Nacha’s Upcoming Rules Refresh Is All About Improving Clarity

ACH may be one of the payments industry’s most established networks, but it’s far from standing still. With new Rules taking effect this September—and another significant change already slated for 2028—financial institutions are facing a steady stream of adjustments that could affect how they process transactions, make funds available, and manage compliance.

Earlier this year, Nacha implemented Rules aimed at bolstering financial institutions’ automated push payment fraud protections and cultivating a risk-based approach to fraud detection. This September, additional changes are coming down the pike, geared toward optimizing rules for International ACH Transactions (IATs) and funds availability for non-Same Day ACH transactions.

In a recent PaymentsJournal podcast, Devon Marsh. Managing Director of ACH Network Rules and Risk Management at Nacha, and Ben Danner, Senior Debit Analyst at Javelin Strategy & Research, discussed the reasoning behind the Rules and how financial institutions should adapt to new processes and strategies.

Understanding these Rules is critical, not just to maintain compliance, but also to increase efficiency and prepare for the next evolution of ACH.

Calibrating Cross-Border Payments

When a payment crosses a border, even if only part of the transaction does, the Rules governing it can become considerably more complicated. That is part of what Nacha is addressing with its definition of an International ACH Transaction.

One of the most significant imminent changes is that the definition of IATs will be recalibrated, not replaced.

“When people hear there’s a new definition, they think the definition has changed,” Marsh said. “The revision sought to provide clarity, so there is really no conceptual change in what type of transaction should be called an International ACH Transaction. What changed in the definition was the way it was worded—hopefully, it’s a more accessible definition now and Originators can understand better what they need to code as an IAT when they create an ACH entry.”

When approaching the new definition, the first step for any ACH Network participant that facilitates IAT entries—including Originators, Originating Depository Financial Institutions (ODFIs), and Receiving Depository Financial Institutions (RDFIs)—is to study the definition and compare it against the types of transactions they currently process.

In this process, some organizations that currently create IATs may discover that transactions they have historically considered IATs will not fall under the updated definition. Others may find that transactions previously treated as domestic payments actually meet the definition of an IAT.

Once institutions have ascertained how to appropriately apply the definition, the next step is to educate personnel and begin classifying transactions accordingly. This will make the process more streamlined and better suited to the growing global economy.

“It’s about clarity, which determines the obligations attached to the transaction,” Danner said. “Clarifying definitions around International ACH helps for more accurate compliance screening. It’s better, more accurate data to assess risk for all institutions across the [ACH] Network.”