NACHA Creates Coalition on Check Conversion Consumer Education

HERNDON, Va.-NACHA (The Electronic Payments Association) is looking for credit unions, banks and others to sign up for its new Check Conversion Education Coalition. The coalition’s goal is to educate consumers about check conversion, with an initial focus on Accounts Receivable Entry (ARC) application for bill payments. “Consumers are beginning to experience the ARC check conversion process when they pay their bills, and it is natural that some will have questions,” JP Morgan Chase Vice President and ACH Senior Product Manager Alan Koenigsberg, a co-chair of the coalition, said. ARC, which became effective March 15, 2002, is used in consumer bill payment. The conversion process entails sending a consumer’s check to a remittance location and converting it into an ACH debit. Approximately 55 million checks were handled in this manner in the first half of 2003, NACHA estimated. Contact NACHA at www.nacha.org or Robin Reeder at (703) 561-3925 for membership details.