Our financial lives are moving faster than ever before. To keep up, the entire financial services industry—through the Federal Reserve—has been working behind the scenes to modernize the systems that allow deposits and payments to meet this new, accelerated pace.
Last year, the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA), the organization that administers the electronic movement of money in the United States, launched new rules affecting Automated Clearing House (ACH) credits, such as those governing funds availability for direct deposits.
In the second phase of this industry-wide upgrade, effective September 15, 2017, NACHA will be implementing same-day ACH debits. ACH debits include electronic payments, automatic drafts, paper check conversions or any electronic withdrawal from an account using a bank’s routing and transit numbers. Merchants and service providers sometimes refer to these as direct payments, direct debit, electronic checks, or e-checks.
Essentially, this latest change means some payments you make, or have previously authorized, may be debited from your account faster than before. As a result, it will be critically important to be aware of your account’s available balance to ensure you have the funds necessary to cover transactions at the time of payment, and to avoid overdraft or insufficient funds fees. Now might also be an opportune time to review your automated payment agreements to verify the date of your payment each month since this will now likely be the actual date the debit occurs.
If you have questions about same-day ACH debits or how this latest upgrade might impact you, please call us at Mountain Commerce Bank. Our toll-free number is 866-MCB-1910 (866-622-1910).