Nacha ACH Rules Change

Chapter 1

Why the Nacha ACH Rules Change Is a Big Deal

In March and June of 2026, Nacha will implement new rules that reshape how organizations handle ACH payments. These updates extend beyond banks and payment processors and apply directly to businesses that originate ACH credits to suppliers. Procurement, vendor management, finance, treasury, and compliance functions will all need to adapt.

At the core of these changes are two new requirements: organizations must verify supplier bank account ownership and implement risk-based fraud monitoring. These rules recognize a simple reality: ACH fraud and vendor impersonation have become persistent threats. Businesses can no longer rely on trust or outdated manual processes; they must adopt stronger verification and monitoring practices from the start.

The implications are significant. Payment compliance can no longer be separated from supplier onboarding. Organizations that fail to modernize their processes face heightened fraud risk, regulatory exposure, and reputational damage.

Get a comprehensive breakdown of the Nacha 2026 rule changes and what they mean for your organization.

Read the White Paper

Chapter 2

Understanding the Nacha ACH Rules

The 2026 Nacha ACH rules change introduces phased implementation:

• March 20, 2026: Phase 1 applies to originators and third-party senders processing more than 6 million ACH entries annually.
• June 19/22, 2026: Phase 2 extends the requirement to all other non-consumer ACH originators and third parties.

The rule requires:

• Risk-based fraud monitoring. Organizations must implement processes to identify and mitigate potentially fraudulent ACH activity.
• Bank account ownership verification. Prior to initiating payments, particularly first payments and whenever account details change, companies must confirm that the account belongs to the supplier.
• Auditability. Organizations must maintain documentation and evidence of their verification and monitoring processes.

In short, the rule applies to any business paying suppliers by ACH. Compliance requires more than intention; it requires documented procedures and controls that stand up to audit scrutiny.

Chapter 3

Why Change the Nacha ACH Rules? The Fraud Landscape

These changes are driven by the continued rise of ACH payment fraud. According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Report, U.S. businesses lost more than $2.7 billion to business email compromise in 2024 alone. Some of these losses stemmed from fraudulent vendor onboarding and unauthorized bank account changes.

Fraudsters increasingly exploit manual processes, such as emailed banking instructions, PDF forms, and manual data entry into ERP systems. These weak points allow bad actors to impersonate vendors or alter account information, leading to misdirected payments that are nearly impossible to recover.

The Nacha ACH rules change aims to strengthen the integrity of ACH payments and reduce opportunities for fraud by mandating ownership verification and risk-based monitoring. In this way, they hope to prevent:

Business Email Compromise (BEC) and vendor impersonation

BEC scams involve fraudsters posing as trusted suppliers or executives to trick staff into changing payment instructions. The Nacha ACH rules combat this by requiring organizations to confirm bank account ownership before releasing funds, making impersonation attempts easier to detect.

Payment diversion via account change requests

Fraud often occurs when cybercriminals submit falsified requests to update vendor bank account details. Without proper controls, accounts payable teams may unknowingly redirect funds. Under the Nacha ACH rules, every account change must be verified, closing this common fraud loophole.

Fake or shell vendors

Some fraudsters create entirely fictitious vendors or shell companies to siphon payments. Manual onboarding makes it easy for these entities to slip through. Nacha’s emphasis on verification and risk-based fraud monitoring forces organizations to validate identity and ownership, reducing the chance of fraudulent vendors entering the system.

The Nacha ACH rules change is more than a compliance update; it is a direct response to the most pressing types of payment fraud. By addressing impersonation, diversion, shell vendors, and insider risks, the rule creates stronger guardrails to protect organizations and their supplier payments.

Chapter 4

Organizational Implications of the Nacha ACH Rules Change

The Nacha ACH rule does not impact only one department. Its requirements ripple across procurement, vendor management, treasury, finance, compliance, and risk teams. Each function must adapt its processes to ensure supplier payments are both secure and compliant. Below are the key implications by team.

Procurement and vendor management

For procurement and vendor management, Nacha’s rules elevate the importance of supplier onboarding. Every new supplier relationship becomes a potential compliance risk if identity and banking details are not verified from the outset.

This requires procurement teams to:

• Move away from informal collection of vendor data, such as email attachments.
• Ensure that bank account ownership is verified during onboarding.
• Collaborate more closely with finance and compliance to avoid data silos.

Procurement’s role is no longer limited to enabling supplier relationships. It now includes safeguarding those relationships through structured risk assessment and compliance practices at onboarding.

Treasury and finance

For treasury and finance teams, the Nacha rule reinforces existing concerns: once an ACH payment is sent, recovery is extremely difficult. The new requirements provide both a mandate and a framework to strengthen payment controls.

Key implications include:

• Finality of payments. Treasury must ensure account ownership verification before disbursements.
• Compliance obligations. Finance teams will be expected to produce evidence of verification and fraud monitoring.
• Process redesign. Dual approvals, segregation of duties, and real-time checks will need to be embedded into workflows.

