ACH B2B Payments Jump 9.4% as Businesses Abandon Paper Checks

Same Day ACH and B2B payments drove ACH Network volume growth in the first quarter.

The network saw Same Day ACH payment volume grow 23.6% year over year to reach 403 million in the first quarter, while B2B payment volume rose 9.4% to reach 2.1 billion, Nacha, which governs the payment system, said in a Monday (April 20) press release.

In addition, Same Day ACH payment value topped the $1 trillion mark for the second consecutive quarter. This figure increased by 22.1% year over year to hit $1.1 trillion, according to the release.

These gains helped drive the total ACH Network to year-over-year growth of 4.8% in volume, which reached 8.9 billion payments, and 9.3% in value, which was gauged at $24.1 trillion, per the release.

In four major transaction types highlighted by Nacha in an infographic released Monday, there were year-over-year volume increases of 18.5% in person-to-person (P2P), 5.4% in internet, 4.9% in healthcare and 1.7% in direct deposit.

“The strong growth in both Same Day ACH and B2B payments reflect the strength of the ACH Network,” Nacha President and CEO Jane Larimer said in the release. “ACH payments are moving the nation’s businesses away from checks, and Same Day ACH is helping to meet the demand for faster payments.”

These first quarter figures continue the growth seen during the full year of 2025, when overall ACH Network payment volume increased by 4.9% and value increased by 7.9%.

In a January press release announcing the data for 2025, Larimer said there is a growing trend in which businesses of all sizes are turning their backs on checks.

“Whether it’s a neighborhood dentist’s office or a multinational corporation, no business should be sending or receiving checks in 2026,” Larimer said.

PYMNTS reported April 6 that in response to new Nacha rules, banks have been implementing continuous ACH fraud monitoring that replaces static fraud controls.

The continuous monitoring is tied to how ACH transactions actually move through the system, with periodic review becoming an always-on function that requires upgrades to data flows, identity checks and internal coordination across payments-focused risk and onboarding systems, according to the report.