Bitcoin is often touted as the most convenient way to send and receive money from others the same day. It is certainly true cryptocurrency is a much quicker way to transfer money and have transactions settled. But over in the US, the banks are not resting on their laurels either, as they introduced same-day ACH transfers on Friday.
Same-day ACH To Be Enabled Soon
It is due time Americans get access to faster payments, as the demand for such a service has been overwhelming. Consumers and merchants are tired of waiting one – or several – business day[s] until funds is cleared in their bank account. Same day ACH is the answer to all of these problems, although only the first place will be rolled out, for now.
This development means consumers and enterprises can send and receive payment on the same day over the ACH Network. Transactions will be completed the very same day, which is a significant step in the right direction. It is up to individual banks to enable this option, though, but experts expect this should not be a problem.
In fact, preliminary research indicates 95% of all top financial institutions in the US will use same day ACH capability in the coming weeks. Particularly payroll and B2B payments will be reaping the benefits of this change, as they are some of the slowest payments to be completed right now.
It is not the first time same day ACH plans are brought to the table. A similar project was set up in 2012, but those plans were shot down by The Clearing House. Now that there is a growing demand for faster payments and innovation, banks have little other option than getting on board with this new program.
Nacha CEO and President Janet Estep told the media:
“The launch of Same Day ACH marks a significant milestone in the journey towards faster payments in the US. While other payments initiatives have been developed to support the demand for faster payments in the US, Same Day ACH provides absolute certainty that your payment can get to absolutely anyone else with a bank account on the same day, regardless of which bank or credit union they use, bringing value to all users of the ACH Network.”
All of this is a reaction to Bitcoin as well, even though no bank will ever admit that. Bitcoin and cryptocurrency allow for instant peer-to-peer payments. Same day ACH is still a long wait compared to Bitcoin, but it goes to show the banking sector can allow faster payments whenever they need to. The bigger question is why they didn’t do so many years ago.
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