The NFAQ—meaning "non-frequently asked question"—will come just a bit further down in this post. First, I need to say the Forum's prediction that same-day ACH would not be a huge hit this year may have been misunderstood. The prediction wasn't meant to say that the service wouldn't gain steam over time; it was more a comment about the type of lift the initiative could experience at the start. But if usage of same-day ACH even somewhat mirrors the level of enthusiasm and participation that attendees lavished on sessions that revolved around the topic at Information Interchange, an annual regional payments association conference sponsored by EastPay and the Atlanta Fed, same-day ACH could become a big hit.
The aforementioned annual payment conference featured four sessions related to same-day ACH. Attendance at each session was standing room only. Topics focused on everything from understanding and preparing for the change to promoting usage and enhancing payment services for customers of all types.
It was really good stuff, I must say, and I managed to squeeze in all but one of the sessions. In the last session, the moderator opened by asking the audience questions to test their knowledge of the rule change and to help panelists focus on what information might be most useful for informing and instructing attendees. The audience didn't miss a single question, which included a trick question about the dollar threshold for "IATs" or international transactions. (IATs aren't eligible, so there is no applicable dollar threshold related to these payment types.)
Perhaps the most important question of the day, which takes me to the NFAQ in the title, didn't get asked in the open sessions. However, a gentleman leaned over and asked me if U.S Treasury transactions were eligible. I didn't think so and told him that, but he pushed back and suddenly we were both unsure. So after a short back and forth with my colleagues, I pointed him to a definitive answer in the same-day FAQs on frbservices.org. It reads as follows:
Q: Will the federal government be participating in Same Day ACH at any phase of implementation?
A: At this time, the federal government will not be participating in phase 1 of the Same Day ACH implementation. Therefore, any entry originated from, or received by, the federal government will not be eligible for same day settlement and will continue to settle on a future date. Information regarding the federal government's participation in later implementation phases will be forthcoming.
I felt compelled to share this "NFAQ" because after asking others about their understanding of the matter, I found general awareness and understanding mixed, but largely incorrect. The distinction between federal government payments and other types of government payments (state government agency payments will be eligible for same-day ACH in phase 1) may be important and may not be as widely known as it should be.
By Julius Weyman, vice president, Retail Payments Risk Forum at the Atlanta Fed