Same-day direct deposit, other transactions will be available in 2016

By this time next year, when you need to make a same-day ACH credit transaction, your bank should be ready to provide you with that service.  

The Federal Reserve Banks should be aligned with the amended NACHA operating rules by the Sept. 23, 2016 deadline.

That’s according to a recent Federal Reserve Board notice in the Federal Register.

Although the Federal Reserve Banks have offered FedACH SameDay Service since 2010, only 1% of FedACH depository institutions use it.

So same-day direct deposit and other transactions haven’t been widely available.

But helpful changes are coming as a result of the amended operating rules, which NACHA finalized on May 19, 2015.

With the new operating rules in mind, the Federal Reserve Board will make receipt of same-day ACH transactions mandatory for all Receiving Depository Financial Institutions (RDFI). That includes even small banks, to ensure the service is available everywhere.

Another change: Now an RDFI can charge an interbank fee to the Originating Depository Financial Institution (ODFI).

The maximum fee will be 5.2 cents per transaction. If same-day ACH volume exceeds projections by more than 25% during one of the regularly scheduled review periods, that fee may be reduced.

Chances are employers will incur at least part of the cost.

Note: In addition to the Federal Reserve Banks, there’s another ACH network operator, called The Clearing House, which utilizes the Electronic Payments Network. Both operators provide services to enable ODFIs to originate and RDFIs to receive ACH transactions.

Deadlines to watch

The upcoming Sept. 23, 2016 deadline is for credits transactions.

On Sept. 15, 2017, debit transactions will be added. The final deadline is March 16, 2018. By then, an RDFI must make credit transactions available by 5 p.m. local time.