Same Day ACH Volume Jumps 37% as Businesses Fill the Gap Between Batch and Instant

 | 

Highlights

A buyer sends money before an invoice deadline, while the supplier waits for money already committed to payroll, inventory or another bill. Shortening that interval gives both parties greater certainty about when cash leaves one account and becomes available in another.

Firms are gaining more ways to shorten the interval between releasing cash and satisfying an obligation.

There’s commercial value in controlling that interval. Same Day ACH, a faster payments option provided by Nacha, addresses obligations requiring delivery within the banking day, while instant payments support immediate receipt, including outside banking hours. For finance teams, the choice of what to use, and when, is tied to how long money remains available before release.

Same Day ACH volume rose 36.7% year over year to 470.4 million payments in the third quarter, PYMNTS reported Tuesday (Oct. 20). Value increased about 32% to $1.3 trillion. The growth documents use of an intermediate settlement schedule as banks also expand instant payment services.

Working Capital on Both Sides

Supplier payments expose the competing demands on cash. Buyers manage payment dates against incoming receipts and other obligations. Suppliers depend on those receipts to finance their own operations. A payment scheduled for an agreed date still leaves the recipient managing uncertainty about arrival and availability.

The PYMNTS Intelligence Tracker “The Real-Time Perception Gap: How Experience Is Driving the Next Phase of Instant Payments Adoption” found in June that 79% of businesses using instant payment methods cited improved cash flow management. Meanwhile, 78% reported stronger supplier relationships, and the same share cited an improved ability to capture early payment discounts.

The terms of an agreement can also set a deadline. An early payment discount, for example, requires money to arrive within the qualifying period. A supplier releasing goods against payment needs assurance that the transfer is complete. These requirements put a value on reliable receipt beyond the number of seconds a transaction takes.

Same-day settlement occupies the space where delivery today satisfies the obligation. Nacha’s documented business applications include supplier payments, payroll and cash concentration, or consolidating funds across accounts. The remaining constraint is the banking-day schedule. Approval and submission must occur before the applicable cutoff.

Payroll corrections showcase how payment requirements change within one business. Regular payroll follows a planned cycle; a missed payment discovered on payday requires another instruction. An error discovered after the final ACH cutoff leaves fewer options for delivery that day.

The same timing issue applies to an invoice held for a discrepancy and approved late, or funding required during a weekend. The Clearing House’s RTP® network provides immediate funds availability and final settlement around the clock, while the FedNow® Service also operates on weekends and Federal Reserve holidays. Continuous availability serves these exceptions to scheduled processing.

Existing methods nevertheless satisfy the needs of a substantial group of businesses, per PYMNTS Intelligence data. The June Tracker reported that 24% of RTP nonusers said their payment methods met their needs. Among instant payment users, 76% reported more efficient reconciliation.

The adoption case consequently extends to matching receipts with invoices and confirming which obligations have been discharged.

$10 Million Limit Brings Larger B2B Payments Into Same-Day Range

More substantial B2B transfers will enter the same-day comparison when the ACH per-payment limit rises from $1 million to $10 million on Sept. 17, 2027. The increase expands eligibility for larger invoices, payroll funding and cash concentration transfers without extending the settlement schedule.

Businesses will have a wider range of eligible payments to assess against supplier terms and funding needs. The PYMNTS Intelligence Tracker “From Adoption to Execution: How FIs Are Turning Real-Time Payments Into Competitive Advantage” found in August that liquidity requirements, treasury integration and staffing for continuous operations are among banks’ implementation concerns.

For B2B payments, flexibility depends on coordinating the release of funds with their expected use. Same-day settlement compresses scheduled transfers into fewer hours; instant settlement removes the wait for the next processing window. Both affect the cash available to buyers and suppliers between approval and receipt.

For all PYMNTS B2B coverage, subscribe to the daily B2B newsletter.