Each Spring, we move our clocks forward one hour to give ourselves an extra hour of daylight – affording us extra time to spruce up the yard or relax and enjoy the opportunities. Now, we get another chance to take advantage of a time change. However, this one happens in the payments industry.
On March 19, a new Same Day ACH processing window becomes available. This new window extends the processing of Same Day ACH transactions by two hours every business day.
What does this mean to your organization? It means transactions that could affect the balance in your bank account, both debits and credits, could be received by your financial institution and posted to your account as late as 6 pm Eastern Time.
If you have already made arrangements with your financial institution to send Same Day ACH transactions, then this two-hour extension gives you more time to get your ACH files issued today. It’s a great back-up plan if your normal ACH processing fails for any reason.
For example: If today is payday, and you just realized that the normal payroll ACH file did not go out yesterday as planned, then you know you must get the payroll issued today. Same Day ACH is a viable and timely solution. This late-day processing window gives you more time to be successful.
Don’t forget to also prepare in advance for Same Day ACH debits (withdrawals from your account). Make sure your account is positioned to properly fund for late-day debit transactions. Remember, the expansion of Same Day ACH allows for both credit and debit transactions to occur two hours later in the day.
The ‘springing forward’ of our clocks is also a reminder to reduce our risks by checking and changing the batteries in our smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Now is also great time to contact your financial institution and business partners to make sure you are all ‘checking those batteries’.
“Did I change the battery in that smoke detector?” “Did I take into account the Same Day debit that will hit at 6:00pm ET?” – Questions you do NOT want to ask when it is too late to do anything about it.
If you are unsure as to what questions to ask your financial institution, rely on a trusted partner like CampusGuard to help you. Please feel free to reach out to us!
Go to part 2 of the series: Supplementing Fraud Detection Standards for Web Debits
