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Are You Ready for Nacha's Set of Meaningful Modernization Rules?

9/13/2021 - By Janice Weisz, AAP

Nacha’s Meaningful Modernization consists of five new Rules, all of which become effective September 17, 2021. Nacha designed the Meaningful Modernization Rules to improve and simplify the ACH-user experience for businesses and customers by:

Facilitating the adoption of new technologies and channels for the authorization and initiation of ACH payments
Reducing barriers to use the ACH Network
Providing clarity and increasing consistency around certain ACH authorization processes
Reducing certain administrative burdens related to ACH authorizations

Overview of the Five New Rules

The “Standing Authorization Rule” will explicitly define the use of standing authorizations for consumer ACH debits
The “Oral Authorizations Rule” will define and allow for oral authorization of consumer ACH debits beyond telephone calls
The “Other Authorization Issues Rule” will clarify and provide greater consistency of ACH authorization standards across payment initiation channels
The “Alternative to Proof of Authorization Rule” will reduce the administrative burden of providing proof of authorization
The “Written Statement of Unauthorized Debit via Electronic or Oral Methods Rule” will better facilitate the use of electronic and oral Written Statements of Unauthorized Debit

Each of these Rules will become effective September 17, 2021. Click on the links above for more information on each of these upcoming Rules.

Questions?

For more information, you can also visit Nacha's website.

Staying in compliance can be challenging, if you have any questions or need assistance preparing for these new Nacha Rules, email me or a member of our Financial Institutions Team so we can help.

About the Author | Janice Weisz, AAP

Janice is a consultant in the Financial Institution Advisory Group at Saltmarsh, Cleaveland & Gund. Janice has been working with financial institutions since 2001 with an emphasis on operations, compliance, audit and internal controls. Janice currently is an Accredited ACH Professional (AAP) and conducts risk-based Nacha compliance audits and provides ACH-consulting services to the firm’s financial institution industry clients.