Treasury leaders can use the new rule as an opportunity to standardize controls and enforce stronger governance across the payment lifecycle.

Compliance and risk management

Compliance and risk functions face increased accountability under Nacha’s rule. The expectation is clear: organizations must establish, document, and monitor fraud controls, and they must be able to provide evidence of those controls when required.

Priorities for compliance leaders include:

• Policy alignment. Updating policies to reflect Nacha’s requirements and translating them into actionable procedures.
• Audit readiness. Ensuring that every verification and fraud check is logged, timestamped, and accessible.
• Cross-functional coordination. Procurement, treasury, and AP teams must work from a single framework to avoid compliance gaps.

The new rule positions compliance leaders not only as overseers but as enablers of secure and resilient supplier payments.

Chapter 5

Why Manual Processes Can Fall Short of the Nacha ACH Rules Change

Organizations that rely on manual processes (think: spreadsheets, email attachments, and ad hoc verification) are not prepared for the 2026 Nacha ACH rule. These methods lack the accuracy, consistency, and auditability required to demonstrate compliance. In fact, the very processes many teams rely on today are the same weak points fraudsters exploit.

High error rates and data integrity issues

Manual re-keying of supplier data increases the chance of mistakes in account numbers and routing details. Even a small typographical error can cause payment delays or misdirect funds. Under the Nacha ACH rule, organizations must prove accuracy in their processes, and manual entry simply cannot guarantee that level of reliability.

Fraud exposure through unsecure channels

Emailed banking information is highly vulnerable. Criminals can intercept or alter PDF forms and email attachments with ease, redirecting payments without detection. Because Nacha requires account ownership verification, companies that rely on email-based onboarding will find themselves non-compliant and at higher risk of payment diversion fraud.

Operational inefficiency

Manual reviews consume significant staff time, slowing down supplier onboarding and frustrating both internal teams and vendors. As compliance requirements grow under the Nacha ACH rule, these inefficiencies will multiply, creating bottlenecks that harm supplier relationships and increase operational costs.

Lack of audit trails

Disconnected spreadsheets, emails, and paper forms leave organizations without the clear, auditable evidence regulators demand. Nacha emphasizes the need for documented proof of verification and monitoring. Without automated, centralized records, organizations will struggle to demonstrate compliance when audited.

Why manual processes cannot scale to compliance

The Nacha ACH rule requires organizations to demonstrate control, accuracy, and consistency across every supplier payment. Manual processes, by design, cannot deliver those outcomes at scale. As payment fraud becomes more sophisticated and regulatory requirements more stringent, businesses that cling to outdated methods will face both compliance gaps and heightened financial risk.

Chapter 6

The Case for Automation for Adapting to the Nacha ACH Rules Change

Automation is convenient, yes. But it also underpins “doing things right” and serves as a sustainable way to comply with the Nacha ACH rule while reducing fraud risk and maintaining operational efficiency. As the regulatory environment tightens, businesses need systems that can enforce controls consistently, provide real-time validation, and generate the evidence regulators demand. Manual processes cannot deliver this at scale. Automation can.

Real-time verification

Automated onboarding platforms validate bank account ownership, identity, and business registration data instantly. Instead of relying on emailed documents or delayed manual reviews, businesses can confirm supplier details in real time. This reduces the risk of fraud while accelerating onboarding and keeping procurement and finance workflows efficient.

Get a comprehensive breakdown of the Nacha 2026 rule changes and what they mean for your organization.

Read the White Paper

Dynamic and continuous monitoring

Fraud and compliance risks are not static. A supplier that is compliant today may be flagged tomorrow due to sanctions, ownership changes, or account updates. Automated systems continuously monitor supplier profiles, ensuring that changes trigger alerts and re-verification. This dynamic approach aligns directly with Nacha’s expectation for risk-based fraud monitoring.

Risk-based workflows

Not every supplier carries the same risk. Automation allows organizations to apply tiered levels of scrutiny: high-risk suppliers undergo deeper checks, while low-risk suppliers are onboarded quickly but still securely. This risk-based approach balances compliance requirements with operational efficiency, reflecting the spirit of the Nacha ACH rule.

Integrated collaboration across functions

Procurement, treasury, compliance, and accounts payable often work in silos. Automation breaks down these barriers by consolidating supplier data and workflows into a single platform. With all teams accessing the same information, miscommunication decreases, and accountability increases. This integrated visibility is essential for both compliance and operational resilience.

Audit-ready records and evidence

One of the core requirements of the Nacha ACH rule is auditability. Automated systems log every action, from initial verification to account changes, with timestamps and user records. This creates a comprehensive digital audit trail that can be shared with regulators, auditors, or internal stakeholders. Instead of scrambling to piece together evidence, organizations have compliance documentation readily available.

