Nacha Raises Per Payment Limit for Same Day ACH to $1M

Nacha’s Same Day ACH has raised its per payment limit to $1 million on Friday (March 18), a press release said.

The new threshold, up from $100,000, should create new use cases, and expand existing ones, including vendor and supplier payments for businesses, insurance claims, tax payments and payroll funding.

Nacha manages the administration, development and governance of the Automated Clearing House (ACH) Network, which is the electronic system that facilitates the movement of money in the United States.

“The growth of Same Day ACH in just over five years has been phenomenal as the payments community has welcomed this faster payment method,” said Jane Larimer, Nacha President and CEO. “Nacha has consistently heard requests to increase the dollar limit. Two years ago, it very successfully went to $100,000. Now, Nacha, the ACH operators, and banks and credit unions across the country are meeting the need for a $1 million limit.”

The release notes that ACH Network changes are made and implemented in collaboration with the ACH Network’s two ACH operators, the Federal Reserve and the Clearing House, which provides seamless interoperability.

The release quotes Cheryl Venable, executive vice president and chief of payments operations for Federal Reserve Financial Services, as saying the new limit “is responsive to industry demand and an excellent example of how the ACH Network is evolving to meet market needs and support innovation.”

Jason Carone, senior vice president of ACH Product Management with the Clearing House, said it had never been more evident that faster payments were needed.

“During the pandemic, businesses and consumers shifted to faster payment methods and that trend is continuing. Increasing the Same Day ACH transaction limit to $1 million is good for not only businesses and consumers, but for the entire economy,” he said.

PYMNTS wrote that the number of transactions on the EPN, the ACH for electronic funds transfers, was up 9.6% as of 2021.

Related: ACH Volume on The Clearing House’s EPN Outpaced Industry in 2021

The rise was ahead of the rate the broader ACH market as consumers continued to use more electronic payments.