U.S. and Europe Focus on Faster Payments, Quicker Access to Funds (Dec. 10, 2014)
NACHA, the Herndon, Va.-based electronic payments association, and the European Central Bank (ECB) independently are taking steps to speed up the payments process with the goal of same-day settlement.
NACHA yesterday released a request for comment (RFC) on same-day ACH. The request outlines a proposal for new, universal clearing and settlement options to move nearly all ACH payments more quickly, according to an announcement. The system used today can take three to five days for electronic payments to clear.
NACHA’s proposal mandates all receiving depository financial institutions (RDFIs) to receive same-day ACH files and to make funds available to their customers by the end of the work day. The RFC also introduces an interbank fee for RDFIs to recover the implementation and ongoing costs necessary to enable same-day ACH. The interbank fee is projected to be 8.2 cents per same-day ACH transaction, according to NACHA. The fee would be paid to the RDFI by the originating depository financial institution.
“Being able to move payments faster to every financial institution in the U.S. is critical to creating value for the consumers, businesses and government agencies that move their money via ACH,” said NACHA CEO Janet O. Estep. “[Same-day ACH] creates a solid foundation on which to build innovative services that meet today’s demands and tomorrow’s needs.” NACHA is providing a fact sheet outlining opportunities, business cases and the phases to be used to implement same-day ACH payments. Feb. 6, 2015 is the deadline for comments. which can be submitted here.
Earlier this month, the Euro Retail Payments Board (ERPB), a group chaired by the ECB, has decided to hasten its efforts on the topics of instant payments in euros, P2P mobile payments and contactless payments. “Instant payments, defined as solutions available 24/7/365 and resulting in the immediate or close to immediate interbank clearing of the transaction and crediting of the payee’s account, are the next frontier of development in the payments industry,” the board said in an announcement. The ERPB wants to take advantage of integration already achieved with the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) requirements and avoid a fragmented market for instant payments in Europe.
“Solutions for instant payments should avoid the ‘silo’ mentality of closed systems that don’t communicate with each other and take advantage of the harmonization and integration already achieved with the SEPA project,” said Yves Mersch, member of the ECB’s executive board and chair of the ERPB. Click here for more detail on the ERPB’s plans and recommendations.
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