Posted by NationalACH on Apr 17, 2012

ACH Volumes Continue to Rise

According to NACHA, there were 20.2 billion ACH transactions totaling $33.91 trillion processed in 2011.  This represents an increase of 4.35% compared to 2010.

Three types of transactions were responsible for most of the growth volume.  First are “native” electronic payments, which are end-to-end electronic transactions.  These increased 5.31% in 2011 over 2011.  Secondly, consumer online payments (WEB transactions).  Thirdly, B2B transactions, such as vendor payments and other business transactions.

Even though there are thousands of banks in the US, just 50 financial institutions handled 56% of ACH transactions.  Online bill payments grew 13.35%, as the number of consumers who pay bills through online banking continued to increase.

Overall rate of return on ACH transactions was less than 1% in 2011, compared to 2% in 2010.  Unauthorized debits decreased to 0.03% in 2012, a major drop from 3.14% in 2010.  Further demonstrating the safety and security of the ACH processing network.

More Internet Sites Accept Checks Online

Online consumer payments accounted for a whopping 16.67% of ACH transactions in 2011.  Although most of these where for online bill payments, it clearly shows that consumers are quite comfortable paying with direct bank debits online.

One can expect this will translate into even more e-check sales on websites.  As more consumers pay bills online, the behavior of using bank debits becomes habitual.  30% of online merchants already offer electronic checks as a payment option at checkout. 

Conclusion

More & more, internet retailers are offering echecks as a payment option on the checkout page.

Online sites, including those classified as high risk merchants, are taking advantage of habitual consumer payment behaviors by providing customers the ability to pay with an electronic check.

Are you a high risk merchant that wants to accept checks online to increase sales & profits?

Contact info@NationalACH.com today