Nacha Operating Rules - New Rules

The ​Nacha Operating Rules are the foundation for every ACH payment. By defining the roles and responsibilities of financial institutions and establishing clear guidelines for each Network participant, the Rules ensure that millions of payments occur smoothly and easily each day. All Rules are displayed by effective date.

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RISK MANAGEMENT TOPICS - October 1, 2024

These Rule amendments become effective on Oct 1, 2024 and are part of a larger Risk Management package intended to reduce the incidence of successful fraud attempts and improve the recovery of funds after frauds have occurred.

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RISK MANAGEMENT TOPICS – (Fraud Monitoring Phase 1)

These Rule amendments related to monitoring for fraud become effective on March 20, 2026 and are part of a larger Risk Management package intended to reduce the incidence of successful fraud attempts and improve the recovery of funds after frauds have occurred.

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RISK MANAGEMENT TOPICS – (Fraud Monitoring Phase 2)

These Rule amendments related to monitoring for fraud become effective on June 19, 2026 and are part of a larger Risk Management package intended to reduce the incidence of successful fraud attempts and improve the recovery of funds after frauds have occurred.

RISK MANAGEMENT TOPICS – Company Entry Descriptions

These two Rule amendments on Company Entry Descriptions become effective on March 20, 2026 and are part of a larger Risk Management package intended to reduce the incidence of successful fraud attempts and improve the recovery of funds after frauds have occurred.

RISK MANAGEMENT TOPICS – (Fraud Monitoring Phase 1)

These Rule amendments related to monitoring for fraud become effective on March 20, 2026 and are part of a larger Risk Management package intended to reduce the incidence of successful fraud attempts and improve the recovery of funds after frauds have occurred.

RISK MANAGEMENT TOPICS – October 1, 2024

These Rule amendments become effective on Oct 1, 2024 and are part of a larger Risk Management package intended to reduce the incidence of successful fraud attempts and improve the recovery of funds after frauds have occurred.

MINOR RULES TOPICS

These changes will amend the Nacha Operating Rules to address a variety of minor issues and will become effective June 21, 2024.

Micro-Entries (Phase 2)

This Rule will define and standardize practice and formatting of Micro-Entries, which are used by some ACH Originators as a method of account validation. This phase of the Rule requires Originators of Micro-Entries to use commercially reasonable fraud detection, including the monitoring of Micro-Entry forward and return volumes.

Third-Party Sender Roles and Responsibilities

This Rule clarifies the roles and responsibilities of Third-Party Senders (TPS) in the ACH Network by addressing the existing practice of Nested Third-Party Sender relationships, and making explicit and clarifying the requirement that a TPS conduct a Risk Assessment.

Micro-Entries (Phase 1)

This Rule will define and standardize practices and formatting of Micro-Entries, which are used by some ACH Originators as a method of account validation.

Supplementing Data Security Requirements

This rule supplements previous ACH Security Framework data protection requirements by explicitly requiring large, non-FI Originators, Third-Party Service Providers (TPSPs) and Third-Party Senders (TPSs) to protect deposit account information by rendering it unreadable when it is stored electronically.

Increasing the Same Day ACH Dollar Limit

This rule will continue to expand the capabilities of Same Day ACH. Increasing the Same Day ACH dollar limit to $1 million per payment is expected to improve Same Day ACH use cases, and contribute to additional adoption.

Meaningful Modernization

These Rules intend to improve and simplify the ACH user-experience by: Facilitating the adoption of new technologies and channels for the authorization and initiation of ACH payments; Reducing barriers to use of the ACH; Providing clarity and increasing consistency around certain ACH authorization processes; and Reducing certain administrative burdens related to ACH authorizations

Minor Rules Topics

These changes will amend the Nacha Operating Rules (Rules) to address a variety of minor topics related to Meaningful Modernization, an ACH Operator edit and expiration of stop payments on non-consumer accounts.