The ACH network reached a major milestone in 2018, delivering its strongest growth rate in a decade and reinforcing its role as a cornerstone of the U.S. payments system. As businesses and consumers continued their shift toward electronic transactions, ACH payments expanded across nearly every major use case, from payroll and business transfers to healthcare and person-to-person payments.
The year also marked a significant turning point for same day ach, which completed its first full year supporting both credit and debit transactions. Strong adoption rates demonstrated growing demand for faster payment options while highlighting the flexibility of a network that continues to evolve alongside changing customer expectations.
2018 was a milestone year for the ACH Network. Payment volume climbed by almost 1.5 billion payments, the fourth straight year the ACH Network has added more than 1 billion new payments.
ACH Network volume reached nearly 23 billion payments in 2018, a year-over-year increase of 6.9 percent and the highest growth rate since 2008. That’s nearly 70 payments for every person in the U.S.
The value of ACH payments in 2018 was $51.2 trillion, a 9.5 percent increase over 2017. It marked the sixth consecutive year in which ACH payment value has risen by at least $1 trillion. For perspective, the value of last year’s ACH payments was more than 2 1/2 times that of the nation’s 2017 gross domestic product.
Same Day ACH volume soared in 2018, the first full year with same-day debits as well as credits. There were nearly 178 million Same Day ACH payments last year: 98.3 million credits and 79.7 million debits. Overall Same Day ACH volume jumped 137 percent from 2017. Total Same Day ACH value in 2018 was $159.9 billion, up 83 percent over the year before.
“The results for 2018 make clear that the ACH Network is vibrant and continues to be a vital component of the nation’s economic engine,” said NACHA Chief Operating Officer Jane Larimer. “With more enhancements to Same Day ACH being rolled out this year and next, the experience for businesses and consumers will only get better.”
Several core ACH use cases saw substantial growth in 2018 including:
- Business-to-business (B2B) payments, up 9.4 percent to 3.6 billion, total value $34.9 trillion
- Direct Deposit, up 4.4 percent to 6.8 billion, total value $9.7 trillion
- Internet payments, up 14.2 percent to 5.9 billion, total value $2.9 trillion
- Payments from health plans to medical and dental providers, up 11.5 percent to 306.7 million, total value $1.59 trillion
- Person-to-person (P2P) payments, up 32.2 percent to 128.7 million, total value $209.6 billion
The ACH network’s performance in 2018 underscores its importance as a trusted and highly scalable payment rail. Growth across categories such as b2b payments, direct deposit, internet payments, and P2P transactions reflects the continued migration away from paper-based processes and toward digital payment methods.
As same day ach capabilities continue to expand, the network is well positioned to support future payment innovation while maintaining the reliability and reach that have made it indispensable to businesses, financial institutions, and consumers alike.
About NACHA
NACHA is the steward of the ACH Network, an electronic payment system that safely and reliably moves tens of billions of payments annually. NACHA sets and enforces the NACHA Operating Rules and works to continuously enhance the ACH Network through innovation, education and advocacy. In 2018, the ACH Network moved 23 billion payments and more than $51 trillion over a wide range of transaction types, including Direct Deposit of salaries and benefits, bill payments, business-to-business (B2B) and person-to-person (P2P) payments, and claim payments to healthcare providers. As a nonprofit organization, NACHA convenes hundreds of diverse organizations to enhance and enable electronic payments and financial data exchange within the U.S. and across geographies. Through development of rules, standards, governance, education, advocacy, and in support of innovation, NACHA’s efforts benefit the providers and users of those systems. NACHA leads groups focused on API standardization and authors the Quest Operating Rules for EBT.
