NACHA their direct access relationships for ACH debit transactions, and following prudent risk management techniques including adherence to best practices for the duration of these relationships.  The NACHA Board of Directors expects that ODFIs will register their direct access relationships with NACHA, allowing NACHA to better quantify the number of, and the risk profile for, direct access relationships.  NACHA will work with the ACH Operators to validate that financial institutions have registered all direct access relationships.

 

NACHA has established a secure website for ODFIs that includes the forms to complete the registration process. Financial institutions are required, during an initial six-week period from Septe ...