Instant is the future vision of B2B payments, but as we’ve learned with flying cars and jet-packs, “the future” isn’t always what we imagined. With B2B payments, one factor likely slowing the roll of instant business payments adoption is the persistent strength of ACH.
As industry publication B2B Daily recently reported, “approximately 8,100 banks and credit unions, representing an 85% share of the U.S. market, have yet to embrace any instant payment solution. Many institutions that have implemented instant payments remain in ‘receive-only’ mode, cautiously approaching other payment flows.”
Meanwhile, in the world of ACH payments, it’s BAU – and business is good.
The National Automated Clearinghouse Association (Nacha), the non-profit that governs ACH, told Bottomline that B2B ACH payments “continued to see significant growth in 2024,” rising 11.6% with total transactions reaching 7.4 billion YoY. “The total value of these payments surged to $58.2 trillion, a 7.5% increase from the previous year,” Nacha said.
It doesn’t call instant and real-time payments’ utility into question. If anything, it asks the question: outside of microbusinesses and the smallest tier of SMBs, is the timing right for mass uptake of instant B2B payments? Is the disruption from a changeover worth it right now?
When is ‘Same Day’ as Good as ‘Instant’ for B2B Payments?
A Nacha spokesperson told Bottomline that the ACH Network handled 392.80 million Same Day B2B payments in 2024, equaling $1.9 trillion in value. “This was a 50.5% increase in payments and a 35.5% rise in total dollars transferred in 2024,” the spokesperson said.
Compare that to $17.5 billion total sent via the FedNow instant service from inception its in mid-2023 to late 2024. As for RTP® from The Clearing House (TCH), operational since 2017 and with 285,000 businesses now utilizing the service through financial institutions, TCH says, total RTP® volume in 2024 was $246 billion. Combined, they’re still a fraction of ACH volume.
Demand for instant B2B payments is there, clearly. Growing volume on real-time networks proves it, as do rising transaction limits on both networks. But with an option like Same Day ACH also growing, enabling businesses to enhance cash flow management and streamline processing, B2B payments can be greatly accelerated without any changes to manage.
In a January 2025 blog, Nacha president and CEO Jane Larimer wrote that “While standard ACH is quick, sometimes you need to move money faster. Maybe there’s a payday error, or a bill or a vendor that needs to be paid today. That’s a perfect time to use Same Day ACH. Utilizing optimal speed, Same Day ACH payments can be received in as little as a few hours on the same business day.”
But she added that “There are times when using the instant payment systems—RTP and FedNow—makes good sense. It can be cashing out the funds in a digital wallet to your bank account, or closing on a real estate transaction for which irrevocability of the payment is a key consideration.
Nacha’s 2025 Outlook on Fraud, Gen AI, and Payments Automation
Recognizing the changing fraud landscape, a set of amendments to the Nacha Operating Rules was approved last year, “intended to reduce the incidence of successful fraud attempts and improve the recovery of funds after fraud has occurred. These Rule amendments fit together as a set and follow the flow of a credit-push payment to promote the detection of fraud,” the spokesperson said.
Two of the new Rule amendments become effective in 2026, “…and require parties to establish and implement risk-based processes and procedures to identify Entries suspected of being unauthorized or authorized under False Pretenses. This includes non-consumer Originators, third parties, ODFIs, and RDFIs. Participants are encouraged to come into compliance with the new rules as soon as possible,” according to Nacha.
The spokesperson added that “we’re closely following trends in generative AI and payments automation, and we are already taking steps to integrate AI tools in ways that support accessibility and usability of the Nacha Operating Rules & Guidelines.”
“We partnered with a third party to make the Nacha Rules available within an AI bot interface. When users pair the most recent version of the Nacha Rules with this tool, they gain enhanced usability in an AI environment, making it easier to navigate and apply the Rules to real-world scenarios.”
"Smarter, Faster" Captures the Payments Zeitgeist
Echoing crucial initiatives from ISO 20022 harmonization to the obsession with instant payments, Nacha’s 2025 “Smarter Faster Payments” conference, April 27-30 in New Orleans, is devoting some quality time to business payment issues resonating throughout this year, and after.
“For those wanting to dive deep into B2B payments, the sessions ‘Keeping B2B Payments Fraud at Bay’ and ‘A Guide to Navigating Cross-Border B2B Payments’ will provide practical strategies in this space,” the Nacha spokesperson told Bottomline.