In 2015, the ACH transaction volume grew to more than 24 billion electronic payments, an increase of 1.3 billion payments or 5.6%, over 2014 volume, according to new statistics released by NACHA — The Electronic Payments Association.
This increase marks the second consecutive year in which ACH payments grew by more than
ACH transaction volume grows 5.6% adding 1.3 billion payments
1 billion. Additionally a total of more than $41.6 trillion was transferred over the ACH Network last year, increasing 4% compared to 2014.
“The ACH Network is a unique payments system providing for robust versatility with its inherent ability to process credit and debit transactions, payments and information together, domestic and international transactions, and more,” said Janet O. Estep, president and CEO of NACHA.
“It is this flexibility and adaptability that has facilitated new payments capabilities to meet the evolving needs of end users, and ultimately contributed to the Network’s consistent growth. With the advent of additional capabilities, such as person-to-person (P2P) payments, which was implemented in March of 2014, and Same Day ACH, which will become available in September, we expect to see continued growth and advancement of the Network and ACH payments.”
Credit and Debit Transactions
One of the unique attributes of the ACH Network is its ability to process both debit and credit transactions. In 2015, the Network processed more than 11 billion debit transactions, which constitutes almost 60% of overall ACH Network volume. While the volume of debit transactions demonstrates its importance and value to end users, end users are embracing credit transactions as well, with credits growing by more than 5% in 2015 to 8 billion transactions.
“Debit transactions are a valued payment type, facilitating both consumer and business-to-business (B2B) efficient bill payments,” said Estep. “But so, too, are credit transactions. Consumers and businesses alike value having options that empower them to determine how they make payments and get paid.”
B2B Transaction Growth
Specifically in the B2B transaction categories, CTX and CCD, ACH volume saw substantial increases. CTX transactions grew by 7.2% and CCD transactions grew by 8.2%. Healthcare payments, a specific CCD transaction, grew to 208 million transactions, or 39%.
Additionally, businesses increased their use of the Network’s unique ability to send payments and information together. Almost 2 billion addenda records containing invoice and other payment-related information were transferred over the Network through CTX and CCD transactions, an increase of 9.1% over 2014.
Consumer Payments: Direct Deposit via ACH and P2P
Not only have B2B transaction categories grown, but so have transactions categories in which consumers serve as the recipient of the payment. Direct Deposit via ACH – a credit transaction – is the transfer of funds from a company or government agency into an individual’s checking or savings account. In 2015, the Network transferred 5.8 billion Direct Deposits, an increase of 200 million transactions over last yet.
P2P payments, a WEB/online credit transaction, saw growth as well. In its first full year of availability,[2] P2P payments grew 670% to 57 million transactions.
In addition to WEB credits, WEB debits saw increases as well. The Network transferred 4 billion WEB debits or online transactions, marking an increase of 12.8% over 2014. Combined, WEB credits and WEB debits make up 21.3% of overall ACH Network volume.
Network Quality Indicators
To help ensure the continued integrity and vitality of ACH payments, NACHA employs a comprehensive risk management strategy to help support and maintain ACH Network quality. Through this strategy and other risk management initiatives, the overall Network unauthorized debit return rate remained low at 0.03% in 2015.
Top 50 Originators and Receivers
Concurrent with the release of 2015 ACH volume information, NACHA also announced the Top 50 Originating Depository Financial Institutions (ODFIs) and Receiving Depository Financial Institutions (RDFIs) in 2015.
The Top 50 ODFIs originated 16.8 billion ACH transactions, accounting for 87.0% of ACH Network originated volume. The Top 50 RDFIs received 11.1 billion ACH transactions, accounting for 57.4% of ACH Network received volume.
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