Operations Bulletin: Open Banking and ACH Payments

On October 22, 2024 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) released its final rule implementing section 1033 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act (the “Personal Financial Data Rights Final Rule” or “Final Rule”). Nacha has released an ACH Operations Bulletin that provides an overview of the Final Rule and an initial assessment of its applicability and impact on ACH Network participants and ACH payments. ACH Network participants should take note, in particular, that: 

• A consumer’s authorization to share data as provided for in the Final Rule, including the “information to initiate payment to or from a Regulation E account,” is separate and distinct from a consumer’s authorization to initiate an ACH payment to credit or debit their account; 
• Receiving Depository Financial Institutions (“RDFIs”) must comply with the Final Rule’s requirement to make routing and account numbers available through consumer and developer interfaces at no cost;  and, 
• The Nacha Operating Rules (“Nacha Rules”) apply, and will continue to apply, to all ACH payments, including those for which the routing and account numbers are obtained through open banking methods, just as if the Receiver had provided that information directly to the payment Originator. 

Click Read More below for the complete Operations Bulletin from Nacha (ePayResources member login required).