Enhancing human judgment

Automation does not replace the expertise of procurement, finance, or compliance professionals but rather enhances it. By automating foundational checks and monitoring, human teams are freed to focus on higher-level risk analysis, exception handling, and strategic supplier decisions. Automation provides a reliable baseline; people provide the insight.

Why automation is essential under the Nacha ACH rules change

Ultimately, automation addresses the exact weaknesses Nacha is targeting: reliance on unverifiable information, inconsistent processes, and lack of auditability. By embedding automated verification and monitoring into supplier onboarding, organizations not only comply with the Nacha ACH rule but also strengthen their defenses against fraud, streamline supplier relationships, and improve cross-team collaboration.

Chapter 7

How PaymentWorks Helps Organizations Comply with the Nacha ACH Rules Change

PaymentWorks is purpose-built to address the supplier onboarding and payment challenges highlighted by the Nacha ACH rule. As an automated vendor onboarding and supplier risk management platform, it provides the technology and workflows organizations need to reduce fraud exposure, meet compliance obligations, and improve supplier relationships.

Verified bank account ownership

PaymentWorks integrates directly with trusted data sources and banking networks to validate that supplier bank accounts belong to the entity being onboarded. This eliminates the risks associated with emailed bank details and ensures compliance with Nacha’s account ownership verification requirement.

Automated and secure supplier onboarding

Instead of relying on spreadsheets or PDFs, PaymentWorks collects and verifies supplier identity, tax, and banking information within a secure digital platform. Automated checks replace manual verification, reducing fraud risk while accelerating onboarding.

Support for risk-based processes

PaymentWorks allows organizations to configure workflows based on supplier risk level. High-risk suppliers can be routed through enhanced verification steps, while lower-risk vendors benefit from streamlined onboarding. This aligns with Nacha’s emphasis on risk-based fraud monitoring.

Cross-functional visibility

Procurement, finance, compliance, and accounts payable teams share the same platform and data within PaymentWorks. This removes silos, ensures consistent information, and enables coordinated oversight across all functions involved in supplier risk management.

Comprehensive audit trails

Every step in the onboarding and verification process is logged and timestamped within PaymentWorks. This creates a transparent, regulator-ready audit trail, giving organizations confidence during audits and helping them meet Nacha’s documentation requirements.

Beyond compliance: strengthening supplier relationships

While PaymentWorks ensures compliance with the Nacha ACH rule, its benefits extend further. Faster, more secure onboarding improves the supplier experience, reduces disputes over payments, and strengthens long-term partnerships.

In short, PaymentWorks enables organizations to transform supplier onboarding from a manual, high-risk process into an automated, compliant, and supplier-friendly system. Adopting PaymentWorks helps companies to comply with Nacha’s ACH rule while also gaining strategic advantages in efficiency, fraud prevention, and supplier trust.

Chapter 8

Building a Nacha-Ready Roadmap

Preparing for the Nacha ACH rule requires both immediate actions and long-term planning. A practical roadmap includes:

• Assessment. Audit existing onboarding and payment workflows to identify gaps.
• Technology evaluation. Identify tools and platforms that support account verification, monitoring, and auditability.
• Policy updates. Align internal policies with Nacha’s requirements and ensure procedures are enforceable.
• Cross-team alignment. Bring procurement, treasury, compliance, and AP into a single framework.
• Testing and training. Run pilot processes before 2026 to ensure readiness and train staff on new requirements.

Organizations that start now will be better positioned to comply without disruption.

Chapter 9

FAQs About the 2026 Nacha ACH Rules Change — People Also Ask

What is the Nacha ACH rules change?

The Nacha ACH rule is a 2026 compliance update requiring businesses to verify supplier bank account ownership and implement risk-based fraud monitoring for ACH payments. Designed to reduce vendor payment fraud, the rule makes supplier onboarding and account validation critical to secure and compliant ACH transactions.

Who do the Nacha ACH rules apply to?

The Nacha ACH rule applies to all non-consumer ACH originators, third-party senders, and their financial institutions. In practice, any organization paying suppliers through ACH must comply. Whether processing millions of payments or a smaller volume, businesses are required to validate accounts and adopt fraud monitoring controls under the rule.

Why is account verification required?

Account verification is required under the Nacha ACH rule because vendor fraud often occurs during onboarding and account change requests. By confirming supplier bank account ownership before sending ACH payments, businesses reduce the risk of payment diversion, meet compliance expectations, and strengthen their defense against growing ACH fraud threats.

Can manual processes meet the Nacha rule?

Manual processes rarely meet Nacha ACH rule requirements. Email forms, spreadsheets, and manual reviews are slow, error-prone, and difficult to audit. To comply with Nacha’s 2026 rule, organizations need automated vendor onboarding and bank account verification systems that ensure accuracy, speed, and a clear audit trail for regulators.