Growth in theuse of same-day ACH is putting it on pace to hit 120 milliondebit and credit transactions a year, according to new data fromNACHA – the Electronic Payments Association.

In 2017, there were 75.1 same-day ACH transactions totaling$87.1 billion, an average $1,161 per payment. December's 15.2million transactions represented a 51% increase over November,indicating widespread interest in the payment method, NACHAsaid.

“Financial institutions, businesses and consumers are reapingthe benefits of same-day ACH,” NACHA COO Jane Larimer said.“Same-day ACH is now a reality for payroll, bill payment,business-to-business payments, account transfers and many otherapplications.”

The vast majority (92%) of same-day ACH debit transactions,whichjust launched last September, has been consumer bill paymentsand account-to-account debits; the rest were B2B payments, NACHAreported.

Same-day ACH credit has been available since September 2016; itsuse spiked 47% in the fourth quarter of 2017, NACHA added.

NACHA said 2018 will likely show even bigger growth due in partto the rollout of phase III of same-day ACH, which is set to takeeffect on March 16. Starting on that date, same-day ACH creditsmust be made available to account holders by 5 p.m. local time.

According to a NACHA survey done last November and December andreleased last week, 82% of financialinstitutions expect same-day ACH debit volume to grow “at arapid or steady rate,” and 78% expect same-day ACH credit volume togrow “at a steady rate” over the next six to nine months.

The survey also found that 84% of member financial institutionsoriginating same-day ACH debit said actual volume was the same orhigher than anticipated; 90% of financial institutions that receivesame-day ACH debits said the same.

The respondents said they haven't seen an increase in fraud due to same-day ACH.

“Both the results to date and the forward-looking expectationsreported in this survey echo NACHA's long-held position that use ofsame-day ACH payments will continue to grow at a robust rate,”Larimer said. “Use cases for same-day ACH debits like bill paymentsand business-to-business payments demonstrate how this additionalfaster payment method is benefiting consumers and businessesalike.”

Additionally, 95% of the financial institutions surveyed saidthey have or will meet the same-day ACH requirements for phase IIIby the end of January 2018.

The advent of phase III in March may not be the last chapter insame-day ACH, however.

NACHA is soliciting comments on new proposals to add a thirdsame-day ACH processing window, provide faster funds availabilityto receivers of same-day and non-same-day ACH credits, as well asraise the per-transaction dollar limit on same-day transactions to$100,000. The group is also exploring interest in ACH processing onweekends and holidays.

“Deferred settlement until Mondays (or Tuesdays on three-dayweekends) can cause hardships for cases such as consumer payrollpayments and bill payments, and accountholders might not have thebest information available about their true available balances,” itsaid.

“Strategically, same-day ACH is a key component of NACHA'sroadmap to move the ACH Network forward for financial institutions and their customers.Feedback from financial institutions and ACH end-users alreadysuggests that many organizations could make greater use of same-dayACH with changes to its features,” the organization noted.